Oct. 8, 2026
Michigan Believes It Has A Serial Killer Along Lansing’s River Trail
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RSS Feed Over the past year, Michigan police say the violent deaths of five white men along a popular river trail appear to be connected. Lansing’s police chief acknowledged that the city may have a serial killer on its hands and have asked for help from the community, setting up a tip line. Four of the victims were brutally beaten in the head, suffering facial injuries, all eventually dying from their injuries in the hospital. One of the men was stabbed to death, and police have made an arrest in that case, but aren’t sure if the person they have in custody is actually the person responsible for this series of brutal murders.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, October 8th, and police in Michigan think they might have a serial killer on their hands after five similar murders. And now they have a guy in custody. But is he the guy? And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes. There might be a serial killer on the loose in Lansing, Michigan. All right, let's take that in.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is Michigan State campus right there. And these five men who have been all described as suffering violent deaths were all found over the course of a year, but most of them over the course of a few months along a very popular river trail.
00:00:50
Speaker 3: It's gorgeous.
00:00:51
Speaker 2: It cuts through the heart of Lansing, Michigan. It's about a 20-mile stretch. We know as runners, And certainly in a campus community, a university community, you've got a lot of runners, a lot of folks who are pounding the trail. And so, yeah, those trails are beloved for bikers and hikers and walkers and runners.
00:01:10
Speaker 1: I don't know it. I haven't been up there. But the impression I get of it, it's awesome. And everybody uses it.
00:01:15
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: This sounds exactly like some of those classic trails that cut through, just gorgeous. And it's one of those. Now, it's a really long stretch.
00:01:22
Speaker 3: 20 miles.
00:01:23
Speaker 1: Okay. But the stretch all these men were found were in a very short stretch. one mile stretch.
00:01:29
Speaker 3: Exactly.
00:01:30
Speaker 2: And so when you see, uh, all of these men dying in similar fashion, there is one that stands out. We'll get into it. Um, over a short period of time. Yes, I believe police had no choice but to acknowledge that they believe they may have a serial killer.
00:01:45
Speaker 3: And it's rare to have a.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Police chief because especially you've, again, you've got, this is a college campus.
00:01:51
Speaker 3: You've got parents who are worried. Parents are concerned.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: A university that doesn't want this type of headline coming out. So for a police chief to stand there in front of reporters and say, we believe we may have a serial killer.
00:02:04
Speaker 3: That's a big deal.
00:02:05
Speaker 1: What, do you mean a public official getting in front of a microphone during a time of crisis and actually being straight with us? You mean that thing, seeing God?
00:02:12
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: Yes, it's obvious. It's what everybody is thinking. And I'm sure there are other police chiefs who might have done it differently. Well, we're looking to do some things. Maybe it's a possibility. Well, nothing for sure.
00:02:22
Speaker 3: We can't say for sure.
00:02:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, all that stuff. No, this is, you got five dead white dudes in the same area in similar manners.
00:02:31
Speaker 2: Come on.
00:02:32
Speaker 1: And so I do. You're right, baby. I appreciated him. He didn't couch his words too much. He didn't freak us out, didn't panic us, but acknowledged what we're all thinking.
00:02:41
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
00:02:41
Speaker 2: And as you mentioned, these are all white men, but they're between the ages of 22 and 70. And we can go through how each of these men were found.
00:02:52
Speaker 3: The first one, actually, interestingly, was about a year ago, October 14th, 2025. 54-year-old Geno.
00:03:01
Speaker 2: Chouinard. He was found, and this is what is so disturbing about this because a lot of these victims have similar injuries, but found with injuries to his face. And here's the deal. They find him suffering in a really bad state. They rush him to the hospital in critical condition. He dies October 27th. So it took him nearly two weeks to die of his injuries. And this is also a.
00:03:30
Speaker 1: Awful.
00:03:30
Speaker 2: This isn't a quick death. This isn't an instant death. This was a torturous beating. And they haven't said what they believe the weapon is at this point, but the injuries to the face that ultimately proved to be fatal, I actually, that's one of the most horrific deaths I can imagine.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: And it seems, Robes, these weren't confrontations or fights. These seem to be absolutely unprovoked and in some cases, sleeping attacks.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:04:00
Speaker 1: That's horrible.
