Chicago professor in jail on murder denied release to help with COVID-19 research
04/14/2020 7:18 am PDT
via WGN:
CHICAGO (WGN) -- A request by a former Northwestern University professor charged in the murder of his boyfriend to be released from Cook County Jail so his research skills can be used to battle COVID-19 was denied by a judge.
Wyndham Lathem asked last week to be freed on $1 million bail from the jail, which has one of the nation's most aggressive outbreaks of coronavirus. In addition to his research skills, Lathem also cited health issues that put him at greater risk if he contracts COVID-19.
The Chicago Sun-Times, citing court records Monday, reports that in an emergency hearing conducted via teleconference, Judge Charles Burns on Friday denied granting Lathem bail.
The microbiologist gained renown for his research on the bubonic plague.
Lathem is accused in the 2017 stabbing death of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau. Latham's accomplice, Oxford University employee Andrew Warren, pleaded guilty last yea in a deal that calls for him to testify against Lathem, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Lathem, 45, has been held in Cook County Jail without bail since his arrest.
MORE:
