Cannibal Mark Latunski was found unresponsive in his cell. He was taken to the hospital but is now in a stable condition and has been returned to custody
A cannibal who murdered his Grindr date before eating his testicles has been found unresponsive in his cell after barely eating since his arrest in December.
Mark Latunski, 50, was found in his cell at Shiawassee County Jail, Michigan, at around 5pm Tuesday.
It is unclear what caused him to pass out, but deputies were able to revive him with smelling salts.
They then took him to the hospital as a precaution.
‘We thought it was best to (have medical personnel) take a look at him,’ Shiawassee County Sheriff Brian BeGole told Michigan Live.
He added that while his food intake has ‘been down’
He noted Latunski’s food intake has been down since Friday ‘but not to the point we’d call it a hunger strike.’
In previous reports, the sheriff said he hadn’t eaten since he was booked in December.
Latunski, a former chemist, confessed to killing 25-year-old hairstylist Kevin Bacon and then eating his body parts on Christmas Eve.
He has not yet had his court date but a judge had accepted an insanity plea.
In January, a judge ordered a mental health assessment to determine if he was fit to stand trial.
It is unclear why he refused to eat.
The gruesome events unfolded after the pair arranged to meet on dating app Grindr on December 24.
Bacon’s naked body was found four days later on December 28 hanging upside down from the rafters of Latunski’s Michigan home by a rope tied around his ankles, after police went to conduct a welfare check for Bacon when they were tipped off that he may be inside.
The 25-year-old hairdresser was missing for four days before his body was discovered
Latunski confessed to officers that he had killed his date by stabbing him in the back and then slitting his throat with a knife.
The suspect also confessed to cutting off Bacon’s testicles and eating them.
It later emerged that two other men may have had a lucky escape from the suspected killer in the months leading up to Bacon’s death.
Just months before the gruesome murder, two men called police on separate occasions, saying they had escaped from Latunski’s basement.
A horrifying 911 call from October emerged of a 40-year-old man who said he was running away from Latunski’s house.
‘I want you to know like I’ve never ever had anything like this happen. I don’t know if he drugged me. All is know is I ended up locked up in the f***ing basement, okay? Chained in the basement,’ the male said.
The caller explained to the dispatcher that he ran into Latunski at a bus station that night.
Bacon’s (left) naked body was found on December 28 hanging upside down from the rafters of Latunski’s (right) Michigan home by a rope tied around his ankles, after police went to conduct a welfare check for Bacon when they were tipped off that he may be inside
‘I met this guy. I’m Bi. He’s cute. He hit on me. I don’t know we went out to the car and talked. We went to the store, had a soda. I woke up in the basement,’ he said. ‘He seemed like a nice guy.’
The man told the 911 operator that he used a butcher knife he found in the basement to cut a leather strap restraining his ankles, which was connected to a chain, and then fled on foot.
In a bizarre twist, the man later returned to Latunski’s home and stayed there for two or three days, according to the police.
No charges were ever filed in that case.
Two men made 911 calls saying they had escaped from his basement but charges were never filed
Then, in November, another man dialed 911 to report that he was running away from Latunski’s home.
The 29-year-old man called officers to report that he had been tied up in the suspect’s basement.
‘I’m trying to get away from some creepy guy,’ the caller tells the dispatcher. ‘He had me tied in his basement.’
‘He’s after me.’
The victim sought help from a neighbor, while on the phone to police.
Officers arrived on the scene just as Latunski turned up to retrieve the leather kilt the man was wearing, saying it was expensive and belonged to him.
The victim again declined to file charges against Latunski, telling police their activity was consensual.
Police said they did not follow up on Latunski because both men declined to pursue charges against him.
Latunski was taken to a local hospital at around 5:08 pm Tuesday, where he was kept under guard by officers, before he was returned to his cell later that night at around 9:45 pm.
Latunski has been charged with murder and mutilation of a human body and is being held without bond.
A judge ordered him to undergo a series of mental health evaluations in January, which could take up to three months.