00:04:01
Speaker 2: Police say all of the men, all of the victims were experiencing homelessness. They were unhoused individuals. So Many of them, they say the biggest problem, they hadn't really been worried about violence or violent acts along these rail trails, along this rail trail. There is a homeless population that does tend to sleep under the bridges, and you've seen this in any urban area. And so the sad thing is these are vulnerable individuals. They're helpless in a lot of ways. They might not be in an alert state. So yes, either they were lying down or sleeping while these attacks took place.
00:04:35
Speaker 1: Well, who the hell is preying on them?
00:04:37
Speaker 3: Some sick individual.
00:04:39
Speaker 2: It's the same thing when you go after people who are harmless and helpless and have done nothing to you. There was no confrontation. There was no reason or motive behind why. So when you've got somebody selecting basically easy targets, now you've got a sick, twisted individual who just likes killing.
00:05:09
Speaker 1: And very specific targets.
00:05:13
Speaker 2: Ones who don't fight back. Ones who might not have people who care about them or are worried about them. This is killing for the thrill of killing. Yes.
00:05:19
Speaker 1: This is killing for sport.
00:05:21
Speaker 2: And you worry when you have someone who's willing to take out someone who's done nothing to you, who is not in any way able to fight back. You just worry about how that could escalate. That is concerning. So that was on October 14th, 2025. Now fast forward to the summer. July 9th, 2026. They find a 70-year-old man. His name is Dennis Dunback. He was found unresponsive and beaten. Yes, he was also taken to the hospital in critical condition, and it did also.
00:05:52
Speaker 3: Take him a full week to die.
00:05:55
Speaker 2: Right there, similar mode of operation and similarly disturbing.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Not beaten to death, beaten to the edge of death. Man. That's horrible.
00:06:07
Speaker 3: That's so cruel to like, think about that.
00:06:10
Speaker 2: If you are doing something that violent to someone and you stop short of killing them, that's as cruel as they get. I had just now kind of landed on me in that moment.
00:06:20
Speaker 1: Robes, this is not, um, I am so, this is, we've had serial killers. We know serial, like the, the classics, if you will, like historic figures, like the Dahmers of the world, right? Robes, what is going on with this person that's... Robes, they are doing this for the joy of it. You identify something. You're not stealing. They're not being robbed. They don't have anything to rob them of. You're just going through and picking out... Robes, I want some profiler to talk to me about what type of person is doing this.
00:06:54
Speaker 2: And then you stop short of actually putting them out of their suffering.
00:07:00
Speaker 1: Wow.
00:07:01
Speaker 2: But you've done enough damage that they're going to die, but slowly. Okay, so that's July 9th. Now July 13th. So just four days later, they find 57-year-old Robert Smith again, unconscious and bleeding from his head. So he was bashed in the head. He was taken to the hospital and and died July 17th, so four days later.
00:07:30
Speaker 3: Again, this is all the same pattern of horror.
00:07:35
Speaker 2: I mean, really, I don't think I've ever seen anything like this, where you beat someone almost to death to the point where they die days later, one after the other after the other.
00:07:44
Speaker 3: So now it's picked up. Now it's ticked up. Now let's go to August 20th.
00:07:49
Speaker 2: 22-year-old Daniel Lusk was found, and this is the outlier, stabbed to death. So this was the one that didn't necessarily fit in the other's mode of operation, but he was still found in the same timeline along the same river trail in the same period of time.
00:08:12
Speaker 1: And look, Robes, I know no suggestion that they're not looking into this with everything they have, but when, I mean, the concern there is, is this person going to get out of their MO? Is, Was this just convenient, or do they not care if they're killing a student on campus, a woman for a jog? Do they not care, or is there any reason to believe? Well, nobody's going to take relief, but right now it seems to be concentrated to one area, to one type of victim.
00:08:40
Speaker 3: Correct.
00:08:41
Speaker 2: But then just 10 days later, August 30th, They find 57-year-old Louis Woodruff with facial injuries once again under the bridge. He was hospitalized and died on September 1st. So two days later, he died. But again, it's unbelievable that he knows this person, this horrific human, knows to beat people just to the brink of death. And then they all died days later. Even with medical intervention, there was no helping them. And so this is just awful. Now, that was the last known death, August 30th. So this police presser that we got, yes, we had the police chief come out and say, one question we are being asked, do we have a serial killer in Lansing? And he answered, what we need to know, the public to know, is that we are investigating all of these cases.
