Lansing police Chief Robert Backus has addressed the speculation among some residents of the state's capital city that a serial killer is behind the string of deaths resulting from violence on the city's River Trail.

"Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?" is the top question police recently have been asked, Backus said during a press conference Friday.

"What we need the public to know is we are investigating all of these cases," he said. "They are all active investigations. We are looking at the idea or the possibility that these may be related cases."

Five unhoused men have died after being severely injured along the Lansing River Trail in the last year. Their deaths and the similarities in the cases first were publicized by the Lansing State Journal in mid-September. LSJ reporters interviewed victims' family members who worried the cases weren't being given enough attention.

"I'm really concerned for the community," said Robert Chouinard, uncle to one of the victims, Gino Chouinard, in the LSJ. "It's (the place) where I grew up and lived. To know that this has happened too much, too often, there has to be a better effort to stop this."

The five men who have died along the river trail include:

• Gino Chouinard, 54, who was found unconscious with head trauma and other injuries on the trail at the 300 block of East Oakland Avenue on Oct. 14, 2025. Chouinard died Oct. 27, 2025, according to an online obituary.

• Denis Dunnebacke, 70, was found near the Kalamazoo Street Bridge with severe brain injuries and spinal fractures on July 9. He died July 16, according to an online obituary.

• Robert Smith, 57, was found with severe head trauma on July 13. He died four days later.

• Daniel Lusk, 22, of Lansing, was stabbed and killed on trail at the 300 block of East Michigan Avenue on Aug. 20. Edward Joseph Smith, 23, has been charged with open murder in connection with Lusk's death.

• Louis Woodruff, 57, was injured Aug. 30 along the trail in the 200 block of East Cesar Chavez Avenue. He was found unconscious with facial trauma. He died Sept. 1, according to an online obituary.

Similarities in deaths of unhoused Lansing men

The cases share similarities, Backus said Friday. The violence took place along a 1-mile stretch of the Lansing River Trail. All of the victims appear to have been unhoused. Police suspect they each were injured in the early morning while they were lying down, possibly sleeping.

"Based on how we found our victims and their surroundings, it would lead us to believe that this could be a pattern," Backus said.

Backus said one difference among the cases: Lusk was stabbed to death. The other four men sustained injuries that appear to be "blunt force trauma" to their faces. The injuries don't appear to have been caused by a weapon, Backus said.

Police are sharing evidence in these cases with the Ingham County medical examiner, Backus said. He said the medical examiner has not yet determined the cause of death in one case.

Would Flock cameras help Lansing River Trail investigations?

Police are encountering challenges to investigating the killings. Backus said their location, on the paved River Trail that winds through the city, and the fact that they have taken place in the early morning means police lack witnesses. There also is not surveillance footage of much of the area.

"That's a hot topic right now," Backus said, apparently referencing the controversy over police departments' use of Flock cameras in Lansing and other cities. "I do believe more surveillance would help us. More cameras would help us in this scenario. It would give us that subjective evidence, especially during the times and locations that we're covering today."

Lansing police ask people to call their tip line at (517) 483-7867 with information that may help them investigate the cases.

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