An Oxford University employee and a US professor are being hunted by police on suspicion of murdering a hair stylist in Chicago.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Andrew Warren, a senior treasury assistant for Somerville College, and Wyndham Lathem, a microbiology professor at Northwestern University.
Chicago police suspect the two men of repeatedly stabbing Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, 26, in Mr Lathem’s apartment last Thursday.
A judge in nearby Cook County issued the arrest warrant for Mr Warren, 56, and Professor Lathem, 42, after police said that they were wanted for first-degree murder.
Officers said that the victim, from Chicago, was found with multiple stab wounds in the tenth-floor property in the Grand Plaza Apartments complex near the city centre.
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Mr Warren and Professor Lathem were described by police as “armed and dangerous” and are believed to have left Chicago. Investigators said that they were looking at various possible motives, including a “possible domestic incident”, the Chicago Sun-Times said.
A maintenance worker told police that he received an anonymous call that a crime was committed.
A post-mortem examination concluded that the hair stylist died from multiple sharp force injuries. Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman, said that the pair had a relationship with the victim but declined to elaborate. He added: “Something pivotal happened that resulted in the victim being attacked. The investigation is only intensifying. We strongly encourage them to do the right thing and turn themselves in.”
Mr Warren works in the payroll and pensions department, according to a college web page which had been deleted yesterday. He is a British national from Swindon who had previously worked as a bus driver and cashier for a transportation company, according to his Facebook page.
Oxford University released a statement saying that it was “not aware of this case, which is clearly extremely concerning”, adding that it would liaise with authorities and provide any assistance that was required.
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Professor Lathem’s LinkedIn page indicates that he has a PhD in microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been a faculty member at the university since 2007, researching how pathogenic bacteria, specifically the Black Death plague, cause disease in humans.
The professor and Mr Cornell-Duranleau were friends on Facebook.
Alan Cubbage, of Northwestern University, released a statement yesterday saying that Professor Lathem had been placed on administrative leave and banned from the university’s campuses.