Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus said today that investigators are seeing “patterns” in the deaths of five homeless men on the River Trail over the last year, but he stopped short of calling them victims of a serial killer.
“We look for patterns,” Backus said at a morning press conference, “and we are seeing some.”
He said all the victims were homeless white men and that their injuries occurred in the “early morning hours.”
“We believe that our victims in this case were lying down, potentially even sleeping,” Backus said. "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 four of the five cases appeared to be “blunt force trauma” with “traumatic injuries to the facial area.” He added that no weapon was used, “or no known weapon.”
The fifth death was a stabbing.
“I wish I had more information to share with you,” Backus said. “I wish I could be more certain and concrete in what I say. But there are challenges in these cases.”
Among those he cited were the time and locations, resulting “in a lack of witnesses.”
“Also, because of location, we don’t have a lot of surveillance footage, and that’s a hot topic right now," Backus said.
“More cameras would help us in this scenario,” he said, adding that the police have added patrols and camera trailers along the trail.
The chief asked for help from the public and encouraged calls to (517) 483-6023 or Crime Stoppers at (517) 483-STOP (7867) to provide anonymous tips.
The five victims were:
— Gino Chouinard, 54. Backus said police responded to a call at 7:35 a.m. Oct. 14, 2025, about an injured man in the 300 block of East Oakland Avenue. He had injuries to his face, Backus said. He died in the hospital Oct. 27. Backus said the medical examiner issued a finding of an “undetermined cause of death.”
— Denis Dunnebacke, 70. Backus said police found him at 1:30 p.m. July 9 under the Kalamazoo Street Bridge. “He was unresponsive at the time. He was breathing, but he was also covered in vomit and had apparent facial injuries,” Backus said. He died July 16 after being taken off life support. The medical examiner has not issued a finding on his cause of death.
— Robert William Smith, 57. He was found July 13 “unresponsive and bleeding from his head” in the 300 block of East Oakland. “We recognized immediately that from the location and some of the common factors that this was very similar to Mr. Chouinard's death,” Backus said. He died July 17. The medical examiner ruled Sept. 17 that he was a homicide victim.
— Daniel Lusk, 22. He was found stabbed to death at 3:54 a.m. under the Michigan Avenue Bridge, Backus said. Police has arrested and charged Edward Smith, 23.
— Louis Woodruff, 57, who was found at 3:24 a.m. “with apparent facial injuries” in the 200 block of East Cesar Chavez Avenue under the Robert Busby Bridge. He died Sept. 1.
