Geneseo seeks stability in wake of apparent murder-suicide
GENESEO — Classes at State University College at Geneseo resume on Tuesday as scheduled, an effort at stability in this Livingston County community stung by sadness and disbelief after the son of a prominent local family allegedly stabbed two students to death then took his own life.
In shops along Main Street, in the firehouse, and on neighborhood streets, people spoke of knots in their stomach; the interconnected nature of a small town; the terrible, shared unspoken feeling of it all.
The apparent murder-suicide left three people in their early 20s dead Sunday morning in an upstairs bedroom of an off-campus home: Kelsey Annese, 21, of Webster; Matthew Hutchinson, 24, of North Vancouver, British Columbia, both college seniors; and Colin Kingston, 24, of Geneseo.
Kingston, who police say was distraught over his breakup with Annese after a three-year relationship, allegedly went to the house at 18 Wadsworth St. sometime between 5:30 and 6:20 a.m. Annese rented the upstairs room. Annese and Hutchinson were stabbed several times with a "large knife" that Kingston allegedly bought from a local retailer in the days prior, police said. Kingston then called his father, said he had harmed Annese and threatened to kill himself. His father called 911. All three were dead when officers arrived.
"No one had heard anything that was happening in the house," Geneseo police spokesman Officer Jeffrey Szczensiak said, adding that it is possible that Annese and Hutchinson were asleep at the time. "It occurred in a small area, the bedroom. (There is) no indication that we can say there was an actual struggle that took place. We believe that it was something that probably happened very quickly."
Four other people were in the house at the time of the fatal stabbings, police said, and there was no sign of forced entry. A backdoor was unlocked when police arrived.
Annese was on the SUNY Geneseo women's basketball team and teammates also lived in rented rooms within the house. The men's and women's basketball games set for Tuesday have been postponed.
READ: 'Everyone loved Kelsey' says teammate
Hutchinson was a senior defenseman on the college's hockey team. Kingston attended SUNY Geneseo until 2013, but did not graduate. A remembrance ceremony is planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday in Kuhl Gymnasium at the college.
In Geneseo, most everyone either goes to the college or works at the college. Student-athletes tend to be more prominent. The Kingston family traces it roots to the 1840s. Colin's grandfather was the late Walter Kingston, who served on the Geneseo Central School Board and later as supervisor of the town of Geneseo. He had a stint as chairman of the Livingston County Board of Supervisors in the 1990s.
"It was big. It was the Kingstons," said David Congdon, 22, a cook at Mama Mia's Pizza who was in Boy Scouts and graduated high school with Colin Kingston. "I have some buddies I haven't talked to since high school say, 'You want to go grab a drink at the Idle (Hour bar)?' And they didn't have to say why."
The "why" was to talk, he said, not just about what happened but to see if everyone was having those same feelings.
LISTEN: Audio suggests Colin Kingston's dad called 911
Kingston graduated from Geneseo High School in 2009. Rich Miles coached him in basketball from 2007 to 2008 when Colin was a junior.
"He was one of my favorite kids ... I loved his attitude," Miles said. "He was our toughest guy, toughest defender. He was about 6-3. Just a very physical kid. A farm kid, you know? Just went after it and always competed. I really liked him a lot. He was one of my favorites, easily. He never complained. He showed up. He worked hard."
Police said there had been no prior incidents involving Annese and Kingston. Kingston "had made some suicidal comments to several people but no actual threats to harm Ms. Annese or anybody else," Szczensiak said. He was unsure whether Kingston and Hutchinson had ever met.
READ: Colin Kingston's former coach said 'He was one of my favorite kids'
Annese worked at Wegmans, both at Geneseo and on Holt Road back home in Webster. Hutchinson also was a volunteer firefighter. And the Kingstons? "Everybody has a connection to the family," said Geneseo Fire Chief Andrew Chanler, a lifelong resident.
READ: Firefighters honor Matthew Hutchinson
"With a tragedy like this, all of a sudden you have a small town," he said.
It was a sentiment shared across the community.
"It was pretty terrible ... just because the way it is in Geneseo, you almost always know somebody who knows somebody, and that was definitely the case (here)," said Lucio Accorso, a junior at the college who lives near 18 Wadsworth St.
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," Battles said.
"It will likely be very difficult for many to face the new semester with this tragedy on their minds," she continued, her voice cracking. "We think our students will be comforted by keeping as much stability in their lives as possible even during a difficult period of mourning."
She joined Szczesniak and other law enforcement at a Monday new conference, where both reflected on the close-knit nature of the community.
"Certainly we will all work together to get through this situation and this difficult time," Szczesniak 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."
Staff writers Mary Chao and Todd Clausen contributed to this report.
Geneseo victim's teammate: 'Everyone loved Kelsey'
Colin Kingston's former coach: 'He was one of my favorite kids'