00:09:31
Speaker 3: They are active investigations.
00:09:33
Speaker 2: And we are looking at the idea or the possibility that these may be related cases. He said, based on how we found our victims and their surroundings, it would lead us to believe that this could be a pattern.
00:09:49
Speaker 1: It looks like it. Bro, this is... And right. So the one last year, give me the time again. How condensed in time were the ones we've had from this year?
00:10:00
Speaker 2: Oh, the ones from this year are all within the, so October 14th was the first one. And then you've got from July 9th to August 30th, you have four deaths.
00:10:09
Speaker 3: So two a month.
00:10:11
Speaker 1: Wait, July to what?
00:10:12
Speaker 2: July 9th to August 30th. That's a concentrated period of time and all of the victims. I mean, this is frightening. So yes, we mentioned this at the top. There is one person under arrest, but the question is, is he their guy? Is he the serial killer? Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. We heard from Lansing's police chief there in Michigan, college campus, along a very popular running river trail. They have had five deaths of five men, all in similar fashion. There was one death that stood out from the others. 22-year-old Daniel Lusk was found stabbed to death. And for that murder, there was a surveillance camera. And That surveillance camera caught someone and police have arrested who they believe is responsible, 23-year-old.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: Edward Joseph Smith. He's officially been charged with open murder.
00:11:24
Speaker 2: And this was for the August 20th stabbing of 22-year-old Daniel Lusk, as we mentioned. He was arraigned on September 3rd. I think it'll be interesting. He's in custody right now. The stabbing death obviously is very different in terms of the method used. than the bashing people's faces into near death. But now that he's behind bars, this is going to be curious. Are the killings going to stop? Could it be that the actual serial killer who did the others thinks, ooh, I'm going to lay low for a while because they think they have their guy?
00:11:58
Speaker 3: Or is he the guy?
00:12:02
Speaker 1: Rolls from what? at least my reading from the authorities, they didn't have a high confidence that this is the guy, that there is still somebody out there. They believe.
00:12:12
Speaker 2: And that is why they had this big press conference too. The police chief, when asked specifically about that, said, I've mentioned we have a suspect in custody for one of these incidents. And so the question that's been posed to us Is this a suspect for all the incidents?
00:12:27
Speaker 3: I love this.
00:12:27
Speaker 2: The police chief was asking questions that he knew were going to be asked by the reporters and then answering them ahead of time.
00:12:34
Speaker 3: I love that.
00:12:34
Speaker 2: He acknowledged, like, I know what you all are going to be asking me. So let me go ahead and tell you what your question is, and I'll give you our best answer.
00:12:42
Speaker 3: I really like this guy. The police chief said this.
00:12:45
Speaker 2: I want to be clear that that is a challenging question to answer, but one I have to be very cautious on. Using a suspect and then with that name, using that to develop or find evidence that meets your theory that leads you down a road of inappropriate charges, misidentification, that leads to some very big problems. So in law enforcement, our responsibility and our ethics demand that we approach this in the right manner, a.k.a. they don't think he's their guy.
00:13:15
Speaker 1: He was almost talking like he was preparing for trial. Because they always get caught up in that. So you had a theory, first of all, and didn't follow the evidence.
00:13:26
Speaker 2: Right?
00:13:26
Speaker 1: Yes. He's already saying, you know... It's not really going that way.
00:13:32
Speaker 3: Yep, he did.
00:13:33
Speaker 1: Okay, this guy is good.
00:13:34
Speaker 3: I liked it.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: So they've set up a tip line for folks there in the Lansing area if they saw anything or heard anything or know of anything.
00:13:43
Speaker 3: To please call police.
00:13:45
Speaker 2: But they are also asking, it's so funny in this era, we just did an episode on those flock cameras and how so many municipalities are trying to take them down, get rid of them, disable them. because of privacy concerns and misuse. But this police chief says, you know what would help? If we had more surveillance cameras in the area. And you think about this, a running trail through the woods, I would feel way more comfortable. There are places where I wouldn't want a flock camera, but as a runner, And I know so many people love those trails and love using them, but to think that there isn't, there aren't really many surveillance cameras at all along this stretch. And if they had them, they would be able to almost certainly identify what happened to these men. So they are actually asking the city to put up surveillance cameras along this trail. But my God, I certainly wouldn't be running on it. And if I had a daughter at Michigan State, I would tell her over my dead body, are you going to run on that trail?
