Chicago Murder: Northwestern Professor and Oxford University Staffer Wanted in U.S.-wide Manhunt

A Northwestern University professor and a Oxford University staffer are wanted in connection with the murder of a man in a Chicago luxury apartment.

Cook County Judge Sandra Ramos issued first-degree murder arrest warrants for 42-year-old Wyndham Lathem, an associate professor in microbiology-immunology, and 56-year-old Andrew Warren, an employee at Oxford University, in the U.K.

The two are accused of stabbing to death Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, identified as a 30-year-old man in a police release. His body was found in the Grand Plaza Apartments in Chicago's affluent River North neighbourhood where Lathem lived on July 27.

The police said the victim was known to the men, without further elaborating on the nature of their relationship. One of Lathem's neighbors told ABC he had seen Cornell-Duranleau, who was a licensed cosmetologist originally from Michigan, around the building before.

"I started noticing him about a year ago," said neighbor Marco Arce. "I didn't know him, but yeah, I always told him, 'Be safe, be careful.' And then I'd just go back in my house and that's it."

Police spokesperson Anthony Gugliemi issued an appeal on Wednesday, asking the men to "do the right thing and turn yourself in" as the search "will only intensify."

The two are considered to be "armed and dangerous" and he police urged "extreme caution" in approaching the suspects. They were last seen driving a rented gray 2017 Hyundai sedan, CBS reported.

Northwestern University said in a statement that Lathem "has been placed on administrative leave and banned from entering the Northwestern University campuses." According to a listing now removed from the Oxford University directory, Warren—a British citizen—is a senior treasury assistant at Somerville College.

Oxford University said it was "not aware of this case, which is clearly extremely concerning," but that it would liaise and collaborate with the authorities, according to a statement quoted in the Chicago Tribune,

Cornell-Duranleau's mother Mischelle Duranleau remembered her son in a Facebook post, the newspaper reported. "Throughout his life he loved music and animals," she wrote. "His enthusiasm for life was infectious. Trenton was a caregiver and loved to help others. His youthful free-spirit fueled his love of cars, video games and cartoons."