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Police are reportedly investigating a possible serial killer operating in Lansing, Michigan.
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Police → log → Lansing
Police Chief Robert Backus told the press during a briefing on October 2 that officers are investigating the possibility that five recent deaths along the Lansing River Trail may be connected.
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deaths → tell → Trail
"One question that we are being asked is 'Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?'" Backus said during the briefing.
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Backus → ask → briefing
"What we need the public to know is that we are investigating all of these cases.
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we → need → cases
They are all active investigations, and we are looking at the idea or the possibility that these may be related cases."
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these → look → idea
He said police are looking for information, trends, and patterns, and noted that "we have developed some."
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we → say → some
Backus told the press that one of the connective elements between each of the murders is that the victims were all individuals experiencing homelessness.
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victims → tell → homelessness
He said investigators also believe the attacks happened in the dark, early morning hours, according to ABC News.
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attacks → say → News
"We believe that our victims in this case were lying down, potentially even sleeping.
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victims → believe → case
We don't know, but based on how we found our victims and their surroundings, it would lead us to believe that this could be a pattern," he said.
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he → know → us
The police chief said that the victims were ages ranging between 22 and 70 years old.
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victims → say → ?
One person has been charged in relation to one of the cases, which involved a stabbing, according to Backus.
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which → charge → Backus
He said the other four cases "involve what appear to be blunt force trauma, traumatic injuries to the facial area," though a weapon has not been identified in those attacks.
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weapon → say → attacks
Police said the first incident occurred on October 14, 2025.
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incident → say → October
Officers responded to a call concerning an injured man and found Gino Chouinard, 54, suffering from injuries to his face.
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Chouinard → respond → face
Chouinard died on October 27, according to the department.
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Chouinard → die → department
Backus said the medical examiner's office could not determine a cause of death in Chouinard's case.
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office → say → case
On July 13, Robert Smith, 57, was found bleeding from his head near the trail.
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Smith → find → trail
He was hospitalized and died on July 17.
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He → hospitalize → July
The medical examiner's office ruled his cause of death to be homicide.
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cause → rule → death
On July 29, 2026, police patrolling the trail found Denis Dunnebacke, 70, unresponsive.
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Dunnebacke → patrol → trail
He was transported to a hospital in critical condition and died on July 16.
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He → transport → July
No cause of death was determined in his case.
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cause → determine → case
On August 20, Daniel Lusk, 22, was found stabbed to death.
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Lusk → find → death
Police say they have a suspect in that case, Edward Joseph Smith, who has since been arrested.
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who → say → case
He was arraigned on September 3.
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He → arraign → September
On August 30, Louis Woodruff, 57, was found with facial injuries under a bridge near the trail.
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Woodruff → find → trail
He was hospitalized but died on September 1.
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He → hospitalize → September
That incident was ruled a homicide.
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incident → rule → ?
"I've mentioned that we have a suspect in custody for one of these incidents.
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we → mention → incidents
And so, the question that's been posed to us is, is this a suspect for all the incidents?" Backus said during the briefing.
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Backus → pose → briefing
"I want to be very clear that that is a challenging question to answer, but one I have to be very cautious on."
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I → want → one
The Aporia
