Judge Rejects Biologist's Bid For Bail To Research Coronavirus

CHICAGO — A judge has rejected the latest request for pretrial release from the former Northwestern University biology professor accused of murdering his boyfriend in a sex fantasy nearly three years ago. At a hearing held Friday over videoconference, the microbiologist's lawyers argued his scientific skills could be put to use to study the coronavirus while under house arrest. But the prosecution painted the ex-professor as a cunning computer wizard who could have access to unlimited cash and had already demonstrated his aptitude at avoiding arrest.

Wyndham Lathem, 45, has been held at Cook County Jail since August 2017. He and his co-defendant, Andrew Warren, turned themselves in to authorities in Northern California after more than a week on the run. Lathem is a native of Great Britain who also holds a United States passport. He faces a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in connection with the killing of 26-year-old Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, a hairdresser from Ohio who had been dating Lathem before he was found stabbed dozens of times in Lathem's River North apartment on July 27, 2017.

Warren pleaded guilty to Cornell-Duranleau's murder in July 2019. The fellow British citizen and former payroll clerk at Oxford University's Somerville College who prosecutors said met Lathem online and travelled to Chicago to engage a murder-suicide sex fantasy agreed to testify against Lathem in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence, some of which could eventually be served in the United Kingdom.

Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Craig Engebretson warned that if Lathem was effective at avoiding arrest when he did not have a plan to flee following a planned murder-suicide, the professor could be more elusive if allowed out of jail on electronic monitoring. He also told the judge Friday that Lathem had confessed in a recorded video sent to his mother while on the lam.

"He states: 'The victim trusted me completely, he felt safe with me. I betrayed that. I took that all away because I killed him. I did do it. It wasn't an accident, but it was a mistake,'" Engebretson said.

The prosecutor also cited records that he said showed Lathem had looked up a blog with posts discussing weaponizing viruses for more lethal human-to-human transmission.

"The idea that we're then going to give him access to COVID-related data is extremely frightening," he said.

Lathem is being represented by defense attorney Barry Sheppard and his son, Adam Sheppard, who said the ex-professor was prepared to put up $150,000 in cash to secure his release on electronic monitoring. They nominated two potential third-party custodians who could ensure that Lathem would abide by bond conditions: Charlie Hilbrandt, a former Highland Park police officer, commercial pilot and wedding videographer, and Frani Udell, an attorney who leads pretrial investigations for the private detective agency Vantius.

Even though Lathem's research has focused on bacteria rather than viruses, Adam Sheppard emphasized his client's experience studying respiratory symptoms.

"His area of expertise is how infections affect the lungs and specifically blood coagulation in the lungs and other areas based on infection," the attorney said, citing news articles and describing it as a "hot topic right now with coronavirus — blood clots"

Sheppard said Lathem's friends had rented an apartment in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood where he could stay. The attorney proposed a trustee to manage Lathem's finances and said he would agree to any restrictions on internet access demanded by the judge.

Earlier:
Professor Accused Of Murder Seeks Release To Research Coronavirus
British Man Admits To Murder, Agrees To Testify Against Ex-Professor
Ex-Northwestern Prof, Oxford Clerk Plead Not Guilty In Fatal Stabbing
Sex Fantasy Of Ex-Professor, Oxford Staffer Led To Stabbing: Prosecutors

Engebretson suggested things started to go downhill for Lathem after he lost out on a job at the prestigious Pasteur Institute in Paris due to his failure to get approved for a security clearance for reasons that have not been revealed by French security forces.

The prosecutor dismissed the idea that Lathem could help with coronavirus research, which had been put forward in a letter from University of North Carolina Chair of Microbiology and Immunology Dr. William Goldman the Sheppards included in their motion for bond review.

"This isn't like the defendant has some sort of cure or ability to solve COVID," Engebretson said. "This is a very ancillary thing that he's going to help do research on that could take months, years down the road before it even has an effect, if it even has an effect at all."

Regardless of how much of his trust fund or other money he posted, Lathem would still be a significant flight risk and threat to public safety, he argued, since the killing of Cornell-Duranleau did not result from an argument or some specific dispute.

"This was a murder that was done as part of a fantasy. This was a thrill kill, when the defendant got despondent and suicidal," he said. "This is extremely dangerous. It puts all the other people that are out there at risk that he may do this again if he gets sad or depressed or wants to experience that thrill again."

The prosecutor also said Lathem had used privacy-focused software and services during time on the lam, such as the search engine DuckDuckGo, the email provider ProtonMail and the messaging service Wickr, as well as prepaid anonymous cell phones.

"If there is anybody who's going to have access to cryptocurrency and online accounts, it's going to be Dr. Lathem," he said. "He's definitely demonstrated a consistent ability to hide information and to access things online."

Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns, who in April rejected Lathem's first post-pandemic bid for bond in the case, said he was very concerned about Lathem's ability to evade detection.

"Apparently he knows a lot about how to erase digital footprints, how to communicate both through the internet and also by phone without leaving any type of trace," Burns said. He said Lathem has proven his skill at evading detection and said he was worried that former professor, who has "at least significant assets, if not unlimited access to funds," would not show up to court.

"I am very concerned about his compliance with the conditions of bond. I am very concerned about the motivation here, with regard to whether or not he can in fact, and will, comply with the conditions of bond," Burns said. The judge said he had given significant thought to whether or not it could be appropriate to set bail in the case.

"However, I do not feel that it is in the best interest to set a bond in this matter. I am concerned about the defendant's presence at trial. I am not concerned about his help to the world community in solving COVID-19," he explained. "That is speculative at best."