A Michigan man accused of murdering and mutilating his Grindr date has been deemed competent to stand trial.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Kevin Bacon, 25, (pictured right) was reported missing on Christmas 2019, a day after he met in-person with Mark Latunski, 51, who he met on Grindr, a dating app. Bacon’s body was discovered in the suspect’s home on December 28.
Investigators said Latunski admitted to killing Bacon by stabbing him in the back and slitting his throat. He allegedly tied a rope around Bacon’s ankles and fastened it to the ceiling rafters. Authorities said Latunski also revealed that he severed Bacon’s testicles with a knife and ate them.
Documents charged that the victim was found hanging upside down from the ceiling. He had been left there for four days.
Latuniski was charged with murder and mutilation of a body in Bacon’s death. His lawyer, Doug Corwin, said earlier this year that he planned to pursue an insanity defense in this case.
Corwin asserted that the “nature of the crime itself” warrants a mental evaluation for his client.
“He believes he’s named someone else. He believes he’s from a royal family out of Wales, the Thomas clan,” the defense attorney said “My investigator and I have gone in and talked to him. He’s cooperative, very polite. Other than the, I call them grandiose stories, he appears to really believe them.”
In February, Latunski was initially found incompetent to stand trial, but MLive reports that on Monday, Shiawassee County District Judge Ward Clarkson ruled that the suspect is now competent.
Bacon’s father, Karl Bacon who was in the courtroom when the judge made his decision, said he was relieved by the judge’s decision.
“I’m glad that it’s moving along, finally we’re getting some movement,” Karl Bacon told MLive-The Flint Journal. “This whole COVID thing has put everything on hold.”
Records stated that Latuniski has been committed to hospitals four times for mental health-related issues. Documents from the 66th District and 35th Circuit courts stated that Latunski was known for discontinuing his medications.
On August 22, Latunski’s ex-wife requested his parenting time be suspended, claiming he was diagnosed with major depression, paranoid schizophrenia and features of a personality disorder in 2010 and 2012. In 2013, Latunski was charged with taking two of his four children from their mother. Those charges were ultimately dismissed.
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[Feature Photo: Mark Latunski/Michigan State Police; Kevin Bacon/Facebook]
