5 men died after being injured along a Michigan trail. Their deaths have raised questions about a possible serial killer

By Ray Sanchez, CNN

(CNN) — The night before Gino Chouinard was fatally wounded on a stretch of a popular trail in Michigan’s capital last fall, the 54-year-old man missed the intake window at a homeless shelter by a few minutes, according to his uncle.

“They wouldn’t let him into the shelter,” Robert Chouinard told CNN about his nephew. “They’re pretty strict with the rules. He called his girlfriend and told her he was going to sleep at the river trail.”

Gino Chouinard was found unconscious with head trauma and other injuries the morning of October 14, 2025. He died 13 days later in what would be the first in a string of violent deaths on the same stretch of the Lansing River Trail, police said.

In all, at least five deaths have been reported since October 2025, with the city’s police chief saying investigators believe the crimes could represent a “pattern” targeting White, unhoused men, and the mayor seeking to reassure the public the area remains safe for visitors.

“One question that we are being asked is, ‘Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?” Police Chief Robert Backus told reporters last week, adding that investigators are looking at the possibility “these may be related cases.”

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, in a statement, said a suspect in at least one of the deaths is in custody and police are looking into “all possible connections.”

“These attacks have specifically targeted men who were unhoused and sleeping along the river trail overnight, particularly from midnight to 6 a.m.,” Schor said. “We know that the general public has not been targeted in these attacks. … The Lansing river trail and our downtown remain safe for residents and visitors.”

The deaths occurred along a stretch of the more than 20-mile-long paved trail that winds through and connects numerous parks, Michigan State University, downtown Lansing and other areas. The trail is frequented by bikers, runners and walkers.

Men were ‘lying down, potentially even sleeping,’ police say

Chouinard, who was a gifted high school wrestler and football player, was unhoused intermittently following a stint with the National Guard in Iraq in the early 2000s, his uncle said.

“Gino was a state champion high school wrestler, an elite athlete, and I checked his knuckles and his knees. There were no defensive wounds, no struggle, no fight at all,” said Robert Chouinard, adding his nephew suffered a crushed skull and six broken ribs. “So apparently he was sleeping and got it in the back of the head.”

It was not until this summer when another man was injured on the same trail and died. Denis Dunnebacke, 70, was found on the trail near the Kalamazoo Street Bridge with facial injuries on July 9, and died days later, police said.

The medical examiner has not issued a finding on the death. Some medical staff at the hospital said the incident could have been “medical in nature,” and police treated the incident as “suspicious,” Backus said.

The next death involved 57-year-old Robert Smith, who police said was found on the trail on the morning of July 13. He was unresponsive and bleeding from his head and taken to a hospital, where he died days later. Last month, his death was declared a homicide by the medical examiner, police said.

Another man, Daniel Lusk, 22, was found stabbed to death early on the morning of August 20, Backus said. A suspect was charged with murder in connection with Lusk’s death, prosecutors said.

The man remains in custody without bond and has been referred for a competency evaluation, court records show. An attorney for the suspect, who has not been linked to the other deaths being investigated, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The fifth death involved Louis Woodruff, 57, who was found with facial injuries on August 30, according to police. He died on the first day of September and his death has been classified as a homicide.

Backus has said no other “assaultive-related deaths” have been reported on the trail.

“We suspect that in these instances, the injuries occurred overnight… We believe that our victims … were lying down, potentially even sleeping,” the police chief said.

At the time of the incidents, Backus said, there were no cameras or witnesses in the area. Since then, camera trailers have been moved to the trail, patrols have been stepped up and social workers have been reaching out to unhoused individuals in the area.

“I don’t want anyone to get the idea that we are not paying attention to this,” Bakus told reporters. “Or that we are not taking this seriously.”

After his nephew’s death, Robert Chouinard said he is concerned about the safety of the community he grew up in, and worries whether information about the deaths has not been publicly shared to avoid spreading alarm. Scott Bean, a city spokesperson, said via email “nothing is swept under the rug.”

“There’s a serial killer on the loose in my estimation,” Robert Chouinard said. “It’s either a serial killer or a copycat. … Gino was a tough kid, a beautiful kid, beautiful looking, a wonderful personality.”

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