What to Know
- Connecticut investment banker Scott Hapgood is suing a resort operator over a deadly April 2019 fight
- Hapgood, who is facing manslaughter charges in Anguilla, claims Auberge Resorts was negligent in employing Kenny Mitchel
- Mitchel was allegedly facing unrelated criminal charges when he died; an autopsy found drugs and alcohol in his system
The Connecticut father charged in the death of a hotel worker in Anguilla is now suing the resort's operator, claiming it was negligent in hiring the man in the first place.
Scott Hapgood faces manslaughter charges in the April 2019 death of Kenny Mitchel.
The investment banker claims he was fighting to protect his family as Mitchel entered their room with a knife in an attempt to rob them, and then died during the struggle. The accused killer has not gone into details regarding specifics of the attack, just that he was acting in self-defense and trying to save his wife and three children.
Hapgood has said that Mitchel initially arrived at their room wearing his hotel uniform, saying he needed to fix their sink — even though they never called for a repair. Things turned sour quickly, and the Darien resident ended up bloody and bruised, while Mitchel wound up dead.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in a California court, claims that Auberge Resorts LLC knew or should have known that Mitchel was facing criminal charges that would purportedly make him ineligible to work in Anguilla. It also alleges that the resort delayed calling for police and medical assistance.
Spokespeople for the resort were not immediately available to comment.
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Late last year, Hapgood declined to return to Anguilla for a pretrial hearing. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal has said he was concerned about Hapgood's safety, and President Trump has tweeted that "something looks and sounds very wrong" about the case.
A post-mortem toxicology report found that Mitchel had cocaine, marijuana and alcohol in his system at the time of his death.
