A fatal shooting in the midcoast town of Cushing in July was allegedly a response to the victim stealing money and tampering with the truck of the man accused of pulling the trigger, according to recently unsealed court documents.
Police initially learned about the killing of Kyle MacDougall, 45, of Waldoboro on July 12, when a tip led them to a home on River Road in Cushing, where they discovered its renter, 42-year-old Mark Gagne, allegedly burning the remains of MacDougall’s body and other evidence in a barrel.
But while Gagne was charged with hindering apprehension and abuse of a corpse, investigators eventually accused a different man, 39-year-old Jason Hewett, of the shotgun blast that killed MacDougall on July 7.
“Check yourself, fool,” Hewett allegedly told MacDougall just before shooting him in the neck, after MacDougall had come to the Cushing home to buy drugs that night, according to information that another man who was present, 39-year-old John Flower, told police.
The police affidavits that provide those details have only been unsealed since a grand jury indicted Hewett in October.
On July 16, Hewett was arrested on a felony manslaughter charge after he led police on a vehicle chase that reached 80 mph and culminated in a standoff in Augusta.
Hewett pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge in mid-November, according to the Midcoast Villager. His attorney, Andrew Wright, has pointed to conflicting reports about MacDougall’s death in court records, as well as the fact that Gagne was the one found allegedly burning the body.
One witness told police MacDougall’s death was suicide, while another person was also mentioned as a possible suspect, according to the affidavit.
Wright did not respond to a request for comment.
In court documents, Wright has said he’ll file additional motions once the state provides the defense with all of the evidence it’s collected. He said it’s unfair for Hewett to sit in jail while the state slowly compiles its evidence. Hewett remains in jail with a $200,000 bail, and according to court documents, also has pending charges for eluding and domestic violence assault.
Flower, the man who ultimately told police Hewett shot MacDougall after offering contradictory reports, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of falsifying physical evidence, using what’s known as an Alford plea to acknowledge the state had enough evidence to convict him, the Midcoast Villager reported.
Meanwhile, Gagne pleaded guilty to his charges and was released on personal recognizance bail in September, with a condition that he testify against Hewett.
But at the start of this week, he pleaded guilty to additional charges of criminal trespass and violating conditions of release after returning to his former Cushing home where the killing occurred, according to the Midcoast Villager. He was sentenced to 72 hours of jail time for those latest charges.
In the affidavit for Gagne’s original arrest in July, Detective Erin James with the Maine State Police said that investigators visited Gagne’s home and found him burning things in a barrel after hearing about MacDougall’s killing a few days earlier.
Upon inspection, detectives allegedly found clothing, home insulation, bedding and human skeletal remains — including what appeared to be a human vertebrae — in the barrel. Around the property, they found the wall in the living room, which bordered the kitchen, had been completely torn out, according to the affidavit. They found parts of a shotgun and firearm cases, as well as brain matter on the television and track marks suggesting a body had been dragged into the yard.
As part of the larger investigation into MacDougall’s killing, police received a variety of reports from direct and indirect witnesses to the crime.
MacDougall’s ex-girlfriend said she dropped MacDougall off on July 7 at Gagne’s house, where she sat outside for 30 minutes. She said Hewett came outside and told her MacDougall had taken a bag and run into the woods. She drove around for a few minutes looking for him, then returned to the house to wait for him. She said she knew something wasn’t right, according to a police affidavit.
One of MacDougall’s friends who was interviewed by police said he heard Hewett shot MacDougall over $200.
A friend of Hewett told investigators that MacDougall tampered with Hewett’s truck by loosening its lug nuts, which reportedly caused him to total it. Hewett also allegedly told the same friend that he planned to do something about MacDougall, such as giving him a lethal dose of drugs, according to the affidavit.
Flower initially told investigators that MacDougall had accidentally killed himself with the shotgun. On July 16, though, he made the allegations about Hewett shooting MacDougall in the neck after MacDougall came to buy drugs at Gagne’s home.
Hewett put towels on MacDougall’s neck to stop the bleeding, but the Waldoboro man was already dead, according to Flower’s testimony.
On July 16, investigators found Hewett at a home in Jefferson. According to investigators, he then fled in a vehicle and eventually crashed on Route 3 in Augusta. He was arrested after initially refusing to come out of the vehicle and claiming that he’d rather die than go to prison, according to the affidavit.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.