Northwestern Professor, Oxford Staffer Wanted In Fatal Stabbing Caught In California: Cops

CHICAGO, IL — A Northwestern University professor and a University of Oxford employee wanted in the grisly murder of a 26-year-old Chicago man last month were taken into custody Friday in California, a Chicago police spokesman said in an online update. Wyndham Lathem, 42, and Andrew Warren, 56, had sparked a nationwide manhunt after arrest warrants were issued for them this week in connection with the fatal stabbing of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, whose mutilated body was found July 27 in Lathem's River North apartment.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed the men's capture in a Twitter post at 10 p.m. Friday, just hours after news broke that Lathem, an associate professor and faculty researcher in the Department of Microbiology-Immunology at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, had emailed an "apologetic video message" to friends and family about his involvement in the murder. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

"Both individuals will be held accountable for their actions and we hope today's arrest brings some level of closure and justice for Trenton Cornell-Duranleau's family," a Chicago Police Department statement said Friday night. "We are also thankful both men are safely in custody and this did not end in further tragedy."

US marshals apprehended Lathem in Oakland, and Warren was taken into custody by San Francisco police, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Before the two suspects are extradited to Chicago, a hearing for them will be held possibly Monday in California, the report stated. A police press conference will be next week, the report added.

Lathem and Warren face first-degree murder charges in Cornell-Duranleau's death. Officers discovered the victim's body during a well-being check at around 8:30 p.m. July 27 in a 10th-floor unit in the Grand Plaza Apartments in the 500 block of North State Street in the River North neighborhood. Cornell-Duranleau had been stabbed several times in his back, and an autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner's officer determined that he died from multiple sharp force injuries.

UPDATE (11:58 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4)

ORIGINAL STORY

CHICAGO, IL — A Northwestern University professor wanted in the brutal stabbing death of a 26-year-old man sent an "apologetic video message" to friends and family about his involvement in the murder, a Chicago police spokesman said Friday. Arrest warrants were issued earlier this week for Wyndham Lathem, 42, and Andrew Warren, a 56-year-old employee at Somerville College in England, stemming from the killing of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, whose body was found stabbed and mutilated in Lathem's River North apartment on July 27. A nationwide manhunt has been centered around both men, who face first-degree murder charges.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement the department is not releasing details about the video because it's "integral to any future interrogation efforts." But US marshals have spoken with several of the people who received the video, however, and they are cooperating with authorities in helping to find the suspects. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

According to WGN-TV, Lathem emailed the video, using encryption software, to friends, his mother and other family members. A police source told CNN on Friday that Lathem called the killing "the biggest mistake of my life" in the video.

RELATED: Northwestern Professor Wanted: 5 Things We Know About The Brutal Murder Case So Far

Investigators believe Lathem and Warren fled the state after security camera video captured the two leaving the Grand Plaza Apartments in the 500 block of North State Street on the day Cornell-Duranleau was killed. Police allege that the men made a $1,000 donation in the victim's name to the public library in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, hours before Cornell-Duranleau's body was found by police.

Library staffers told Chicago police July 31 that one of the suspects asked to make an anonymous donation in Cornell-Duranleau's name, the Chicago Tribune reports. After paying the $1,000 donation in cash, the man left the building, but no one saw him drive away, and the library doesn't have security cameras, the report added.

Lake Geneva police Lt. Edward Gritzner told the Tribune the library receives a great deal of donations, so the chartiable gesture didn't seem unusual or suspicious at the time. Even though the authorities still have been on the lookout for the fugitives, Gritzner said he didn't think Lathem and Warren were still in the resort town.

It's unclear what prompted the donation, but police have speculated that it might be an indication of remorse. Lathem does have a connection to Wisconsin. He earned his doctorate in microbiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about 70 miles from Lake Geneva.

WATCH: The two men wanted for murder in the savage stabbing of a 26-year-old Chicago man allegedly donated $1,000 to a Wisconsin public library following the killing, according to police.

The connection between all three men — Cornell-Duranleau was a licensed cosmetologist who was originally from a town ouside Lansing — remains a mystery, at least to the public. The victim's mother, Charlotte Cornell, told The Assoicated Press this week that the family didn't know Lathem or Warren, but she declined to say if her son had talked about either suspect before his death because the investigation was still ongoing. Neighbors, however, told WGN Lathem and Cornell-Duranleau had been romantically involved, and the Chicago Sun-Times' Michael Sneed reported Thursday that "a relationship issue" could have been the reason behind the killing.

RELATED: Manhunt For Northwestern Professor Wanted In Fatal Stabbing

Details surfacing concerning the relationship between Lathem and Warren have been few, as well. How the men know one another has not come to light, nor has the reason why the resident of Great Britain was in the United States, visiting here for the first time.

Warren, a senior treasury assistant handling payroll and pensions for the University of Oxford's Somerville College, went missing July 24 — days before the murder — from the home he shares with sister in a town outside of the city of Oxford, according to the British tabloid The Sun. Investigators believe he didn't inform anyone beforehand that he was traveling overseas, the report added.

A profile on the Grindr dating app allegedly belonging to Warren stated he was looking for a dominant partner, the report stated. Describing himself as having "no limits," he said he enjoyed torture and bondage.

Although they still aren't in custody, police spokesman Guglielmi has said the manhunt for Lathem and Warren continues to narrow. He told the Tribune on Friday that after reaching out to friends and family, Lathem next should turn himself in.

"We don’t want to see this get any worse," Guglielmi said.

UPDATED (7:49 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4)

More via WGN-TV, The Sun and the Chicago Tribune

Wyndham Lathem (left) and Andrew Warren (Photos via the Chicago Police Department)

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