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Oxford University has urged an employee to hand himself in after police in Chicago said he is wanted alongside a US professor on suspicion of murdering a 26-year-old man.
Police are hunting for Somerville College senior treasury assistant Andrew Warren (56) and Wyndham Lathem, a 42-year-old microbiology professor at Northwestern University.
They repeatedly stabbed Trenton Cornell-Duranleau in Lathem’s Chicago apartment before fleeing, according to local police.
An Oxford University spokesman said on Thursday the institution has been in contact with officers in the UK and is prepared to assist the US investigation.
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“Andrew Warren’s colleagues at Somerville College have now all been informed and are shocked to learn of the case,” he added.
“Whatever the circumstances, we would urge him to contact the US authorities as soon as possible, in the best interests of everyone concerned.”
Police said they believe the suspects have fled Chicago. They said they have placed restrictions on Warren’s visa and Lathem’s passport to prevent them leaving the country.
“We do have an idea of their whereabouts and efforts to locate them are only intensifying from here on in,” a police spokesman said.
“Our primary focus is to facilitate a safe surrender and we strongly encourage Prof Lathem and Mr Warren to do the right thing.”
Multiple stab wounds
Officers say the victim, who lived in Chicago, was found with multiple stab wounds in the 10th-floor apartment near the city centre at about 8.30pm on July 27th, before being pronounced dead at the scene.
Warren, who goes by the name Andy, is in charge of payroll and pensions at Somerville College, according to a university web page which has since been deleted.
Court files give his address as the Oxford college, but he says on Facebook that he lives in Swindon, Wiltshire.
Mr Cornell-Duranleau, originally from Corunna, Michigan, used to work as a hair stylist, according to his Facebook profile.
Lathem is friends with the victim on Facebook, but their relationship is not yet clear.
Lathem has worked at Northwestern since 2007 and specialises in the bacteria that caused the bubonic plague.
Northwestern University said he has been placed on leave and is banned from entering the campus.
PA