Five Men Dead Along One Michigan Trail. The Serial Killer Question Isn't the Only One Lansing Needs to Answer.

Five men. One stretch of trail. Four victims found with serious injuries to their faces or heads, and another stabbed to death.

And now police in Lansing, Michigan, are investigating whether there's a serial killer targeting homeless people.

That's some disturbing shit.

But what bothers me just as much as the possibility of a serial killer is the fact that some of these deaths happened months ago, and the public is only now learning how serious the pattern might be.

According to Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus, investigators have identified similarities between five deaths occurring from October 2025 through August 2026. All five victims were men experiencing homelessness, ranging in age from 22 to 70.

Police believe the injuries may have occurred during the overnight or early morning hours, possibly while some of the victims were lying down or sleeping.

Three deaths have been ruled homicides. The other two have not been officially determined to be homicides.

And that's where we need to be careful.

A pattern doesn't automatically mean there's a serial killer. But it damn sure means there's something worth investigating.6ix / 6ixtv

Five names. Five lives.

The first case dates back to October 14, 2025.

Gino Chouinard, 54, was found with serious facial injuries near East Oakland Avenue. He died in the hospital on October 27. His official cause of death was ruled undetermined.

On July 9, 2026, Denis Dunnebacke, 70, was discovered unresponsive beneath the Kalamazoo Street Bridge with apparent facial injuries. He died on July 16. His cause of death was still awaiting a medical examiner's determination as of the October 2 police briefing.

Just four days after Dunnebacke was found, Robert William Smith, 57, was discovered bleeding from his head near the same area where Chouinard had been found months earlier. Smith died July 17, and his death was subsequently ruled a homicide.

On August 20, Daniel Lusk, 22, was found stabbed to death beneath the Michigan Avenue Bridge. Police arrested 23-year-old Edward Smith, who has been charged with open murder in connection with Lusk's death. Smith is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and authorities have not publicly connected him to the other cases.

Then, on August 30, Louis Woodruff, 57, was found with severe facial injuries along the trail near East Cesar Chavez Avenue. He died September 1. Police classified his death as a homicide.

These weren't five men who simply disappeared.

These were five people with names, families, histories and lives that mattered before their deaths became national headlines.

The part I can't ignore: Why wasn't the public informed sooner?

Here's where the story gets even more concerning.

Local reporting revealed that police did not issue a public announcement following Dunnebacke's death in July.

Chief Backus explained that investigators had received conflicting medical information about whether Dunnebacke's injuries were criminal or medical in nature. The department's position was that it typically waits for clearer findings before broadly announcing certain suspicious deaths.

I can understand not wanting to tell the public there's a murderer running around without evidence supporting that conclusion.

That's responsible policing.

But there's a difference between avoiding unnecessary panic and keeping people informed about potentially dangerous situations.

Lansing City Council member Ryan Kost also questioned the lack of communication, arguing that the questionable nature of a death should not prevent police from informing the public that an investigation is underway.

And I agree with that.

You don't have to declare something a homicide to tell people there may be a safety concern worth knowing about.6ix / 6ixtv

Especially when the next victim could be sleeping in that same area.

To be fair, the department did release information about some of the other incidents, and police say they had recognized similarities and increased patrols. So I'm not going to claim investigators ignored these men altogether.

But the communication surrounding these deaths deserves scrutiny.

Would this story have been handled differently if the victims had homes?

That's the question I keep coming back to.

I'm not saying police deliberately ignored these deaths because the victims were homeless. There isn't evidence establishing that.

But I think it's fair to question whether society takes violence against homeless people as seriously as it does violence against people with addresses, jobs and homes.

Local homeless advocates have raised similar concerns. They've also warned that clearing encampments can leave vulnerable people isolated rather than living near others who might help keep them safe.

And think about that.

If somebody is sleeping outside because they don't have anywhere else to go, what exactly are they supposed to do when they're told it's no longer safe to sleep there?

Go home?

That's the entire problem. They don't have one.

Lansing officials say they've increased police patrols, deployed mobile surveillance cameras and worked with outreach organizations to help people access safer places to stay.

Those are reasonable responses, and I support efforts that genuinely protect people.

But moving homeless people away from a trail isn't the same thing as addressing homelessness. Cameras might help identify a suspect, but they can't replace somewhere safe to sleep.

And whatever the answer is, it needs to involve actual housing and meaningful protection, not just making poverty less visible.

So, is there actually a serial killer?

Right now, nobody has established that.

Police have identified similarities involving the victims, locations, timing and injuries. But similarities alone don't prove one individual committed every crime.

Four men had apparent blunt-force injuries involving the head or face. The fifth died from stab wounds, and someone has been charged in that particular case.

There could be a connection between all five deaths, some of them or none of them.

Until investigators establish that connection through evidence, treating all five cases as the work of one killer would be irresponsible.

And that's important because once the media starts using the words serial killer, people naturally begin interpreting every new piece of information through that possibility.

We can't let a compelling headline become a substitute for evidence.

My take: The biggest failure would be forgetting these men again.

I don't need a confirmed serial killer to believe this situation deserves national attention.

Three confirmed homicides, two unresolved deaths, repeated traumatic injuries and an extremely vulnerable population are already enough to justify serious public concern.

Chief Backus has acknowledged investigative challenges, including limited witnesses and surveillance footage. Police have asked the public to help them find answers.

Good. I hope they do.

But I also hope that once the sensational headlines disappear, people remember why these victims were vulnerable in the first place.

Something that stood out to me was the city's effort to reassure people that the River Trail and downtown remain safe for residents and visitors.

I understand wanting to keep the community calm.

But those five men were residents too. They just didn't have homes.6ix / 6ixtv

And that's the part I don't want lost in this story.

Because whether one person is responsible for these deaths or five different circumstances explain what happened, the responsibility to protect vulnerable people doesn't disappear.

Being homeless shouldn't mean being invisible.

And it damn sure shouldn't mean your death matters less.

Anyone with information about these cases can contact Lansing Police at 517-483-6023 or Crime Stoppers at 517-483-7867.

6ixtv | Independent reporting, commentary and perspective. This article distinguishes confirmed investigative findings from allegations and editorial opinion. The investigation remains ongoing.