College professor, second man sought in fatal Chicago stabbing

[August 04, 2017]  By Ian Simpson

(Reuters) - A nationwide manhunt was under way for a Northwestern University professor and an employee of Britain's Oxford University who are accused in a fatal stabbing in Chicago last week, police said on Thursday.

Wyndham Lathem, 42, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Northwestern, and Andrew Warren, 56, who works at Oxford, are both at large, but Chicago police said the authorities have some idea where they might be.

"We strongly encourage Professor Lathem and Mr. Warren to do the right thing and turn themselves into any police department," the statement said.

Officers who responded to a call last Thursday found a 30-year-old man in central Chicago with several cuts to his body, police said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene and has not been officially identified.

The police have not given a motive for the slaying or what relationship the man may have had with Lathem and Warren.

Police have restricted Lathem's passport and Warren's visa, and arrest warrants were out for them. Federal officials are aiding in the case and a national alert has been sent to law enforcement agencies, it said.

Northwestern said that Lathem, a faculty member since 2007, had been placed on administrative leave and banned from the Chicago-area school.

A wanted poster distributed by the Chicago Police Department shows suspects Wyndham Lathem, 42, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and Andrew Warren, 56, a financial employee at Britain's Oxford University, in this image released in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. on August 3, 2017. Courtesy Chicago Police Department/Handout via REUTERS

"There is no indication of any risk to the Northwestern community from this individual at this time," it said in a statement.

Warren is a senior treasury assistant at Somerville College, part of the Oxford University network, the college said in a statement.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson)

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