00:14:43
Speaker 1: Nobody is going to be on that trail. Police have to be all over that trail. Are people still using that thing? Would you feel safe in groups?
00:14:52
Speaker 3: Nope.
00:14:52
Speaker 1: Two, three women running all the time.
00:14:54
Speaker 2: I have chills from head to toe thinking about it. If I knew that there was a serial killer, and yes, that right now, whoever this person is has been targeting a very specific person, but who's to say that they wouldn't?
00:15:04
Speaker 3: This is a crime of opportunity.
00:15:07
Speaker 2: And obviously this person likes torturing before they kill someone. I wouldn't get anywhere near that trail until they knew for a fact they had their guy.
00:15:17
Speaker 1: And college students are all over this thing, aren't they?
00:15:20
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:15:20
Speaker 1: I assume they're using it like crazy.
00:15:22
Speaker 3: Yes, it cuts through the heart of downtown Lansing.
00:15:26
Speaker 2: And the campus is East Lansing a little bit there, but still, this is a popular trail and certainly cause for concern. And again, applauding the police there for being transparent and being straightforward. Uh, it helps, especially when you've got a scary story like this with a really scary headline with potentially a scary person, an evil person out there.
00:15:48
Speaker 1: This, this shouldn't be a big deal, but we, we listened to so many press conferences still now, but over our careers and we hear that law enforcement's stand up there and we know how they talk and we know what they say. We know what to expect a lot of times, babe. And So it did. And it's worth noting. And this does kind of stand out. We so often just say we need an adult. We need some leadership. We need somebody to make us feel better, not scare us, but be straight with us. We're adults. And that just seems like how he handled the room.
00:16:19
Speaker 2: I agree.
00:16:20
Speaker 3: And I want to give him props. Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus.
00:16:23
Speaker 2: That's his name. Good job, Chief Backus. We hope you get your guy or if you have him, you're able to prove that he was the man responsible for all of these deaths. But we'll keep our eye on this story. We always appreciate you listening to us, everyone. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:16:39
Speaker 3: We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, October 8th, and police in Michigan think they might have a serial killer on their hands after five similar murders. And now they have a guy in custody. But is he the guy? And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes. There might be a serial killer on the loose in Lansing, Michigan. All right, let's take that in.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is Michigan State campus right there. And these five men who have been all described as suffering violent deaths were all found over the course of a year, but most of them over the course of a few months along a very popular river trail.
00:00:50
Speaker 3: It's gorgeous.
00:00:51
Speaker 2: It cuts through the heart of Lansing, Michigan. It's about a 20-mile stretch. We know as runners, And certainly in a campus community, a university community, you've got a lot of runners, a lot of folks who are pounding the trail. And so, yeah, those trails are beloved for bikers and hikers and walkers and runners.
00:01:10
Speaker 1: I don't know it. I haven't been up there. But the impression I get of it, it's awesome. And everybody uses it.
00:01:15
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: This sounds exactly like some of those classic trails that cut through, just gorgeous. And it's one of those. Now, it's a really long stretch.
00:01:22
Speaker 3: 20 miles.
00:01:23
Speaker 1: Okay. But the stretch all these men were found were in a very short stretch. one mile stretch.
00:01:29
Speaker 3: Exactly.
00:01:30
Speaker 2: And so when you see, uh, all of these men dying in similar fashion, there is one that stands out. We'll get into it. Um, over a short period of time. Yes, I believe police had no choice but to acknowledge that they believe they may have a serial killer.
00:01:45
Speaker 3: And it's rare to have a.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Police chief because especially you've, again, you've got, this is a college campus.
00:01:51
Speaker 3: You've got parents who are worried. Parents are concerned.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: A university that doesn't want this type of headline coming out. So for a police chief to stand there in front of reporters and say, we believe we may have a serial killer.
00:02:04
Speaker 3: That's a big deal.
