The River Trail runs roughly 20 miles through downtown Lansing, Michigan. Police are focusing on a one-mile section between Old Town and Kalamazoo Street after five unhoused men were found dead there in violent circumstances. Investigators are examining whether the deaths could be connected to a serial killer.
“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,” Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus said.
The victims ranged in age from 22 to 70 and, according to police, were all unhoused. They were identified as Gino Chouinard, Dennis Dunnebacke, Robert Smith, Daniel Lusk and Louis Woodruff.
Criminologist David Hayes said the cases appear to involve a specific victim profile and location. “If these are connected and we have a definite M.O., they were all around the bridge. They were probably all sleeping rough,” Hayes said.
Hayes noted that unhoused men are particularly vulnerable to violence, making the circumstances especially concerning for investigators and the community.
“What it looks like is, if they are connected, then there could potentially be a single offender with this,” Hayes said.
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Police said four of the men died from injuries to or around the head. The fifth victim, 22-year-old Daniel Lusk, was stabbed to death. Karen Holt, a professor at Michigan State University, said the differing methods could complicate efforts to determine whether the cases are linked.
“In the media that we consume and the portrayals of serial killers, we typically think they’re going to do the exact same thing. They’re going to leave that signature at every scene. But that’s not necessarily the case,” Holt said.
Holt explained that changes in the circumstances surrounding a crime can affect how it is carried out. She added that advances in police investigative techniques and surveillance over the past 20 years could help authorities identify a suspect.
“The fact that these are happening in Ingham County in a very close proximity to one another, then it’s a lot easier to see that pattern and to, hopefully, to start investigating and to catch that perpetrator quickly,” Holt said.