The man just released from jail last week for burning the body of a Cushing homicide victim is now back behind bars.
Mark Gagne, 43, has been charged with drug possession and violating his probation, according to the Rockland Police Department.
Gagne was on probation for charges of drug trafficking and abusing a corpse.
Police were called to a subsidized housing development for disabled and older adults about 3 p.m. Tuesday because of suspected drug use.
When officers got there, they seized about 50 grams of fentanyl and methamphetamine. Also charged were 29-year-old Makayla Batty, who has been charged with drug possession and violating her conditions of release, and 30-year-old Tianna Brancella, who has been charged with aggravated drug trafficking and violating her conditions of release, Rockland police said Wednesday morning.
Gagne was released from jail after he was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison with all but 60 days suspended for hindering apprehension and abusing a corpse in the death of 45-year-old Kyle MacDougall in Cushing.
Jason Hewett, then 39, shot MacDougall with a shotgun on July 7, 2024, at the River Road residence Gagne was renting.
When police finally arrived at Gagne’s home a few days later after getting a tip, he was burning MacDougall’s remains and other evidence. Gagne ultimately pleaded guilty and was released on personal recognizance bail.
Hewett was arrested on July 17, 2024, after leading police on a chase through Windsor and Augusta, where he crashed and barricaded himself in his vehicle before surrendering four hours later. Hewett, now 41, was sentenced on March 10 to 14 years in prison with all but four years suspended as part of a plea deal that will see him serve time for manslaughter.
A third man, 39-year-old John Flower, who was present when MacDougall died and ultimately pointed the finger at Hewett as the gunman, entered an Alford plea to a misdemeanor count of falsifying physical evidence. Under an Alford plea, a defendant doesn’t admit to the crime but acknowledges that the court has enough evidence to convict if the case went to trial.
He will be sentenced at a later date, but may serve no additional time behind bars.
Tuesday’s arrest is Gagne’s latest run-in with police since his arrest in MacDougall’s death. He was arrested in October 2024 for allegedly trafficking drugs, and then again that December for allegedly trespassing at the Cushing property, where MacDougall died. Gagne also was arrested in February and December last year on drug possession charges.
