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Michigan Cannibal Killer Gets Life Without Parole For Horrific Christmas Eve Murder
Prosecutors say the "pure evil" acts of convicted killer Mark Latunski had a long-lasting effect on anyone having to read this "horrific story."
A convicted killer who confessed to the cannibalistic murder and mutilation of a man he met on Grindr was officially sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole.
Mark David Latunski, 52, will spend his life behind bars for the Christmas Eve 2019 murder of Kevin Bacon, 25, according to Fox Detroit affiliate WJBK. Thursday’s sentencing was expected following Latunski’s surprising guilty plea in September while facing open murder charges. In October, a special hearing was held in which the court decided to convict him of first-degree murder, which comes with a mandatory life sentence.
Before Shiawassee County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Stewart handed the sentence down, Bacon’s family members, including his mother, Pamela, read a victim impact statement, per CBS Bay City affiliate WNEM-TV.
“In your sick, twisted mind, you probably don’t think you did anything wrong. But in reality, you took our world away,” said the grieving mother. “This Christmas, I hope you suffer like we have because you won’t be able to be with your family. I hope you feel pain as you are all alone with all the years yet to come.”
Judge Stewart said he hoped the sentence would be a “small amount of comfort in what I know is an enormity of hurt” for Bacon’s loved ones.
Kevin Bacon, a University of Michigan - Flint student and hairdresser from Swartz Creek, Michigan, left home on the night of Dec. 24, 2019. He was reported missing the next day when he hadn’t arrived for a family Christmas breakfast.
Text messages later revealed he and Latunksi made plans through the Grindr app to meet at Latunski’s Bennington Township home — about 30 miles northeast of Lansing.
That was where police — on Dec. 28, 2019 — found Bacon’s naked and mutilated body hanging upside down from the rafters in a secret room of Latunksi’s basement. The lone suspect admitted to stabbing the victim from behind, slitting his throat and removing his genitals for consumption.
Latunski said it was all part of a sexual fantasy requested by Bacon.
Latunski’s competency was called into question several times through the legal proceedings. In 2020, he was deemed unfit to stand trial but later restored to competency — a decision upheld on two separate occasions.
“I tried to think of a word for this murder,” Shiawassee County Prosecutor Scott Koerner stated just before sentencing. “What came to my mind is pure evil and the ripple effect it had on the family, the friends of Kevin, the court staff, my staff, and anybody who has to read this horrific story.”
Latunski’s defense attorney, Mary Chartier, also spoke before Judge Stewart sentenced the convicted man.
“While Mr. Latunski is remorseful and truly regrets his actions, he knows that he cannot turn back the clock, and he certainly cannot bring Mr. Bacon back to life,” said Chartier.
Pamela Bacon — who referred to her son as “an angel” — told reporters that her son’s murder created strife within their family, including her divorce and her daughter’s alleged blaming of Pamela for the murder, according to the Bay City outlet.
She said no Christmas would ever be the same without Kevin.
“He would want everybody to move forward and do what they had to do for their goals and dreams,” said the mother. “And I’m going to say it like my daughter said, ‘please be careful on the internet because you never know what’s going to happen.’"
Should Latunski decide to appeal the sentence, he has 41 days to do so.
