Dead hotel worker wouldn't have started fatal brawl, his brother says

A Caribbean hotel employee killed in a confrontation with a Connecticut financial adviser wouldn't have touched off a violent altercation on the job, his brother insisted Thursday.

Darien resident Gavin Scott Hapgood, 44, was charged with manslaughter and released on $74,000 bond following the April 13 incident in Anguilla that ended in the death of Kenny Mitchel, 27, a hotel maintenance worker.

Mitchel was beaten and choked to death in Hapgood's room, according to police and a coroner's report.

Hapgood's lawyers in Anguilla have said their client is innocent and inferred that the father of three was acting in self-defense.

Hapgood, who works as an account manager with UBS Global Asset Management, had "to seek medical attention to his wounds from the altercation, which included multiple cuts from the knife Mr. Mitchel came bearing," according to a statement by the defense.

Mitchel never would have considered committing a crime at the hotel because he always had to wear an employee T-shirt and name tag at the luxury Malliouhana resort and thus would have been easily identified, said to his brother Kimon Mitchel, 26.

"He would never try something that dumb. Even if it was possible he would not," Kimon Mitchell said. “Why would someone try to do something like that? It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t add up. It doesn’t make sense.”

Kimon Mitchel said his brother was well-liked and honest and even refused tips from guests.

“He was a very nice person, and people at the hotel would always have good things to say,” Kimon Mitchel said. “Everyone knew Kenny, everyone knew what type of person he was.”

Hapgood is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Aug. 22 in Anguilla.