LANSING, MI (WTVB) – The Lansing Police Department is actively investigating whether a serial killer is targeting the city’s homeless population following a string of violent attacks along the Lansing River Trail.
Over the past year, five homeless men between the ages of 22 and 70 have died from severe head trauma or stab wounds suffered in the middle of the night along a brief, one-mile stretch near downtown.
At a recent press conference, Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus confirmed that authorities are looking at the strong possibility that these active cases are related,
law enforcement has arrested 23-year-old Edward Joseph Smith in connection with the fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Daniel Lusk, one of the five victims found under an avenue bridge. Investigators are currently working to determine if Smith is linked to the remaining four unsolved homicides and suspicious deaths.
Former FBI profiler Elizabeth Vargas says the cases at least on the surface appear to be connected but investigator’s will eventually rely on forensics
In response to severe criticism from local advocates and victims’ families over delayed public warnings, city officials have escalated safety measures.
The Lansing Police Department has since deployed mobile camera trailers, heightened nighttime patrols, and dispatched social workers along the greenway to protect vulnerable individuals remaining on the trail.
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