Man pleads guilty to murder, mutilation of victim's body

Mark Latunski. Photo / Supplied

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A US man accused of killing another man and hanging the victim's mutilated body from a ceiling pleaded guilty on Thursday to murder, apparently against the advice of his lawyers.

Mark Latunski appeared in Shiawassee County court, nearly three years after Kevin Bacon, 25, was killed in Bennington Township, 145km northwest of Detroit.

A judge will hold a hearing on October 18 to determine if the case will be classified as first-degree or second-degree murder. First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Police said Latunski, 52, admitted to killing Bacon, whom he had met through the dating app Grindr, and eating parts of his body.

Defence attorney Mary Chartier was interested in pursuing an insanity defence at trial, MLive.com reported.

"While this is not an outcome that Mr. Krause and I think is in Mr. Latunski's best interest, we do have to follow Mr. Latunski's wishes," Chartier said, referring to co-counsel Kurt Krause. "We have discussed this matter and consistently he's been very clear, more than once, multiple times, on his choice and on his reasoning."

Latunski was initially found incompetent to stand trial but that status changed after mental health treatment.

"I'm glad we got the plea," prosecutor Scott Koerner said.

Bacon's father Karl Bacon said after his son's 2019 death that he chose the name because he wanted his son to share his initials.

"I wanted the same initials, but I didn't want Karl Jr, so that made sense.

"The other Kevin Bacon wasn't quite as famous as he is now."

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That "other" Kevin Bacon, the famous actor, acknowledged his namesake's passing in a post on Instagram at the time of his death.

"For obvious reasons I'm thinking this morning about the friends and family of this young person Kevin Bacon," he wrote.

"His life was taken from him much too soon. His love was hairdressing. I bet he would have done a great job on this mess on my head. RIP KB."