Alexandra Kogut, Clayton Whittemore: ‘Dateline’ NBC To Focus On Dorm Room, College Coed Beating At Brockton State College

The murder of Alexandra Kogut by her boyfriend, Clayton Whittemore, is the focus of the next Dateline NBC Friday. Dateline brings you interesting cases to examine each week — up close and personal. This week, viewers will hear from law enforcement and family and friends of Alexandra Kogut. Kogut was an 18-year-old Brockport State College student who was found dead in her dorm in 2012. Her violent death was committed by her abusive boyfriend, Clayton Whittemore.

Alexandra “Alex” Kogut’s case came to the attention of the public in 2012, when police found a dead body in the Mclean Hall dorm room at Brockport College in New York. Her mother had a bad premonition that something terrible had happened to her daughter. She first contacted her daughter’s roommate who was away visiting family that weekend. The mother’s gut feeling turned out to be correct. Her daughter Alex was not okay. She was lying dead in the dorm room.

Police arrived at the location to do a welfare check on Alex Kogut. Instead they found a chaotic scene inside the room. At first, police could not identify the girl. They were looking for Alex Kogut, a girl with blonde hair, but the girl on the floor was a brunette. Police thought they had found the roommate, instead. They put out an all points bulletin for Clayton Whittemore and Alexandra Kogut. They would later learn that the dead girl in the dorm room was actually Alex.

Shock waves ran through the college campus as students tried to figure out what had happened to their friend. Soon police had their answers after they received a frantic call from Clayton Whittemore’s father, who indicated that his son had confessed to killing someone. Whittemore had also confessed to his sister. Eventually, the former star athlete and hockey player turned himself in to law enforcement. He explained that they had been out to a party, and that alcohol was involved. He had also received a ticket that day, which aggravated him even more. According to Whittemore, after returning to Alex Kogut’s dorm room, the two argued over accusations of cheating. He said things escalated once Alex began pushing him causing him to lose it. Once he snapped, he beat her to death.

Friends and family members described Alex and Clayton as a nice couple who seemed to be very much in love. What no one knew was that Clayton was abusive to Alex, and she had the voice mails to prove it. Her case became a national example of what can happen when a couple is plagued by dating violence.

Clayton Whittemore was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 25-years-to-life. Today, Whittemore sits in the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York. His first chance for parole is in 2037. Tune in to the Dateline NBC Friday episode, “After Midnight” at 10/9 central to see how the police were able to unravel this very confusing case.

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