{"id":19393,"date":"2019-10-16T10:55:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T16:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=60850"},"modified":"2019-10-16T10:55:20","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T16:55:20","slug":"breckenridge-second-home-owners-embroiled-in-caribbean-manslaughter-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/breckenridge-second-home-owners-embroiled-in-caribbean-manslaughter-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Breckenridge second-home owners embroiled in Caribbean manslaughter case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Scott and Kallie Hapgood with their children. <\/strong>
Courtesy Jason Buehler<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 An American family with ties to the Summit County community has found itself in the midst of a growing international incident after a Caribbean vacation turned into a nightmare earlier this year.<\/p>\n

In April, Scott Hapgood, 44, and his family \u2014 wife, Kallie, and three children \u2014 were visiting the island of Anguilla, a British territory in the eastern Caribbean from their home in Darien, Connecticut. Just a day into their vacation at the Malliouhana resort, a hotel employee came to their room, saying he was there to fix a faucet.<\/p>\n

But the incident quickly turned violent. Members of Hapgood\u2019s family allege that the employee, 27-year-old Kenny Mitchel, pulled a knife and tried to rob the family once inside. Hapgood was able to subdue Mitchel and pin him to the floor until law enforcement arrived on scene.<\/p>\n

Mitchel died soon after the fight, and Hapgood was arrested and charged with manslaughter. He was released on bail and allowed to return to Connecticut, a move that sparked outrage from some island residents, who felt Hapgood was being treated favorably, according to a New York Times report of the incident<\/a>. In the report, Mitchel\u2019s friends said Hapgood\u2019s account of the incident was implausible.<\/p>\n

Hapgood has made three trips to Anguilla since the incident for court dates, though the case is far from closed with another hearing scheduled for November.<\/p>\n

For months, the family fought the charge in relative quiet. But with the charges still standing despite new evidence suggesting Mitchel\u2019s death might not have been a result of the fight, the family recently took the issue public with a media push to clear Hapgood\u2019s name, including here in Summit County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were convinced the island would drop the charges, but they\u2019re gearing up to challenge this to the end,\u201d said Jason Buehler, Kallie Hapgood\u2019s cousin who lives in Denver and is staying with his family in Breckenridge.<\/p>\n

Buehler said his extended family has deep roots in the Breckenridge community and that they\u2019ve owned property in Breckenridge since the late 1970s. He said they come up frequently \u2014 to what he called the family\u2019s second home \u2014 for get-togethers and reunions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to raise awareness to put pressure on the right people to make the right decision,\u201d Buehler said.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, a revised autopsy report obtained by The New York Times <\/a>threw a wrench into the case, detailing toxicology tests that showed Mitchel was on a lethal amount of cocaine during the attack, in addition to twice the legal blood-alcohol limit in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Despite the development, the criminal case is ongoing, though the recent push by Hapgood and his family has created widespread awareness of the case across the country.<\/p>\n

During an interview on Fox & Friends<\/a> on Monday, Kallie Hapgood made a plea to President Donald Trump to address the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need help,\u201d Hapgood said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen Trump help Americans in peril around the globe, and we really need his help. My husband is a loving man. He\u2019s never been involved with any sort of charge at all. We\u2019re so fish out of water right now. \u2026 He doesn\u2019t deserve this. All we wanted to do was take a vacation with our children, spend time by ourselves with the five of us. We did not welcome this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president responded in short order, taking to Twitter to address the issue shortly after the segment.<\/p>\n

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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! @foxandfriends<\/a> @SteveDucey<\/a> @ainsleyearhardt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cWill be looking into the Scott Hapgood case, and the Island of Anguilla,\u201d Trump tweeted. \u201cSomething looks and sounds very wrong. I know Anguilla will want to see this case be properly and justly resolved!\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Hapgood family, drawing Trump\u2019s attention to the case is clearly a move in the right direction, though the case has otherwise been challenging for the family.<\/p>\n

Mitch Buehler, Kallie\u2019s uncle, told the Summit Daily that the incident has taken an emotional toll on the family and that they\u2019re still dealing with financial and safety concerns as the case continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was a big step with the president of the United States commenting on it. But they have good days and bad days,\u201d Mitch Buehler said. \u201cThe toxicology report coming out was a good day. And then nothing happens, and you have a bad day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between frequent flights to the Caribbean, lodging costs and legal fees, the case has become a massive financial burden for the family. But the bigger issue is safety. Family members said Kallie and Scott Hapgood have received threats from unknown callers and through social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe goes with his lawyers and bodyguards,\u201d Jason Buehler said. \u201cHe\u2019s always being closely watched with these bodyguards. The island has come out and said they can\u2019t guarantee his safety when he returns. \u2026 On Facebook, there were a lot of threats. When he was in prison, we know his life was threatened by the other inmates. \u2026 (Kallie) has been begging him not to go back because she\u2019s so scared for his life. But he\u2019s determined to clear his name and prove his innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Hapgood is scheduled to return to Anguilla for a preliminary inquiry hearing Nov. 11.<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott and Kallie Hapgood with their children. Courtesy Jason Buehler BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 An American family with ties to the Summit County community has found itself in the midst of a growing international incident after a Caribbean vacation turned into a nightmare earlier this year. In April, Scott Hapgood, 44, and his family \u2014 wife, Kallie, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 01:12:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}