WTNH News Channel 8 / News / 1999

	Champion High School Wrestler Commits Suicide (Wilton-WTNH) _ The shocking suicide of a state champion wrestler and honor student at Wilton High School has his friends and family wondering why. 17-year old Sam Hingston died after dousing his body in gasoline and setting himself on fire. Flags at Hingston's school are flying at half-staff in his memory. News Channel 8's Christina Hager reports. Sam Hingston seemed as close to perfect any 17-year-old could be. A baseball player, a state wrestling champ, a football team captain. Also an academic star at Wilton High. A member of the National Honor Society and a straight-A student. Deborah Low, Principal: "He clicked so well with the senior class. He transferred here a year ago and he just instantly jumped in and ended up being one of the most respected students in the whole class." Wednesday morning police say Hingston locked himself in a bathroom in his home, drank gasoline, doused himself with it, then set himself on fire. He burned to death. Therapists we spoke with today say his method is the worst they've heard of. Dr. Robert Klein, Wilton Psychologist: "I want to be mutilated. I want to be completely disgraced and nonexistent. It's a very primitive, powerful message." Nobody knows why, but there's a lot of guessing. Those who knew Kingston say he'd been complaining of headaches. In fact, the night before this happened he went to bed with a headache. Some speculate it could have been adolescent pressure at an extreme. Dr. Klein: "To be this sort of ideal kid to be terribly successful and appear to be very confident and well adjusted, it's really difficult for those kids to say there's something that's really bothering me." At the school, teachers and students are struggling with how to honor their lost friend without glorifying the way he died. Low: "The flag is at half staff out of respect for the students here and their loss; not for the type of decision Sam made." Hingston leaves behind his parents, an older sister and a twin sister. We spoke with his father Richard who told us, "Sam loved everyone. He was a leader. He was humble. He taught us all a lot of lessons. We were very happy to have Sam." He added "Sam was a gift to us." Today's News Page. WTNH Home Page. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT A LIN station.

Champion High School Wrestler Commits Suicide
(Wilton-WTNH) _ The shocking suicide of a state champion wrestler and honor student at Wilton High School has his friends and family wondering why. 17-year old Sam Hingston died after dousing his body in gasoline and setting himself on fire. Flags at Hingston's school are flying at half-staff in his memory.
News Channel 8's Christina Hager reports.

Sam Hingston seemed as close to perfect any 17-year-old could be. A baseball player, a state wrestling champ, a football team captain. Also an academic star at Wilton High. A member of the National Honor Society and a straight-A student.

Deborah Low, Principal: "He clicked so well with the senior class. He transferred here a year ago and he just instantly jumped in and ended up being one of the most respected students in the whole class."

Wednesday morning police say Hingston locked himself in a bathroom in his home, drank gasoline, doused himself with it, then set himself on fire. He burned to death.

Therapists we spoke with today say his method is the worst they've heard of.

Dr. Robert Klein, Wilton Psychologist: "I want to be mutilated. I want to be completely disgraced and nonexistent. It's a very primitive, powerful message."

Nobody knows why, but there's a lot of guessing. Those who knew Kingston say he'd been complaining of headaches. In fact, the night before this happened he went to bed with a headache. Some speculate it could have been adolescent pressure at an extreme.

Dr. Klein: "To be this sort of ideal kid to be terribly successful and appear to be very confident and well adjusted, it's really difficult for those kids to say there's something that's really bothering me."

At the school, teachers and students are struggling with how to honor their lost friend without glorifying the way he died.

Low: "The flag is at half staff out of respect for the students here and their loss; not for the type of decision Sam made."

Hingston leaves behind his parents, an older sister and a twin sister. We spoke with his father Richard who told us, "Sam loved everyone. He was a leader. He was humble. He taught us all a lot of lessons. We were very happy to have Sam." He added "Sam was a gift to us."

Today's News Page.

WTNH Home Page.