Jurors start deliberating fate of former NU professor accused of murdering boyfriend

In this Aug. 19, 2017, file photo, Wyndham Lathem arrives at a police station as he is escorted by Chicago police. | AP

Wyndham Lathem’s attorneys told jurors their verdict would come down to which of the two men they believed more: Lathem, or his alleged co-conspirator, Andrew Warren, who has pleaded guilty to his role in the murder of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau.

Cook County jurors Thursday began deliberating the fate of Wyndham Lathem, the former Northwestern University microbiologist accused of brutally stabbing his boyfriend to death at his River North condo.

Lathem’s attorneys told the jury in their closing statement that the verdict would come down to which of the two men they believed more: Lathem, or his alleged co-conspirator, Andrew Warren, a British national who has pleaded guilty to his role in the murder of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau on July 27, 2017.

“Here we are four years later trying to figure out who did what,” defense attorney Barry Sheppard said, calling Warren a “depressed psychopath” and his client “an esteemed university professor.”

“It’s a who-done-it in a way, folks. It’s who do you believe?”

AP

Wyndham Lathem, left, and Andrew Warren in a booking photo taken on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017.

Warren, 61, testifying for the prosecution last week, said although he participated in the murder, the idea to kill Cornell-Duranleau in his sleep was Lathem’s.

Lathem’s attorneys, however, said that it was Warren who made the decision to kill Cornell-Duranleau by stabbing him 79 times “in a jealous rage” as the three began to engage in group sex while high on crystal meth.

Provided

Trenton Cornell, who was found dead in River North condo July 27, 2017.

But prosecutors said it wasn’t only Warren’s testimony; the jury could base its decision with the “mountain of evidence” against 47-year-old Lathem — particularly Lathem’s own words in an apparent video suicide note he sent his parents while on the lam with Warren.

“Andrew Warren is not the star witness,” Assistant State’s Attorney Craig Engebretson said. “The star witness, if anyone is, is the defendant. His own words … his confession.”

Engebretson played the recording again for jurors Thursday, saying Lathem could clearly be heard saying, “I killed him” and “It wasn’t an accident, but it was a mistake.”

Prosecutors also pointed to Lathem resetting several of his electronic devices that would have shown his conversations with Warren, as well as his decision to throw away his cellphone. Lathem’s blood was also found mixed with 26-year-old Cornell-Duranleau’s on several items in the condo, including a knife found by the kitchen sink that was next to a bloody towel prosecutors said Lathem used after he cut his hand during the attack.

Lathem said he fled to a bathroom in his condo after Warren started stabbing Cornell-Duranleau.

Lathem said he felt guilty about bringing Warren into the couple’s life, but admitted he never sought help after the murder and chose to flee the city with Warren.

Warren said when he met Lathem online, both were depressed and made a suicide pact. But when they didn’t kill each other, Lathem proposed to murder Cornell-Duranleau instead, Warren said during the nine-day trial.

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