Oxford University appeals to murder suspect and college employee to contact police as US authorities ‘intensify’ manhunt

Officers say they have an 'idea of their whereabouts' after they fled Chicago

The wanted poster distributed by Chicago Police (Reuters)

Oxford University has appealed to an employee who is on the run in America accused of stabbing a 26-year-old man to death to contact police.

Somerville College senior treasury assistant Andrew Warren has been the subject of a US manhunt after former hair stylist Trenton Cornell-Duranleau was murdered in Chicago last week.

Police in the city said the search for Mr Warren, 56, and Northwestern University microbiology professor Wyndham Lathem, 42, is "intensifying".

Oxford University urged Mr Warren, who oversaw pensions and payrolls at the college, to hand himself in.

"Andrew Warren's colleagues at Somerville College have now all been informed and are shocked to learn of the case," a spokesman said.

"Whatever the circumstances, we would urge him to contact the US authorities as soon as possible, in the best interests of everyone concerned."

Officers said they now have an "idea of their whereabouts" after they fled Chicago.

A police report said the men "are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous" and were last seen getting into a grey 2007 Hyundai.

Police said they have placed restrictions on Mr Warren's visa and Mr Lathem's passport to prevent them leaving the country.

Officers say the victim, who lived in Chicago, was found with multiple stab wounds in the 10th floor apartment near the city centre at around 8.30pm on 27 July before being pronounced dead at the scene.

Court files give Mr Warren's address as the Oxford college but he says on Facebook that he lives in Swindon, Wiltshire, and is a former cashier and driver for Stagecoach.

Mr Lathem has worked at Northwestern since 2007 and specialises in the bacteria that caused the bubonic plague.

Northwestern University said he has been placed on leave and is banned from entering the campus.

Additional reporting PA