Timothy J. Ginocchetti, a Syracuse University senior engineering major, was charged with second-degree murder Thursday morning at Manlius Town Court after allegedly stabbing his mother to death at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, police said.

Manlius police found the body of Pamela Ginocchetti inside the home at 11:30 p.m., after Ginocchetti called 911.

Pamela Ginocchetti was pronounced dead on site, and at the request of the police, Ginocchetti left the home and was taken into custody.

A knife was recovered at the scene by police, but it is unknown at this time as to whether it is the murder weapon.

Ginocchetti is the son of John Ginocchetti, formerly of the Fayetteville Fire Department, who was killed in a house fire in Pompey, N.Y., along with Timothy J. Lynch, on March 7, 2002.

The community raised more than $300,000 to support both the Ginocchetti and Lynch families. Ginocchetti was given a scholarship to attend SU, where he made the dean’s list last semester.

Kevin Morrow, SU spokesman and director of SU News Services, could not be reached for comment.

Matt Mowers, a junior mechanical engineering major and high school friend of Ginocchetti, said the incident has left him ‘astonished.’

‘I went through all of high school with him and went to every class with him,’ Mowers said. ‘He’s the last person I’d ever think would do something like that. He’s an incredibly smart kid, quiet, keeps to himself and is a very reliable individual. He always comes through on what he does.’

Samuel Clemence, Ginocchetti’s academic adviser, said he has known Ginocchetti since his freshman year and has also taught him in several courses.

‘It’s really a sad event,’ Clemence said. ‘He’s such a bright young man, doing so well. I think we’re all sad here in the ECS community.’

Eric Spina, interim vice chancellor at SU, said he was ‘terribly impressed’ with Ginocchetti when they first met.

Ginocchetti made an appointment with an undergraduate recruiter in the engineering school before he was accepted at SU, and Spina, the associate dean of the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science at that time, met Ginocchetti that day because the recruiter was so impressed by him and his family that she asked Spina to say hello.

‘He knew he wanted to be a civil engineer at SU, to stay in Central New York and make a contribution,’ Spina said. ‘And he had already accomplished things on his own. That alone made it a memorable meeting.’

Spina described Ginocchetti as gentle, shy and well-dressed, and said he didn’t notice any indication of issues that Ginocchetti may have been dealing with internally or with his family.

‘I don’t regard those as suspicious things,’ Spina said. ‘So certainly we are struggling with what might have happened.’

Spina could not point out any lack of support from Ginocchetti’s mother or any of his immediate family members in attending SU.

‘When they visited in his sophomore year, they all seemed thrilled to be there,’ Spina said. ‘Interacting with his mother over the last few years from time to time, she seemed very supportive of him.’

Spina called the current circumstance in the community tragic, and noted multiple levels of concern.

‘Much like students, student family members are part of our community. We are saddened by (Pamela Ginocchetti’s death), and we are obviously concerned about our student. It’s a complex situation if he himself did perpetrate this crime. We are all struggling to try and understand it.’

Kevin Quinn, vice president of public relations at SU, said Wednesday night’s incident clearly had an effect on the people that knew Ginocchetti; however, he said the occurrence has not affected opening weekend at the university.

‘On a day-to-day capacity,’ Quinn said, ‘orientation and move-in weekend are proceeding as planned.’

Chancellor Nancy Cantor sent an e-mail on Thursday at about 4:30 p.m. to inform all SU students, faculty and staff about the incident.

‘All of us are shocked and saddened by this tragic news,’ Cantor said in the e-mail, ‘and our thoughts are with the Ginocchetti family during this extremely difficult time. Clearly, there is real tragedy at the heart of this incident.’

Published on August 24, 2006 at 12:00 pm