The Strange and Stranger Case of Wyndham Lathem

A Northwestern University plague researcher has been charged with a brutal murder. Here’s what we know about him.

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WIKIMEDIA, TONY WEBSTER

Update (January 26, 2022): Wyndham Lathem was convicted of first-degree murder in October 2021 and has now been sentenced to 53 years in prison, the Associated Press reports.

On July 27, The Chicago Tribune reported that there was an arrest warrant issued for Wyndham Lathem, a microbiologist at Northwestern University. The crime Lathem would later be charged with was brutal—26-year-old Trenton James Cornell-Duranleau, whose body was found in Lathem’s apartment, had been stabbed dozens of times.

But Lathem was nowhere to be found. As events unfolded over the following days, it became clear he had fled from Chicago to California with a second suspect, 56-year-old Andrew Warren, a University of Oxford employee from the United Kingdom visiting the states. Along the way, the two men ...

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    Anna Azvolinsky

    Anna Azvolinsky is a freelance science writer based in New York City.
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