NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Kevin Bacon hoped to find a distraction late on Christmas Eve, instead he was lured into a dating trap…
Like many suburban towns, Swartz Creek, Michigan, was known for its simplicity. Neighbouring a bigger city Flint, the smalltown was filled with conventional Dollar Tree stores, acres of farmland, and a large mall that locals would rely on for amenities.
That was something that 25-year-old Kevin Bacon knew all too well.
Only, with an eye for designer clothes, often seen carrying a bag, and openly revealing his sexuality to family and friends, Kevin didn’t want to fall into the town’s bleakness.
Instead, working his way up from a receptionist to a hair stylist, he wanted to bring colour to what he thought was a dingy town.
Dying his hair all sorts of shades, he had a talent for hairdressing and applying makeup, too, something his family had encouraged him to pursue as a career.
And when Kevin got into his dream school,
Eastern Michigan University, it seemed his future was just as bright as his personality.
However, while he was driven, it seemed that Kevin struggled in forming relationships.
Known by his friends to often be attracted to men that were not a right fit to his charming, fun, and free personality, he’d often turn to the dating and hook-up app Grindr, popular with gay, bisexual, and transgender men, as a distraction.
And that’s exactly what he did on 24 December 2019, Christmas Eve.
After finishing a day at the salon, just across the street from his house, Kevin then met with his sister and mum to do their hair for the festivities, before heading to a family dinner the very same evening.
However, it was there that he found out that there was going to be someone he wasn’t too happy with attending the meal – to avoid a family feud he decided not to go.
Instead, he turned to Grindr, hoping to find a distraction for that evening.
And at 5pm Kevin left his flat, telling his housemate that he was going to meet a man that he had been talking to on the dating app.
With a follow up text coming through just an hour later at 6.12pm, Kevin claimed that he didn’t know when he would be coming home, but he was having fun.
Then, just hours later, it was time for the town of Swartz Creek to indulge in the festivities, in the early hours of Christmas Day.
As Kevin’s dad prepared a breakfast meal for the entire family, they all waited for Kevin’s arrival.
Only, that was something that would never come…
As 9am passed, the time that Kevin had said he was coming over, panic started to set in.
Had Kevin had such a wonderful time that he had forgotten about the Christmas meal he had ahead of him?
Or had something more sinister happened when Kevin went to visit a man he didn’t really know?
Later that day, Kevin’s dad met with police in Swartz Creek to raise the concern for his missing son, finding Kevin’s car in the parking lot of a plaza near a Family Dollar store.
Had Kevin popped into the store to pick up some Christmas essentials?
Only, inside the vehicle
He never made it to his family breakfast
police found Kevin’s phone, wallet and even a bag of his clothes in the backseat of the car – the only missing item appeared to be his keys.
Why would Kevin leave his possessions inside of his car, not taking them with him?
That was a question that nobody could answer – it was as if Kevin had just vanished.
Who was the man that he had gone to meet?
Did he know something? After a search party was launched for Kevin on 27 December, with family, friends, and the local community coming together to search for clues as to where Kevin could have been, Michigan State Police received a call for assistance from Clayton Township Police Department to conduct a welfare check inside a property located 20 miles away from Swartz Creek.
There had been a tip that Kevin may have been inside.
It was then, officers knocked on the front door of a
Bennington home with local Mark Latunski, who was wearing a leather kilt, welcoming them in.
Yet, officers were not prepared for what they were about to find…
Walking into Mark’s basement, Kevin’s naked body was found hanging upside down from the ceiling, with rope tied around his ankles, his throat slit, and testicles seemingly removed.
And quickly after this grim discovery, Mark admitted to the crimes he had committed.
Whilst being read his rights, officers recalled how Mark had admitted frying and eating Kevin’s testicles, ordering a dehydrator to attempt to turn Kevin’s muscles into jerky.
This was not a sexual fantasy gone wrong, Mark had planned for this to happen.
Arrested for allegedly murdering and cannibalising Kevin Bacon, Mark Latunski, a father of four, awaited trial for the brutal crimes of that Christmas morning.
Appearing to live a normal life before now, Mark’s mental health was quickly questioned.
Only after being denied an insanity plea in October 2020, the details of what happened that Christmas were set to be answered in July last year.
Despite his initial admittance, Mark had claimed that Kevin had asked him to end his life, and that he had slit Kevin’s throat as part of that agreement, too.
Pleading not guilty in an insanity defence, Mark’s mental health was then brought to light.
After receiving a diagnosis of ‘severe, recurrent, and chronic major depression with psychotic features, adjustment disorder with depression and anxiety with paranoid schizophrenia, with borderline personality traits,’ in 2010, as well as splitting from his wife in 2013, it was clear that from this point Mark’s mental health had hit an all-time low.
Known by many to not take his medication, his behaviour would turn erratic, something that Kevin had witnessed.
However, it was found that Kevin was not the first victim.
As two other men had been held hostage by Mark in his Bennington home basement, fleeing the scene wearing a leather kilt, having been tied up in chains.
Although no charges were pressed, Kevin suffered the same fate as these men, brutally killed as a result.
And police had recovered messages from Kevin’s phone asking his date that evening if he would be safe, ruling out Mark’s claims immediately.
‘Kevin wanted a fetish and expected to go home at the end of the night, which didn’t end up happening,’ Prosecutor Scott Koerner claimed during the trial.
Not only that, but police intercepted a parcel to Mark’s address, containing a dehydrator, which backed up the claims made by Mark in the beginning – he really was planning on turning Kevin’s muscles into jerky.
As a result, in July last year, Mark Latunski, 53, was found guilty of first-degree murder by Judge Matthew Stewart and was sentenced to life in prison.
‘The court finds that this is a crime of cold calculation. Kevin Bacon’s death was Mark Latunski’s design,’ Matthew said during sentencing.
It was then that the local community could finally grieve the loss of the bright and colourful Kevin Bacon.
Holding a candlelight vigil, as well as displaying huge balloons and family made banners, family and friends came together to paint Flint Rock in rainbow patterns.
Wanting to avoid family drama, Kevin searched for a distraction, asking to be safe in exploring his sexuality.
Instead, he was lured to his death by a man who knew exactly what he was doing – killing and presenting Kevin’s body as if a trophy.
Even though Christmas time in Swartz Creek will never be the same again, the community can spend a lifetime celebrating the talent, expression, and confidence that Kevin brought to their town.
For Kevin may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.
Kevin Bacon missed Xmas due to Mark Latunski’s dark plans