Who Is Killing Homeless Men in Lansing? Police Hunt a Pattern Across Five Deaths

Five homeless men are dead. They were found one by one along barely a mile of paved greenway in Michigan's capital, each apparently struck down in the dark while they slept under the same cluster of bridges — and investigators cannot yet say whether the same hand is responsible for all of it.

A Year of Violence Concentrated on One Mile

The first victim, Gino Chouinard, 54, was discovered unconscious along the trail on October 14, 2025, suffering what his uncle Robert Chouinard described as a crushed skull and six broken ribs. A state champion wrestler at Lansing's Sexton High School in his youth, Chouinard had been sleeping along the trail and showed no defensive wounds whatsoever. He died at a hospital 13 days later; the medical examiner has ruled his cause of death indeterminate.

The next nine months were quiet — and then, in rapid succession, the trail turned lethal again.

Four Deaths in Weeks: The Summer That Accelerated Everything

On July 9, 2026, officers patrolling the trail found Denis Dunnebacke, 70, unconscious and covered in vomit beneath the Kalamazoo Street Bridge, with visible facial injuries. A lifelong Lansing resident who taught drums, guitar, and keyboard to children and adults for many years — and who had helped produce a pro-life recording titled Mother of Life, Son of Mercy — Dunnebacke died on July 16 after being taken off life support. His cause of death, too, was declared indeterminate by the Ingham County Medical Examiner's Office, and investigators continue to treat it as suspicious.

Four days later, on July 13, Robert William Smith, 57, was found unresponsive and bleeding from his head at a nearby stretch of the trail. He died at a hospital four days later; his death was ruled a homicide. His cousin Teresa Sumpter told the Lansing State Journal that "the brain swelling was so bad doctors said he wouldn't recover."

The Arrest That Left More Questions Than Answers

On August 20, 22-year-old Daniel Lusk became the only victim found already dead — fatally stabbed beneath the Michigan Avenue Bridge. Surveillance footage from adjacent buildings captured a man leaving the scene, crossing downtown Lansing on foot and stopping at a public drinking fountain to rinse his arm, according to court records. Police identified Edward Joseph Smith, 23, from that footage, then recovered blood from the fountain and found a sweatshirt in his tent that matched what the suspect wore on camera. Smith was arraigned September 3 on a charge of open murder — as a habitual second offender — and remains held without bond pending a court-ordered mental health evaluation.

The Lusk case stands apart. He and Smith were both in their 20s, while the four other victims were over 50. It is the only case with an identified weapon and the only one where a suspect has been charged. Police have not named Smith as a suspect in any of the remaining four deaths.

The Fifth Victim — and a Second Homicide Ruling

Ten days after Lusk's stabbing, on August 30, Louis Woodruff, 57, was found at approximately 3:24 a.m. beneath the Robert Busby Memorial Bridge in Lansing's Old Town neighborhood, near the 200 block of East Cesar Chavez Avenue, with severe facial trauma. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition and died September 1; the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. His family described him as someone with "a big heart, a smile that could brighten any room."

"Do We Have a Serial Killer?"

At an October 2 news conference, Chief Robert Backus laid out the overlapping details: all five men were homeless White males, the incidents appeared to happen between 3 and 4 a.m., and investigators believe the victims were likely lying down — possibly asleep — when struck. Four of the five cases involve apparent blunt-force trauma to the face; Lusk's was a stabbing. Backus stopped short of confirming a single perpetrator, acknowledging it was "a challenging question to answer."

Criminologist Dr. David Hayes, speaking to FOX 2 Detroit, explained that unhoused victims create investigative blind spots: they have no digital footprint, no routine that witnesses can verify, and the people who live alongside them on the trail are generally unwilling to speak to law enforcement. Karen Holt, a criminology professor at Michigan State University, put it plainly to Fox News: "Don't walk the trail would be my advice. Maybe walk a different trail."

A Campus on Alert, a City Mobilizing

MSU Police Chief Chris Rozman confirmed that the university has upgraded its section of the River Trail with additional LED lighting and Green Light emergency phones equipped with cameras, and that officers now patrol the greenway on bicycle around the clock. The Lansing Police Department has stationed mobile camera trailers along the trail, increased overnight patrols, and deployed social workers to connect with people still sleeping there. A dedicated tip line for River Trail incidents is active at (517) 483-6023.

As of October 23, 2026, four of the five homicide investigations remain open. No additional arrests have been announced.

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