ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A distraught ex-boyfriend stabbed two SUNY Geneseo students to death before calling his father and taking his own life, police said Monday afternoon.
Geneseo Police Spokesman Jeffrey Szczesniak provided an update on the investigation involving three people in their early 20s found dead Sunday morning in an off-campus home.
The victims were identified as: Kelsey Annese, 21, of Webster, and Matthew Hutchinson, 24, of North Vancouver, British Columbia. The assailant was identified as Colin Kingston, 24, of Geneseo.
According to police, Kingston, who recently broke up with Annese after a three-year relationship, brought a "large knife" to the home and confronted Annese and Hutchinson and an altercation ensued. Annese and Hutchinson were found dead at 18 Wadsworth St. with fatal stab wounds.
"Mr. Kingston was distraught over the breakup, which led to the events of yesterday," Szczesniak said.
Police Chief Eric Osganian said that Kingston purchased the knife in the days beforehand.
Police said Kingston called his father and told him what occurred before killing himself with the same knife. Kingston's father then called authorities.
There was no sign of forced entry into the house and the incident was believed to have occurred sometime between 5:30 a.m. and at 6:21 a.m. ET — when Kingston's father made the 911 call, Szczesniak said.
Four other people were in the house at the time of the fatal stabbings, police said. Annese was on the SUNY Geneseo basketball team and teammates also lived in rented rooms within the house, but did not hear the struggle. Police said "indications are that it happened very quickly" and there was no signs of a large struggle.
Hutchinson played on the school's hockey team and was a volunteer firefighter in town. Kingston was a former SUNY Geneseo student.
SUNY Geneseo president Denise Battles once again extended her condolences to those affected by the tragedy.
"It's a profoundly sad day for all of us at SUNY Geneseo and the village as we begin to mourn these heartbreaking deaths," she said.
Students are returning from winter break, she said.
"It will likely be very difficult for many to face a new semester with this tragedy on their minds."
Battles said Tuesday's men's and women's basketball games will be postponed and there will be a Wednesday evening remembrance in the school's gymnasium.
Szczesniak said this amounts to a great tragedy in a community where everyone knows each other.
"Certainly we will all work together to get through this situation and this difficult time," he said. "It’s one that I’m sure with some time and some healing that hopefully, this can be a learning experience for some young people, too, things, other alternatives maybe that they can do instead of [resorting] to that act of violence."
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