Todd Haynes’ 2023 film, May December, is loosely based on the scandalous life of Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher in Washington State who, in the 1990s, was convicted of second-degree child rape. Letourneau died in 2020 — here’s what caused her death, and what her final few days were like.
Letourneau’s sexual relationship, rape, and molestation of her then-13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau, was exposed in the late 1990s. At that time, Letourneau’s first husband, Steve Letourneau, discovered explicit correspondence between his wife and her student. In 1997, Letourneau pleaded guilty to second-degree child rape, and served three months in prison.
After her first release, having served just three months, she violated the terms of her parole, kept in contact with Fualauu, and was resentenced. In the end, Letourneau served that first prison term and an additional seven years over the Fualauu relationship, which she maintained was consensual. Once freed, Fualaau and Letourneau married in 2005. Fualauu was 21.
Letourneau died from cancer complications
In 2020, The New York Times wrote that Letourneau — who by that time had divorced Vili Fualauu — died in a suburb of Seattle at the age of 58 from cancer complications. Her marriage with Fualauu ended one year earlier. To this day, Fualauu denies Letourneau abused him, but although they married, their relationship fits the legal standard of child grooming, sexual molestation, and rape.
The Letourneau case, then as now, fascinates the public and true crime fans in particular, as covered in Todd Haynes’ 2023 film, May December. Beyond the fact that Letourneau and Fualauu got married, had kids, and divorced, one aspect of Letourneau’s final few days makes their relationship even more incomprehensible.
Fualauu was there when Letourneau died
Despite the nature of their relationship, Fualauu was at Letourneau’s bedside in her final moments. One of Letourneau and Fualauu’s daughters was also there, along with another daughter from Letourneau’s first marriage. In her lifetime, Letourneau had seven kids — four with her first husband, Steve, and two more with Fualauu.
When she died, Letourneau had only recently been diagnosed with colon cancer, which had spread to her liver, brain, and spine. At that point, her prognosis was terminal.
Referring later to the impact Letourneau had on his life, Tualauu said, “There was no perversion and there was no history of her having any odd things with the other minors. There’s nothing I can’t say to people that don’t care to listen or don’t care to learn. But that is my wife and she is my best friend. And we had our kids together, and we did get married. And we had a whole life together.” (via Biography).
May December is now streaming on Netflix.
