LANSING, Mich. — The coronavirus pandemic has put accused murderer Mark Latunski’s transfer from a county jail to a psychiatric hospital on hold indefinitely.
Latunksi, of Bennington Township, remains lodged in the Shiawassee County Jail and still believes he’s someone by the name of Edgar Thomas Hill, said Doug Corwin, the county’s public defender.
Corwin told News 10 Thursday he doesn’t know when Latunski could be moved to a state psychiatric hospital in Ypsilanti. Corwin last saw Latunski four weeks ago during a video conference call from the jail.
Latunski is accused of killing 25-year-old Kevin Bacon of Swartz Creek after he met him through a dating app.
Bacon’s body was found Dec. 28 hanging from the ceiling of Mark Latunski’s home on Tyrell Road in Bennington Township, 90 miles northwest of Detroit. Police said Latunski admitted to killing Bacon and eating parts of his body.
In late February, Latunski received a psychiatric evaluation at the Ypsilanti hospital and was deemed by a judge unfit to stand trial. He then returned to the county jail.
Before the pandemic struck the U.S. in mid-March, Paul Latunski, Mark Latunski’s brother, was granted by a judge temporary conservatorship of Mark’s assets, Corwin said.
The ruling appeared to come about a month after Mark Latunski’s home at 703 W. Tyrrell Road was sold at an auction.
On Wednesday, Paul Latunski was arraigned in Shiawassee County’s 66th District Court on two charges of felonious assault stemming from an alleged March 28 incident at his sibling’s former home.
Mary Chartier, Paul Latunski’s attorney, told News 10 on Wednesday that her client didn’t commit a crime and was “exercising his legal rights when he was defending a property he was responsible to maintain.”
“We will vigorously defend his rights in this case,” Chartier wrote in a Facebook message.
Paul Latunski has been released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond and is not to go near or to the residence, according to court records. He is due back in court May 20 for a probable cause hearing.
Each felony charge Paul Latunski faces carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and or a $2,000 fine.
Court records indicate Paul Latunski lives at 103 E. Tyrrell Road and allegedly assaulted two people who appear to have some type of connection to the 703 W. Tyrrell Road residence since it was auctioned off.
The 703 W. Tyrrell Road home is currently owned by Steven Deehl, of Fenton, according to county property records. Messages left with Deehl weren’t returned
Court records list eight witnesses to some type of March 28 incident at the property that involved Paul Latunski, including four people with a Latunski last name.
When contacted by News 10, Shiawassee County Sheriff Lt. Cory Carson declined to comment. Messages left this week with Shiawassee County Prosecutor Scott Koerner haven’t been returned.
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