ROCKLAND, Maine — The person who was caught burning the cut-up body of a slain Waldoboro man in July 2024 is free from jail.
Mark D. Gagne, 43, was sentenced Thursday morning, March 12 in the state court in Knox County for both the offenses related to the attempted disposal of the body of 45-year-old Kyle MacDougall, and also for a series of drug offenses in Rockland that occurred after he was charged with the Cushing case.
Justice Patrick Larson sentenced Gagne to three years in jail with all but 60 days suspended for Class B felony hindering apprehension or prosecution. He was given a concurrent 60 days for Class D misdemeanor abuse of a corpse. Gagne had pleaded guilty to those offenses in September 2024 and was released on personal recognizance with the understanding that he would be sentenced after he testified against the shooter in the case. Jason Goucher Hewett, 41, was sentenced March 10 to 14 years in prison with all but four years suspended for manslaughter.
Prosecutors said conflicting statements from key witnesses made credibility an issue and led to the decision to accept the plea and sentence agreement with Hewett. There was no trial. The maximum sentence for manslaughter in Maine is 30 years in prison.
While free on the hindering apprehension charge, Gagne was arrested and sentenced Dec. 2, 2024, to 72 hours in jail for criminal trespass at the residence in Cushing where the killing occurred. The property owner had found Gagne living in the house well after he had moved out.
Gagne was also charged on Oct. 10, 2024, following a drug bust at a residence on Luce Avenue in Rockland. Gagne was charged with trafficking in fentanyl, felony possession of cocaine, and violating a condition of release.
Gagne was then arrested in February 2025 for aggravated trafficking in drugs, and violation of conditions of release following a traffic stop in which Rockland police officers seized approximately 10 grams of fentanyl, crack cocaine and prescription pills.
Each time, Gagne was released on bail.
On Dec. 22, 2025, Gagne was arrested again by Rockland Police on charges of aggravated trafficking in drugs and violating a condition of release. The arrest came after he was found at the Harborline Hotel in Rockland with drugs and money. This time, Gagne was held in jail.
At this March 12, 2026 sentencing, Gagne received four years with all but 60 days suspended for the drug offenses which are concurrent to the hindering apprehension charge. Justice Larson noted that with the sentences, Gagne would be released from jail later that day by being given credit for time served since his December arrest.
The maximum sentence for Class B trafficking is 10 years in prison.
Gagne will be on probation for three years. If he violates conditions of bail, he faces being sentenced to serve some, or all, of the previously suspended jail terms. Conditions include no additional criminal acts and no use or possession of illegal drugs.
The sentencing of Gagne leaves only one remaining defendant to be sentenced in connection to the original Cushing case.
John G. Flower Jr., 40, of Rockland, was arrested July 25, 2024, by Maine State Police on a charge of Class B felony hindering apprehension or prosecution. Flower pleaded guilty Sept. 26, 2024, to a single misdemeanor count of falsifying physical evidence in connection with the Cushing death. In exchange for the plea, the more serious hindering charge was dismissed. His attorney said at a court hearing that Flower may serve no additional time in jail for the charge when he is sentenced.
Additional terms of the plea agreement were sealed in September until a further order of the court. The reason for those terms being sealed were never revealed. Midcoast Villager filed a written request March 11 to Justice Larson to unseal the remainder of Flower’s plea agreement. There has been no response to that request. Sealing plea agreements is rarely, if ever, done.
No sentencing date for Flower in this case has been scheduled.
Flower was sentenced in March 2025 to 90 days in jail for an unrelated knife attack during a drug deal gone bad (the charges were aggravated assault, criminal mischief and violating a condition of release). He was given credit for time served and was released in mid-April, 2025.
MacDougall was killed July 7, 2024 inside the 834 River Road home in Cushing that Gagne was renting.
The first lead in the case came five days later when an informant told police that another individual had claimed to have shot MacDougall “in cold blood.” No reason was given by the informant. The informant, who had a criminal record of his own, said he was told that MacDougall’s body was wrapped in a tarp and placed outside in the yard.
That information led to police conducting surveillance of the home. During that surveillance, police spotted Gagne “tending to a fire that had a fire lit inside.” Police converged on the property and found human remains in the barrel as well as insulation and clothing. Inside the home were red, brown stains; parts of a shotgun; and firearm cases. The wall between the living room and kitchen had been completely torn out, police said in an affidavit filed in court.
Another police affidavit said investigators spoke to MacDougall’s former girlfriend, who dropped MacDougall off at Gagne’s home on July 7. She waited for him outside in her vehicle. About 30 minutes later, Hewett came to the car and said MacDougall had taken a bag and run into the woods. The woman then drove around trying to locate MacDougall, but when she was unable to find him, she returned to the house.
The woman said there were four people at the house — Hewett, Gagne, Flower, of Rockland, and a woman whom she did not know at the time, according to the affidavit.
Police interviewed Flower who initially said MacDougall had come into the house and picked up a shotgun and shot himself in the neck.
Police then interviewed the woman that MacDougall’s former woman friend had seen in the home. That woman said she saw Hewett with the shotgun and she went into the bathroom and Gagne went with her to make sure she would not use her phone. She was in the bathroom when the shooting occurred. She said Hewett later came into the bathroom, too, and said he had shot MacDougall but that it was a mistake and he did not mean to do it.
Another witness said that Hewett believed that MacDougall had loosened lug nuts on his truck which caused it to crash and be destroyed. Hewett, prior to July 7, had said to the witness that something was going to be done with MacDougall, according to the affidavit.
Police interviewed Flower a second time and he said that he, Hewett, Gagne, and a woman were at Gagne’s home on July 7 when MacDougall arrived to buy some drugs. Flower said Hewett grabbed the shotgun and said “check yourself fool” to MacDougall before shooting him in the neck. Hewett then put towels on MacDougall’s neck to try to stop the bleeding.
At his sentencing hearing March 10, Hewett apologized for MacDougall’s death without admitting that he had shot the victim. He said he did not call 911 because he was afraid he would end up in court. No one else called 911.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.