News outlet, CT Insider, reports that a preliminary inquiry has concluded there is enough evidence to continue prosecuting Connecticut’s investment banker, Scott Hapgood, on a manslaughter charge in the 2019 death of a Malliouhana Hotel worker, Kenny Mitchel.
The report noted that Mr. Hapgood’s attorney, Thomas Watson, told the Hearst Connecticut Media, this week, that his client is ordered to stand trial on a manslaughter charge.
Mr. Watson is representing the Hapgood family in a lawsuit filed against Auberge Resorts, the parent company of the hotel where employee Kenny Mitchel was found unconscious by authorities after a scuffle with Scott Hapgood. Mitchel was later pronounced dead at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
After being released on bond, Hapgood refused to return to the island in November 2019 for a scheduled court appearance because he said he feared his life was in danger. Since skipping the court hearing, Hapgood has been considered a fugitive from justice by authorities in Anguilla.
Based on the findings in the inquiry, the Anguillian Attorney General’s Office may seek an indictment and extradition, according to a statement Dwight Horsford, the Anguillian Attorney General released from his office last May. Mr. Hapgood could be forced to return to Anguilla to address the manslaughter charge since Anguilla is covered by the extradition treaty between the US and Britain.
“The Crown remains determined to progress this case,” Horsford said in the statement. “It will do so — as it has since proceedings started — objectively, fairly and steadfastly with full regard for the rule of law and the principles of natural justice, including the presumption of innocence.”
