By Eric King
A brutal killer has signed a deal to testify against a U.S professor in a a murder trial in exchange for less time.
Andrew Warren(pictured), 58, attacked his victim, Trenton Cornell, while he was sleeping and went on the run with his partner in crime. co-defendant Wyndham Lathem for eight days before they surrendered themselves to police.
The pair were charged with six counts of first degree murder. Warren pleaded guilty to the first count and the remaining counts were dismissed. Lathem is pleading not guilty , but Warren has agreed to give evidence against Mr Lathem – a former university professor in the US – in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence. Prosecutors say he murder was driven by sexual fantasy
Warren’s written plea agreement came almost two years after 26-year-old Trenton James Cornell-Duranleau’s body was discovered in July 2017, infested with stab wounds in a Chicago apartment.Prosecutors later said the young man had been stabbed 70 times and with such brutality that he was nearly decapitated. His throat was slit and pulmonary artery torn.
Cops said Mr Lathem was in a sexual relationship with Mr Cornell.Warren was suspended from his job as senior treasury assistant at Sommerville College after the body was found, while Mr Lathem was sacked as a microbiology professor at Northwestern University in Illinois. Both men surrendered to Californian police days latter.
MURDER PLAN
The court documents allege that Warren and Mr Lathem started communicating online in the month before the murder, after which Warren flew to the United States to meet Mr Lathem.
In the early hours of 27 July 2017, Warren came to Mr Lathem’s apartment in Chicago. The pair subsequently went into the bathroom where Mr Lathem described to Warren his plan to murder Mr Cornell. Warren then agreed to video the attack, assistant state attorney Craig Engebretson told a U.S court on Monday. The submission of the state alleges is that the pair went into the bedroom where the victim was sleeping. Mr Lathem began to stab him in the face, while Warren allegedly covered the victim’s mouth, hit him with a lamp and stabbed him in the chest.
Hair Stylist Found Dead: Trenton Image: Facebook
The killing triggered a US-wide manhunt for the suspects. Warren eventually handed himself in nearly 2,000 miles away from Chicago in San Fransisco, while Mr Lathem gave himself up in Oakland, also in California.