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An Illinois Appeals Court panel on Friday overturned Wyndham
Lathem's 2021 first-degree murder conviction.
The panel ruled 3-0 that Lathem's right to counsel was violated
and remanded the case back to the trial court.
In its opinion, the appeals court said restrictions during
overnight recess should only be given in “only exigent and
unusual circumstances."
It continued that the "defendant’s right to unrestricted access
must prevail over any fears of coaching, which should be
addressed through exposure on cross-examination or through
scheduling.”
Lathem was sentenced in 2022 to 53 years in prison for the 2017
stabbing death of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau. At the time, Cook
County Judge Charles Burns called the killing “cold-blooded” and
an “execution.”
Prosecutors said Lathem and Andrew Warren stabbed Cornell-Duranleau
more than 70 times on July 27, 2017. Prosecutors said Lathem
paid Warren to travel to Chicago to commit the murder together.
Northwestern fired Lathem, a renowned microbiologist, after he
fled the Chicago area following the killing.
Lathem testified at trial that Warren alone stabbed Cornell-Duranleau
during what started as a methamphetamine-fueled sexual encounter
involving the three men.
Warren pleaded guilty to murder in 2019. Under the plea deal, he
agreed to testify against Lathem in exchange for receiving a
45-year prison sentence.
Warren, who was an Oxford University financial officer,
testified that he flew from England to Chicago because he and
Lathem had made a pact to kill each other, but then Lathem
suggested they kill Cornell-Duranleau and he agreed.
He testified that he did stab Cornell-Duranleau, but only after
Lathem had already begun stabbing him.
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