Man kills 'cocaine-crazed' hotel worker in front of daughters after he broke into their room with knife asking for cash
The wife of a UBS banker who has been charged with manslaughter in the British overseas territory of Anguilla following an April encounter with a hotel worker has broken her silence about the incident.
Speaking to the New York Post, Kallie Hapgood, 44, described how her family's dream vacation at the upscale Malliouhana resort quickly became a nightmare on April 13 when hotel worker Kenny Mitchel broke into their room demanding cash and threatened them with a knife.
Kallie said she was returning from morning snorkeling when her 13-year-old ran up to her and screamed that her husband, Scott, had been stabbed. "I was so fearful that my husband had passed away," she said. "I ran, and I was so thankful that he was alive."
When questioned about the incident, Scott claimed that the Mitchel had barged into their room with a knife and threatened his two daughters, forcing him to respond.
In the ensuing tussle, he had come out on top and the hotel worker did not survive.
While Scott has claimed Mitchel's death was the result of self-defense, the islanders, many of whom were friends with Mitchel, demanded that he be prosecuted after an initial autopsy listed the cause of death as asphyxiation and blunt force trauma to the head.
The chorus for him to be punished grew even louder when he was granted bail and allowed to return to the US after he was charged with manslaughter, with many accusing him of abusing his 'white privilege.'
Kallie revealed her family had received many death threats since as well, recalling how she had once received a terrifying call while she was at the office that prompted her to call the police. "There was a really scary laugh on the other end," she said. "Like a malicious laugh."
Scott eventually returned to the island to face charges, something she said she begged him not to do. "I have begged him from day one not to go back there, and I still don't want him to go back there, but he needs to make his own decisions, and he feels strongly about clearing his name," she explained.
"He knows he did nothing wrong. He's not responsible for Mitchel's death, but to me, I don't know if that is enough to keep him safe. If he were to be remanded to prison, I think it would be the equivalent of a death sentence."
Scott's assertions gained further credence when the autopsy report was amended in September to state that Mitchel had twice the potentially lethal level of cocaine in his system and that he might have died from a drug overdose. "Acute cocaine toxicity could have been a potentially independent cause of death in the known circumstances," it reads.
The trial has been adjourned until November 11.