Murder Conviction In Boyfriend's Slaying Overturned For Ex-Northwestern Professor

EVANSTON, IL — Nearly three years after he was sentenced to 53 years in prison for the stabbing death of 26-year-old Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, a former Northwestern University professor has had his murder conviction overturned, according to reports.

In 2021, former microbiology associate professor Wyndham Lathem was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Cornell-Duranleau, who was found stabbed nearly 80 times in Lathem's River North apartment. Prosecutors said Lathem used the internet to recruit Andrew Warren, a fellow British native, to take part in a kind of murder-suicide pact, paid for his flight from England to Chicago, and plotted with him to kill Cornell-Duranleau.

Defense attorneys argued that Warren killed Cornell-Duranleau alone in a meth-fueled jealous rage, with Lathem taking the stand to contend that he had been in the bathroom during the stabbing.

Lathem and Warren drove to California after the slaying before surrendering to police. They were arrested in the San Francisco Bay Area after spending eight days on the lam. Warren pleaded guilty to the murder in July 2019.

The former associate professor of microbiology-immunology was fired by Northwestern, where he had been on the faculty for a decade, "for the act of fleeing from police when there was an arrest warrant out for him," according to a university spokesperson.

During their time on the run, Lathem, who both sides agree was suicidal at the time, recorded a video message to his parents in which he appeared to confess to the murder and advise them on what to do with his assets and body after his death.

"I killed him, I did do it. It wasn’t an accident, but it was a mistake," a sobbing Lathem says in the video. “I don’t think I’m a bad person, but I am apparently, I did something that nobody should ever do.”

Now, Lathem's case is headed back to court after an appeals court this week overturned the conviction, finding that Lathem was denied access to his attorney during an overnight court recess, WGN reported.

It's not Lathem's first bid for freedom. In 2020, before his murder trial, he petitioned for release so that he could research COVID-19, arguing that his medical expertise could help fight the pandemic.

In 2019, one of Lathem's attorneys also told a columnist the ex-professor had been informally teaching biology, science and politics to other detainees in protective custody at the jail during their limited outdoor time.

Related coverage:

• Sex Fantasy Of Ex-Northwestern Professor, Oxford Staffer Led To Fatal Stabbing, Prosecutors Say
• British Man Admits Murder, Agrees To Testify Against NU Professor