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SUNY Geneseo: NY Students Killed In Double Murder Suicide

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 02:07 PST, Jan 20, 2016

Three SUNY Geneseo NY students were killed during a double murder suicide in the Rochester area town last weekend. Colin Kingston, a former student from a prominent family, killed Kelsey Annese and Matthew Hutchinson and then took his own life, police say.

Colin Kingston’s father called 911 to alert the police that his son contacted him via an unknown cell phone number and said that he had killed Kelsey Annese, who had recently broken up with him after a three-year relationship, and was going to kill himself. The elder Kingston did not know where his son was at the time of the call, but Geneseo police officers ultimately found three bodies at Annese’s home.

Geneseo, New York, police discovered the three bodies, two inside a bedroom, around 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, the Buffalo News reports. A knife was recovered from the scene and is believed to have been used as the murder weapon. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, two of the SUNY Geneseo victims were athletes at the college. Kelsey Annese, 21, was a native of Webster and played on the women’s basketball team.

Matthew Hutchinson was a member of the hockey team and the Geneseo Volunteer Fire Department. Hutchinson was from Vancouver, British Columbia, and spent last summer fighting wildfires with a team from his hometown. During an interview with the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Geneseo Fire Chief Andrew Chanler stated how difficult Hutchinson’s murder had been on the whole department. Chief Chanler said it was “special” for all of the firefighters to have been a part of Matt’s life.

Colin Kingston, also 24, comes from a Geneseo family that has been described as the “backbone” of the community. The family farm predates the Civil War. Colin’s grandfather was a leader in both city and county politics. The young man identified as the killer was not reportedly registered for classes at the State University of New York during the spring semester, which began earlier this week.

A memorial service to honor Kelsey Annese and Matthew Hutchinson is slated to take place tonight at Kuhl Gymnasium on the SUNY Geneseo campus, WGRZ reports. The hashtag #OneKnight is being used by friends and students to honor the murdered athletes. Geneseo had not reportedly experienced a murder in more than 20 years prior to the slayings of the New York students.

SUNY President Denise Battles released a statement about the double murder suicide on Monday afternoon.

“This is a very difficult time for the college, and we appreciate the huge outpouring of support we are receiving during this time of grieving,” Battles said. “The Geneseo we know is a strong community, and together we will pull together in dealing with the aftermath of this tragedy. Classes will begin tomorrow [Wednesday] as planned. We think our students will be comforted by keeping as much stability in their lives as possible, even during a difficult period of mourning.”

Kelsey Annese was majoring in both Spanish and education and was minoring in psychology, according to a Daily Mail report. Matthew Hutchinson wrote a student blog at the college and professed his desire to one day be a full-time firefighter. He was majoring in geography and minoring in business.

Geneseo police officers are still investigating the motive and details of the double murder suicide. According to a New York Daily News report, Colin Kingston had not had any prior criminal incidents. A spokesperson for the department did tell the media that although threats against Kelsey Annese by Colin had been reported before the killings, the local resident had made suicide threats previously.

[Image via Shutterstock.com]

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