CBS NEWS – A Michigan man who acknowledged killing another man and hanging the mutilated body from a ceiling will face life in prison without parole after a judge said Wednesday that it was premeditated murder.
Mark Latunski pleaded guilty in September. But it was up to a judge to determine whether the death of Kevin Bacon in 2019 was first-degree murder or another type of homicide.
“The court finds that this is a crime of cold calculation,” Shiawassee County Judge Matthew Stewart said. “Kevin Bacon’s death was Mark Latunski’s design.”
First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The next hearing is Dec. 15.
Police said Latunski admitted to killing Bacon, 25, whom he had met through the dating app Grindr, and eating parts of the body in Bennington Township, 90 miles northwest of Detroit, according to court documents. Bacon had been reported missing on Christmas Eve 2019, WWMT reported.
Shiawassee County Prosecutor Scott Koerner argued during the hearing Latunski had time to change his mind before he killed Bacon, according to Mlive.com. The news outlet also reported the prosecutor said Latunski told officers he talked about buying a dehydrator to make jerky out of Bacon’s muscles.
Latunski lured Bacon to his Bennington Township home in December where he then stabbed the victim in the back and removed parts of body before eating them, according to the outlet. He reportedly told cops he even cut off and ate Bacon’s testicles.
Latunski initially was found incompetent to stand trial, but that status changed after mental health treatment.
Defense attorney Mary Chartier said first-degree murder didn’t fit the case. She noted that Latunski allowed police inside the home knowing that Bacon’s body was hanging from the ceiling.
“He did not measure the consequences at all,” Chartier said.
In January 2020, Bacon’s father said that the details surround his son’s death “shows he had a dark side” but that did not represent who he was.
“Those who knew and loved Kevin did not know that side,” he said. “Those that knew him knew his good side. They knew he loved and cherished everyone he touched. And he touched a lot of lives during his short life.”
