News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Nov. 11, 2019: A US-born, Connecticut man will be back in court in Anguilla today to face a manslaughter charge.
Scott Hapgood is charged with the death of hotel worker Kenny Mitchel. Hapgood has said Mitchel came to his family’s hotel room back in April saying he needed to fix a sink. Once inside, he claims Mitchel reportedly pulled a knife and tried to rob him.
Both reportedly got into a physical altercation and Mitchel later died.
The father-of-three, however, maintains his innocence, saying he was acting in self-defense. An autopsy has revealed that Mitchel had high levels of drugs in his system. A Medical Examiner’s report, obtained by The New York Times, said that Mitchel had a lethal dose of cocaine in his system at the time, and that he died from that and not from Hapgood’s actions.
Today’s court appearance will determine if a jury should hear the case.
The Hapgoods have recently taken a more active role in publicizing their side of the story in recent weeks.
Last month, the case caught US President Donald Trump’s attention who sent out a tweet that seemed to be a direct response to a segment that ran on Fox & Friends.
“Will be looking into the Scott Hapgood case, and the Island of Anguilla,” Trump wrote in October. “Something looks and sounds very wrong. I know Anguilla will want to see this case be properly and justly resolved!”
United States Sen. Richard Blumenthal also called on Anguilla to provide safe passage to Hapgood for his next court hearing.
