The Western University community is in mourning after news that a popular student on campus was one of the two dead in an apparent murder-suicide that took place in Richmond Hill on Thursday.

The York Regional Police homicide unit identified the victims as 52-year-old Karen Costa and 22-year-old Jeffrey Costa. Their bodies were located by police at a home on Dunvegan Dr. around 11 a.m. yesterday, with “obvious signs of trauma.”

Neighbours confirmed to the Star that Jeffrey was Costa’s son.

On Friday, Western University in London, Ont., posted a Facebook message about Costa, who was a third-year student in the social science department.

“The Western community is mourning the death of student Jeffrey Costa, who died April 7 in Richmond Hill, Ont.,” says the post. “Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. The university has set up grief support for those in our community requiring counselling of any kind.”

John Carson, the director of campus police, said Jeffrey was well-known and well-regarded on campus. “He was quite a positive leader in the community,” he said. “He was a very well-known young man, and very well-liked.”

He was a “soph” in both his residence, Medway-Sydenham Hall, and in his program, mentoring younger students. “He would help junior students when they came in, and the orientation of new students,” said Carson. Jeffrey was also on the academic dean’s list for the last two years.

First year Western student Kyle Bryden said he met Jeffrey briefly last fall, during another tragic incident where a fellow student had committed suicide. Bryden said he was moved by how “selfless” Jeffrey was, in trying to offer support to students struggling to cope with the tragedy.

“He was an extremely helpful person,” said Bryden. “He always seemed like such a happy guy.”

The Hospital for Sick Children confirmed Karen Costa had been a nurse at the hospital and had worked there from 1985 to 2015. Under a picture of her playing golf from December on her Facebook page, friends had remarked on her recent retirement.

York Regional Police said they received a 9-1-1 call Thursday morning. In a press release issued later that day, police said they believed the incident to be a “domestic homicide” and that they were not looking for any suspects.

“We can’t confirm the cause of death until the post-mortem is complete,” Const. Andy Pattenden said Friday, adding that more details would be released Monday. He said investigators were also trying to piece together the sequence of events.

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Carson said the university has been assisting police as part of their background investigation — and trying to help students on campus cope with the tragedy.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” he said. “It’s such a terrible situation. We feel so badly for everyone involved, which extends to our students who are trying to deal with this.”

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