Mr. Hapgood said he was relaxing in the suite, watching the Masters Tournament on television. His daughters, 13 and 11, returned from snorkeling in the ocean. His wife was returning the snorkeling equipment, and their son, 9, had gone to the lobby for a cookie. Mr. Mitchel knocked on the door, and Mr. Hapgood answered.

“I had not seen this man before,” Mr. Hapgood wrote. “He said he was there to fix a broken sink. I did not think a sink was broken and I had not called in any requests for maintenance. Nevertheless, as he was in uniform and being rational (after all this was an upscale hotel), I said he could come in and take a look and I let him in.”

Moments later, Mr. Hapgood wrote, Mr. Mitchel “pulled a knife on me, demanding my money and my wallet.” Though Mr. Hapgood declined to discuss the details of the fight, he said it was a “hard struggle” and he was stabbed and bitten several times.

“I feared for my life, as well as the lives of my daughters,” he wrote.

As the two men struggled, the girls ran to the front desk for help, and a bellman, Geshuane Clarke, 27, hurried to the room. He said in an interview that he saw drops of blood on the floor inside and, nearby, a partially opened Leatherman tool.

Then he heard loud thuds and found the two men on the floor in the bathroom. Mr. Mitchel, who was whippet-thin, was on his back, and the larger Mr. Hapgood was straddling his torso with his left arm leaning on Mr. Mitchel’s neck and face, Mr. Clarke said.

He said Mr. Mitchel appeared to be struggling for air. Mr. Clarke recalled Mr. Hapgood saying, “‘He came at me with a knife, threatening me, asking me for money and asking my daughters for money.’”

A “security guy” arrived and told Mr. Hapgood, “We’re here to help,” Mr. Clarke said.