00:02:05
Speaker 1: What, do you mean a public official getting in front of a microphone during a time of crisis and actually being straight with us? You mean that thing, seeing God?
00:02:12
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: Yes, it's obvious. It's what everybody is thinking. And I'm sure there are other police chiefs who might have done it differently. Well, we're looking to do some things. Maybe it's a possibility. Well, nothing for sure.
00:02:22
Speaker 3: We can't say for sure.
00:02:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, all that stuff. No, this is, you got five dead white dudes in the same area in similar manners.
00:02:31
Speaker 2: Come on.
00:02:32
Speaker 1: And so I do. You're right, baby. I appreciated him. He didn't couch his words too much. He didn't freak us out, didn't panic us, but acknowledged what we're all thinking.
00:02:41
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
00:02:41
Speaker 2: And as you mentioned, these are all white men, but they're between the ages of 22 and 70. And we can go through how each of these men were found.
00:02:52
Speaker 3: The first one, actually, interestingly, was about a year ago, October 14th, 2025. 54-year-old Geno.
00:03:01
Speaker 2: Chouinard. He was found, and this is what is so disturbing about this because a lot of these victims have similar injuries, but found with injuries to his face. And here's the deal. They find him suffering in a really bad state. They rush him to the hospital in critical condition. He dies October 27th. So it took him nearly two weeks to die of his injuries. And this is also a.
00:03:30
Speaker 1: Awful.
00:03:30
Speaker 2: This isn't a quick death. This isn't an instant death. This was a torturous beating. And they haven't said what they believe the weapon is at this point, but the injuries to the face that ultimately proved to be fatal, I actually, that's one of the most horrific deaths I can imagine.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: And it seems, Robes, these weren't confrontations or fights. These seem to be absolutely unprovoked and in some cases, sleeping attacks.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:04:00
Speaker 1: That's horrible.
00:04:01
Speaker 2: Police say all of the men, all of the victims were experiencing homelessness. They were unhoused individuals. So Many of them, they say the biggest problem, they hadn't really been worried about violence or violent acts along these rail trails, along this rail trail. There is a homeless population that does tend to sleep under the bridges, and you've seen this in any urban area. And so the sad thing is these are vulnerable individuals. They're helpless in a lot of ways. They might not be in an alert state. So yes, either they were lying down or sleeping while these attacks took place.
00:04:35
Speaker 1: Well, who the hell is preying on them?
00:04:37
Speaker 3: Some sick individual.
00:04:39
Speaker 2: It's the same thing when you go after people who are harmless and helpless and have done nothing to you. There was no confrontation. There was no reason or motive behind why. So when you've got somebody selecting basically easy targets, now you've got a sick, twisted individual who just likes killing.
00:05:09
Speaker 1: And very specific targets.
00:05:13
Speaker 2: Ones who don't fight back. Ones who might not have people who care about them or are worried about them. This is killing for the thrill of killing. Yes.
00:05:19
Speaker 1: This is killing for sport.
00:05:21
Speaker 2: And you worry when you have someone who's willing to take out someone who's done nothing to you, who is not in any way able to fight back. You just worry about how that could escalate. That is concerning. So that was on October 14th, 2025. Now fast forward to the summer. July 9th, 2026. They find a 70-year-old man. His name is Dennis Dunback. He was found unresponsive and beaten. Yes, he was also taken to the hospital in critical condition, and it did also.
00:05:52
Speaker 3: Take him a full week to die.
00:05:55
Speaker 2: Right there, similar mode of operation and similarly disturbing.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Not beaten to death, beaten to the edge of death. Man. That's horrible.
00:06:07
Speaker 3: That's so cruel to like, think about that.
00:06:10
Speaker 2: If you are doing something that violent to someone and you stop short of killing them, that's as cruel as they get. I had just now kind of landed on me in that moment.
00:06:20
Speaker 1: Robes, this is not, um, I am so, this is, we've had serial killers. We know serial, like the, the classics, if you will, like historic figures, like the Dahmers of the world, right? Robes, what is going on with this person that's... Robes, they are doing this for the joy of it. You identify something. You're not stealing. They're not being robbed. They don't have anything to rob them of. You're just going through and picking out... Robes, I want some profiler to talk to me about what type of person is doing this.
