Michigan police suggest possible serial killer responsible for string of deaths

Police are investigating the possibility that a serial killer could be responsible for a string of recent deaths along the Lansing River Trail in Lansing, Michigan, according to Police Chief Robert Backus.

Backus provided details on five recent deaths in Michigan's capital city at a recent press conference.

"One question that we are being asked is 'Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?'" Backus said at the press conference on Oct. 2. "What we need the public to know is that we are investigating all of these cases. They are all active investigations, and we are looking at the idea or the possibility that these may be related cases."

Backus continued, "We look for information. We look for trends. We look for patterns. And we have developed some."

Backus said some of those identified patterns include the belief that each victim is unhoused, and a suspicion that each of the injuries sustained during these events occurred overnight, specifically in early morning hours.

"We believe that our victims in this case were lying down, potentially even sleeping. We don't know that, but based on how we found our victims and their surroundings, it would lead us to believe that this could be a pattern," he said.

Backus shared that all victims were white males ranging from 22 to 70 years old.

In one case, where a person has been charged, a victim was stabbed. The four other cases, "involve what appear to be blunt force trauma, traumatic injuries to the facial area" but no known weapon, according to police.

The first incident occurred Oct. 14, 2025, when police received a call about an injured subject and found a 54-year-old male. Gino Chouinard, with injuries to his face. Chouinard died on Oct. 27, police said.

"The medical examiner's office has issued a finding of an undetermined cause of death," Backus said.

On July 9, 2026, police working on the trail found 70-year-old Denis Dunnebacke unresponsive. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died July 16, Backus said, adding that the medical examiner has not issued a finding in the death.

A third case, on July 13, involved 57-year-old Robert Smith, who was found unresponsive and bleeding from his head, according to police. He was hospitalized and died July 17. The medical examiner's office found the cause of death was homicide on Sept. 17, Backus said.

On Aug. 20, 2026, 22-year-old Daniel Lusk was found stabbed to death. Police have arrested a suspect in that case, Edward Joseph Smith, who has been charged with open murder.

Smith was arraigned on Sept. 3 on an open murder charge, according to a court docket. ABC News has reached out to an attorney for Smith listed on the docket.

Finally, in a fifth incident on Aug. 30, police found 57-year-old Louis Woodruff with apparent facial injuries under the bridge. He was hospitalized and later died Sept. 1. The incident has been classified as a homicide, Backus said.

"I've mentioned that we have a suspect in custody for one of these incidents. And so, the question that's been posed to us is, is this a suspect for all the incidents?" said Backus.

"I want to be very clear that that is a challenging question to answer, but one I have to be very cautious on," he said.

Backus continued, "Using a suspect, and then with that name using that to develop or find evidence that meets your theory, that leads you down a road of inappropriate charges, misidentification, some very big problems. So in law enforcement, our responsibility and our ethics demand that we approach this in the right manner."

Backus said that, along with other police responses to the crime pattern, a tip line had been set up to handle River Trail assaults specifically.

Backus also touched on what he sees as the importance of surveillance footage, saying "We don't have a lot of surveillance footage, and that's a hot topic right now. And I do believe more surveillance would help us. More cameras would help us in this scenario."