Police release new information on one River Trail death
Lansing Police released information Wednesday on the manner of death for Denis Dunnebacke, one of several people who have been found potentially violently beaten along the Lansing River Trail before dying in the past year.
The manner of Dunnebacke’s death is considered “indeterminate,” according to police.
Lansing Police Chief Rob Backus has acknowledged public concern about a “serial killer” in the community and said similarities between at least four of the five known deaths, including Dunnebacke’s, mean that police are seriously considering links between the deaths.
“For example, we believe that all of our victims are members of our unhoused community,” he said in an Oct. 2 news conference. “We suspect that in these instances, the injuries occur overnight, in the early morning hours. We believe that our victims in this case were lying down, potentially even sleeping.”
With the announcement Wednesday, the manner of two of the four deaths are now classified as indeterminate, one as pending and one as homicide.
Manner of death is one of several classifications on a death certification, including cause and mechanism. Manner is typically one of only six options: Natural, accidental, homicide, suicide, undetermined or under investigation.
One of the five known deaths near the trail – a fatal stabbing with someone arrested and charged – is being potentially excluded as different from the others.
The other four death cases have had no arrests and are potentially linked to beatings.
Police have not identified an obvious weapon or instrument they suspect was used, the chief said.
The victims were all white men, ranging in age from 22, the stabbing victim, to 70 years old.
Most survived several days in a hospital before dying; the earliest of the deaths was in 2025.
Gino Chouinard, 54, died on Oct. 27, about two weeks after he was injured. His death is considered indeterminate, according to a statement from UM Health-Sparrow, which handles medical examinations in Ingham County.
Dunnebacke’s manner of death was pending earlier this month and has been moved to indeterminate, according to a Lansing Police Department statement on Wednesday afternoon.
Dunnebacke was found with serious injuries on July 9 and he died a week later.
Backus said medical officials initially described it as a medical cause rather than criminal, but the chief said police treated it as a suspicious case from the onset.
Robert Smith, 57, was found on July 13, he was pronounced dead on July 17. His manner of death is classified as a homicide, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
The stabbing death, of 22-year-old Daniel Lusk, happened on Aug. 20 and a man has been charged with open murder. His manner of death was a homicide, according to the examiners.
The most recent case was over a month ago, when Louis Woodruff, 57, was found with severe facial injuries. Woodruff’s manner of death remains pending, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