00:06:54
Speaker 2: And then you stop short of actually putting them out of their suffering.
00:07:00
Speaker 1: Wow.
00:07:01
Speaker 2: But you've done enough damage that they're going to die, but slowly. Okay, so that's July 9th. Now July 13th. So just four days later, they find 57-year-old Robert Smith again, unconscious and bleeding from his head. So he was bashed in the head. He was taken to the hospital and and died July 17th, so four days later.
00:07:30
Speaker 3: Again, this is all the same pattern of horror.
00:07:35
Speaker 2: I mean, really, I don't think I've ever seen anything like this, where you beat someone almost to death to the point where they die days later, one after the other after the other.
00:07:44
Speaker 3: So now it's picked up. Now it's ticked up. Now let's go to August 20th.
00:07:49
Speaker 2: 22-year-old Daniel Lusk was found, and this is the outlier, stabbed to death. So this was the one that didn't necessarily fit in the other's mode of operation, but he was still found in the same timeline along the same river trail in the same period of time.
00:08:12
Speaker 1: And look, Robes, I know no suggestion that they're not looking into this with everything they have, but when, I mean, the concern there is, is this person going to get out of their MO? Is, Was this just convenient, or do they not care if they're killing a student on campus, a woman for a jog? Do they not care, or is there any reason to believe? Well, nobody's going to take relief, but right now it seems to be concentrated to one area, to one type of victim.
00:08:40
Speaker 3: Correct.
00:08:41
Speaker 2: But then just 10 days later, August 30th, They find 57-year-old Louis Woodruff with facial injuries once again under the bridge. He was hospitalized and died on September 1st. So two days later, he died. But again, it's unbelievable that he knows this person, this horrific human, knows to beat people just to the brink of death. And then they all died days later. Even with medical intervention, there was no helping them. And so this is just awful. Now, that was the last known death, August 30th. So this police presser that we got, yes, we had the police chief come out and say, one question we are being asked, do we have a serial killer in Lansing? And he answered, what we need to know, the public to know, is that we are investigating all of these cases.
00:09:31
Speaker 3: They are active investigations.
00:09:33
Speaker 2: And we are looking at the idea or the possibility that these may be related cases. He said, based on how we found our victims and their surroundings, it would lead us to believe that this could be a pattern.
00:09:49
Speaker 1: It looks like it. Bro, this is... And right. So the one last year, give me the time again. How condensed in time were the ones we've had from this year?
00:10:00
Speaker 2: Oh, the ones from this year are all within the, so October 14th was the first one. And then you've got from July 9th to August 30th, you have four deaths.
00:10:09
Speaker 3: So two a month.
00:10:11
Speaker 1: Wait, July to what?
00:10:12
Speaker 2: July 9th to August 30th. That's a concentrated period of time and all of the victims. I mean, this is frightening. So yes, we mentioned this at the top. There is one person under arrest, but the question is, is he their guy? Is he the serial killer? Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. We heard from Lansing's police chief there in Michigan, college campus, along a very popular running river trail. They have had five deaths of five men, all in similar fashion. There was one death that stood out from the others. 22-year-old Daniel Lusk was found stabbed to death. And for that murder, there was a surveillance camera. And That surveillance camera caught someone and police have arrested who they believe is responsible, 23-year-old.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: Edward Joseph Smith. He's officially been charged with open murder.
00:11:24
Speaker 2: And this was for the August 20th stabbing of 22-year-old Daniel Lusk, as we mentioned. He was arraigned on September 3rd. I think it'll be interesting. He's in custody right now. The stabbing death obviously is very different in terms of the method used. than the bashing people's faces into near death. But now that he's behind bars, this is going to be curious. Are the killings going to stop? Could it be that the actual serial killer who did the others thinks, ooh, I'm going to lay low for a while because they think they have their guy?
00:11:58
Speaker 3: Or is he the guy?
00:12:02
Speaker 1: Rolls from what? at least my reading from the authorities, they didn't have a high confidence that this is the guy, that there is still somebody out there. They believe.
00:12:12
Speaker 2: And that is why they had this big press conference too. The police chief, when asked specifically about that, said, I've mentioned we have a suspect in custody for one of these incidents. And so the question that's been posed to us Is this a suspect for all the incidents?
