The Scott Hapgood case centers on a Darien, Connecticut financial adviser who was charged with manslaughter in Anguilla after a hotel maintenance worker died during a violent struggle in his family’s resort suite in April 2019. Hapgood returned to the island three times for court, then refused to come back, was declared a fugitive, and has remained in the United States while his appeals through the Eastern Caribbean courts and the Privy Council in London failed. The manslaughter charge has never been resolved.
What Happened at the Malliouhana Resort
On April 13, 2019, Hapgood, then 44, was vacationing with his family at the Malliouhana Resort in Anguilla. According to the family’s account, a man in a hotel uniform knocked on their suite door saying he was there to fix a broken sink. Hapgood later said no sink in the room was broken.1CT Post. Scott Hapgood Case: Four Things We Don’t Know The man was Kenny Mitchel, a 27-year-old maintenance worker at the resort.
The family alleged Mitchel pulled a knife and demanded money, setting off a violent struggle.1CT Post. Scott Hapgood Case: Four Things We Don’t Know A spokeswoman for Hapgood described a “sudden, violent attack on the family” in which Mitchel was “armed and demanding money.”2CBS News. Scott Hapgood Claims Self-Defense in Death of Anguilla Resort Worker Hapgood, a former football player, overpowered and pinned Mitchel until a security guard arrived. Two of Hapgood’s children were in the room. He was later taken to a hospital for cuts and abrasions, and learned while giving a statement to police that Mitchel had died.3ABC News. American Describes Life as Living Nightmare After Manslaughter Charge in Anguilla
Mitchel’s family rejected the self-defense account. His uncle, Victor, told reporters, “Kenny was just not a person who’d give anybody problems.”2CBS News. Scott Hapgood Claims Self-Defense in Death of Anguilla Resort Worker
The Manslaughter Charge and a Shifting Autopsy
Hapgood was charged with manslaughter on April 16, 2019, one day after Mitchel’s death. He was granted bail the next day, conditioned on submitting to the Magistrate’s Court’s jurisdiction for a preliminary inquiry, and posted a $74,000 bond.4CNBC. UBS Trader Scott Hapgood Skips Anguilla Hearing After Trump Comment
The initial autopsy identified the cause of death as “prone restraint and positional asphyxia,” with signs of blunt force trauma to the head, torso, and abdomen. Months later, a revised autopsy dated September 3, 2019, incorporating toxicology, changed the picture. Dr. Stephen King, who oversaw the autopsy, wrote that “acute cocaine toxicity could have been a potentially independent cause of death.” A separate review by Dr. David R. Fowler, then Maryland’s chief medical examiner, described “an exceptionally high cocaine level well into the accepted fatal range,” at “twice that commonly accepted to have a fatal outcome.”5CNN. Anguilla Resort Worker Death Toxicology Report The New York Times reported that under the revised findings, Mitchel was “essentially a dying man when he entered Mr. Hapgood’s suite.”6New York Times. Gavin Hapgood Kenny Mitchel Anguilla Resort
Hapgood’s attorney, Juliya Arbisman, said prosecutors had withheld the toxicology report for more than two months and that Mitchel’s blood alcohol level was also double the U.S. legal limit at the time of the encounter. Anguillan officials did not confirm those claims to ABC News.3ABC News. American Describes Life as Living Nightmare After Manslaughter Charge in Anguilla
Why Hapgood Refused to Return
Hapgood returned to Anguilla three times for court. The preliminary inquiry opened on September 9, 2019, and was adjourned to November 11, 2019.7Anguilla VLEX. Gavin Scott Hapgood v Commissioner of Police The night before that hearing, his legal team emailed the magistrate to say he would not appear. They cited death threats, concerns for his safety, the risk of indefinite incarceration, and what they described as the impossibility of a fair trial. His defense had requested guarantees of protection, permission to return to the U.S. on bail after the hearing, and the option to appear by video link. All three requests were denied.4CNBC. UBS Trader Scott Hapgood Skips Anguilla Hearing After Trump Comment
The Anguilla Attorney General’s office called those concerns “totally groundless” and declared Hapgood a fugitive.8ABC News. Anguilla Files International Arrest Warrant for American Charged in Hotel Worker’s Death On November 12, 2019, a High Court judge revoked his bail, issued a bench warrant, and forfeited his $74,000 bond.9CBS News. Anguilla Officials File for Arrest Warrant for Connecticut Man Charged in Hotel Worker’s Death Authorities said they would circulate the warrant through Interpol.
