A series of deaths on a short stretch of a river trail in Michigan’s capital may be the result of a serial killer, authorities said.
The five deaths spanned nearly a year, starting last October, and all appear to involve homeless victims, Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus told reporters last week.
“One of the questions we get is, ‘Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?'” Backus said. “What we need to let the public know is that we are investigating all of these cases. These are all active investigations, and we are looking into the idea or possibility that these are related cases.”
Three of the deaths were determined to be homicides, Backus said. The circumstances of the deaths of the other two are unclear. One of the deaths was ruled undetermined, Backus said, and no verdict has yet been rendered on the other death.
A suspect has been arrested in connection with one of the homicides — the stabbing of Daniel Lusk, 22, on Aug. 20, Backus said.
That suspect, Edward Smith, 24, has not been charged in any of the other deaths. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The other four deaths involved what Backus described as blunt traumatic injuries to the face. No weapon has been identified.
These victims are Gino Chouinard, 54 years old, died on October 14, 2025; Denis Dunnebacke, 70, found unconscious on July 9 and died three days later; Robert Smith, 57, found unconscious on July 13 and died four days later; and Louis Woodruff, 57, hospitalized August 30 and died September 1.
The men were found along a roughly 1.5-mile section of trail near downtown Lansing, according to locations provided by the police department.
“When I report these trends to you, I wish I had more information to share,” Backus said. “I wish I could be more certain and more concrete in what I say, but there are challenges in these cases. »
Among those challenges, Backus said, are the locations and times of the events that led to these deaths. There were no cameras or witnesses, he said, and the attacks allegedly took place early in the morning.
The police department installed cameras along the trail, he said, and night officers were assigned to patrol the area.
When asked at a news conference whether police should have warned the public after Dunnebacke’s death in July — he was the second man to die — Backus said it was not immediately clear that his injuries were the result of an assault.
Hospital staff members initially believed his death might have been due to a medical issue, Backus said, although police major crimes investigators investigated the case and treated it as a “suspicious situation.”
The circumstances of Dunnebacke’s death have not yet been determined, Backus said.
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