00:12:27
Speaker 3: I love this.
00:12:27
Speaker 2: The police chief was asking questions that he knew were going to be asked by the reporters and then answering them ahead of time.
00:12:34
Speaker 3: I love that.
00:12:34
Speaker 2: He acknowledged, like, I know what you all are going to be asking me. So let me go ahead and tell you what your question is, and I'll give you our best answer.
00:12:42
Speaker 3: I really like this guy. The police chief said this.
00:12:45
Speaker 2: I want to be clear that that is a challenging question to answer, but one I have to be very cautious on. Using a suspect and then with that name, using that to develop or find evidence that meets your theory that leads you down a road of inappropriate charges, misidentification, that leads to some very big problems. So in law enforcement, our responsibility and our ethics demand that we approach this in the right manner, a.k.a. they don't think he's their guy.
00:13:15
Speaker 1: He was almost talking like he was preparing for trial. Because they always get caught up in that. So you had a theory, first of all, and didn't follow the evidence.
00:13:26
Speaker 2: Right?
00:13:26
Speaker 1: Yes. He's already saying, you know... It's not really going that way.
00:13:32
Speaker 3: Yep, he did.
00:13:33
Speaker 1: Okay, this guy is good.
00:13:34
Speaker 3: I liked it.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: So they've set up a tip line for folks there in the Lansing area if they saw anything or heard anything or know of anything.
00:13:43
Speaker 3: To please call police.
00:13:45
Speaker 2: But they are also asking, it's so funny in this era, we just did an episode on those flock cameras and how so many municipalities are trying to take them down, get rid of them, disable them. because of privacy concerns and misuse. But this police chief says, you know what would help? If we had more surveillance cameras in the area. And you think about this, a running trail through the woods, I would feel way more comfortable. There are places where I wouldn't want a flock camera, but as a runner, And I know so many people love those trails and love using them, but to think that there isn't, there aren't really many surveillance cameras at all along this stretch. And if they had them, they would be able to almost certainly identify what happened to these men. So they are actually asking the city to put up surveillance cameras along this trail. But my God, I certainly wouldn't be running on it. And if I had a daughter at Michigan State, I would tell her over my dead body, are you going to run on that trail?
00:14:43
Speaker 1: Nobody is going to be on that trail. Police have to be all over that trail. Are people still using that thing? Would you feel safe in groups?
00:14:52
Speaker 3: Nope.
00:14:52
Speaker 1: Two, three women running all the time.
00:14:54
Speaker 2: I have chills from head to toe thinking about it. If I knew that there was a serial killer, and yes, that right now, whoever this person is has been targeting a very specific person, but who's to say that they wouldn't?
00:15:04
Speaker 3: This is a crime of opportunity.
00:15:07
Speaker 2: And obviously this person likes torturing before they kill someone. I wouldn't get anywhere near that trail until they knew for a fact they had their guy.
00:15:17
Speaker 1: And college students are all over this thing, aren't they?
00:15:20
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:15:20
Speaker 1: I assume they're using it like crazy.
00:15:22
Speaker 3: Yes, it cuts through the heart of downtown Lansing.
00:15:26
Speaker 2: And the campus is East Lansing a little bit there, but still, this is a popular trail and certainly cause for concern. And again, applauding the police there for being transparent and being straightforward. Uh, it helps, especially when you've got a scary story like this with a really scary headline with potentially a scary person, an evil person out there.
00:15:48
Speaker 1: This, this shouldn't be a big deal, but we, we listened to so many press conferences still now, but over our careers and we hear that law enforcement's stand up there and we know how they talk and we know what they say. We know what to expect a lot of times, babe. And So it did. And it's worth noting. And this does kind of stand out. We so often just say we need an adult. We need some leadership. We need somebody to make us feel better, not scare us, but be straight with us. We're adults. And that just seems like how he handled the room.
00:16:19
Speaker 2: I agree.
00:16:20
Speaker 3: And I want to give him props. Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus.
00:16:23
Speaker 2: That's his name. Good job, Chief Backus. We hope you get your guy or if you have him, you're able to prove that he was the man responsible for all of these deaths. But we'll keep our eye on this story. We always appreciate you listening to us, everyone. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:16:39
Speaker 3: We'll talk to you soon.