The trial is underway for a former Northwestern University microbiology professor who prosecutors said stabbed his boyfriend to death with the help of a stranger as part of a sexual fantasy.
A jury was selected in Cook County, Illinois on Monday for the trial of Wyndham Lathem, 47, in the 2017 death of his boyfriend, Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, a 26-year-old hairdresser from Michigan.
Lathem is accused of enlisting Andrew Warren, an Oxford University financial officer, to fly from England to Chicago to help him kill Cornell-Duranleau, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
The prosecution, during opening statements Monday, argued that Lathem — a wealthy and powerful academic known for his work on the bubonic plague — took advantage of a 'young man just trying to make his way in Chicago.'
However, Lathem's attorney painted a different picture, saying that Warren, who has pleaded guilty in Cornell-Duranleau's murder, committed a crime against both the defendant and the deceased.
'This was nothing more than a crime of opportunity that had two victims,' defense attorney Kenneth Wine.
'Andrew Warren took the life of Trenton Cornell and ruined the life of Dr. Lathem.'
Trial is underway for Wyndham Lathem (left), a former Northwestern University microbiology professor who prosecutors said stabbed his boyfriend to death with the help of a Andrew Warren (right), an Oxford University financial officer, as part of a sexual fantasy
Trenton Cornell-Duranleau (pictured), a 26-year-old hairdresser from Michigan, was stabbed 78 times while he slept in Lathem's Chicago high-rise condominium on July 27, 2017
Cornell-Duranleau was stabbed 78 times while he slept in Lathem's Chicago high-rise condominium on July 27, 2017.
After the killing, Warren and Lathem led police on an eight-day manhunt before they were arrested in Northern California.
Wine, declining to comment on pending litigation, provided a copy of his opening statement to DailyMail.com. In the statement, he explained that Lathem and Cornell-Duranleau had a sexual relationship that often involved 'three way sex with people they met online,' as well as 'bondage and submission and other sex toys, including knife play'.
The attorney claims the men 'had sexual fantasies involving involving fetish, restraints, leather bondage, and a variety of sex toys,' noting that they would use meth or knife play during sex 'to heighten the pleasure'.
Wine claims that Warren joined the couple in their bedroom the night of the murder and attacked them. Lathem allegedly went to the bathroom after having been stabbed by Warren and 'heard fighting going on' in the bedroom.
'Andrew Warren will get on the stand and admit he smashed Trent Cornell over the head with metal bedroom lamp. The evidence will show that Andrew Warren viciously stabbed Trent Cornell to death with two knives,' Wine said.