Where the Case Stands Now
After Hapgood stopped appearing, the magistrate declined to continue the preliminary inquiry in his absence. The Commissioner of Police sought judicial review, and in January 2020 a High Court judge quashed that decision and ordered the inquiry to resume. Hapgood’s lawyers appealed. On June 24, 2020, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, ruling it lacked jurisdiction because the underlying matter was a criminal cause.7Anguilla VLEX. Gavin Scott Hapgood v Commissioner of Police
The last avenue was the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, the highest court for British overseas territories. On May 26, 2021, the Privy Council refused permission to appeal, finding the application “does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which the Board should consider at this time.”10Government of Anguilla. Press Statement From the Attorney General: Gavin Scott Hapgood’s Appeal Anguillan Attorney General Dwight Horsford said “the Crown remains determined to progress this case” and that authorities could seek extradition if the magistrate found sufficient cause.11Stamford Advocate. Court Ruling Could Send Darien’s Scott Hapgood Back to Anguilla
Because Anguilla is a British overseas territory, any extradition would run through the U.S.–U.K. extradition treaty. Legal analysts noted that an Interpol notice does not by itself trigger extradition: a formal request from the British government would be needed, with the U.S. Secretary of State holding final authority.12WANE. US-British Diplomatic Clash in Store Over Caribbean Killing As of the most recent available reporting, no extradition has taken place and Hapgood remains in the United States.13Stamford Advocate. Two Years Since Deadly Caribbean Hotel Incident The manslaughter charge is unresolved.
The Civil Lawsuits
Two civil cases ran alongside the criminal matter.
In December 2019, Mitchel’s estate filed a wrongful death suit against Hapgood in U.S. District Court in Connecticut. Brought by Mitchel’s father and the mother of Mitchel’s daughter, the complaint contended that Hapgood acted negligently and that Mitchel was the victim of an unprovoked attack. The estate sought damages in excess of $75,000.14Stamford Advocate. Hapgood Sued by Estate of Anguillan Worker Killed in Hotel Altercation Hapgood’s attorneys moved to dismiss in February 2020.15NBC Connecticut. Darien Man Accused of Killing Anguilla Hotel Worker Seeks Lawsuit Dismissal Federal court records show the case was terminated on July 13, 2023; the records do not specify whether that resolution was by settlement, dismissal, or adjudication.16CourtListener. Estate of Kenny Richie Marty Mitchel v. Hapgood
In January 2020, Hapgood and his family sued Auberge Resorts, the operator of the Malliouhana, in Marin County, California, Superior Court. The suit alleged negligence in hiring and supervising Mitchel, claiming the resort continued to employ him despite a pending rape charge and a bail violation that should have made him ineligible to work in Anguilla.17ABC News. American Accused of Killing Hotel Worker in Anguilla Sues Resort It also alleged that resort officials failed to call police or an ambulance for nearly an hour after Hapgood restrained Mitchel.18Stamford Advocate. Hapgood Lawsuit: Hotel Chain Negligent in Hotel Worker’s Hiring
Political Attention and Public Reaction
The case became a political flashpoint in the fall of 2019. After Kallie Hapgood appeared on Fox & Friends in October, President Donald Trump tweeted: “Will be looking into the Scott Hapgood case, and the Island of Anguilla. Something looks and sounds very wrong. I know Anguilla will want to see this case be properly and justly resolved.”4CNBC. UBS Trader Scott Hapgood Skips Anguilla Hearing After Trump Comment Senator Richard Blumenthal appeared at a press conference with Hapgood’s legal team on October 28, 2019, calling on the British government to help reach a “swift conclusion.”8ABC News. Anguilla Files International Arrest Warrant for American Charged in Hotel Worker’s Death Senators Chris Murphy and Lindsey Graham and Representative Jim Himes joined Blumenthal in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about Hapgood’s “safety and fair treatment.”19Stamford Advocate. Anguilla Authorities Prepare Arrest Warrant for Scott Hapgood
Reaction split along lines of race and geography. In Darien, roughly 100 people rallied at Town Hall on October 28, 2019, with Blumenthal and First Selectman Jayme Stevenson, demanding “safe passage” for Hapgood to return to Anguilla.20CT Post. Scott Hapgood’s Caribbean Vacation Turned Deadly A GoFundMe campaign raised more than $250,000 for his legal defense in six days before the platform removed it for violating terms of service on campaigns tied to alleged violent crimes.21CT Insider. GoFundMe Pulls Hapgood Campaign National Review called Hapgood an “American hero.”
In Anguilla, mourners at Mitchel’s funeral wore “Justice for Kenny” shirts, and residents were furious that Hapgood had been granted bail and then left.20CT Post. Scott Hapgood’s Caribbean Vacation Turned Deadly Resident Everlette John argued that a local Anguillan in the same situation would have been “locked up and properly tried.”22The Hour. Scott Hapgood Case Sheds Negative Light on Anguilla Critics labeled the Darien rally and fundraising “the epitome of white privilege,” pointing to Darien’s demographics and to Mitchel as a Black Caribbean worker. Hapgood’s supporters countered that the resort and Anguillan authorities had failed to protect an American guest, citing Mitchel’s pending rape charge as evidence of institutional negligence.
Hapgood was a financial adviser and trader at UBS and was placed on administrative leave after the charges were filed.23New York Post. Scott Hapgood Sues Resort After Being Charged in Hotel Worker’s Death The available reporting does not indicate whether he later returned to the firm.