In the summer of 2024, the life of Kyle MacDougall, a 45-year-old White man from Waldoboro, Maine, was cut short in the small coastal town of Cushing. On the evening of July 7, MacDougall’s ex-girlfriend dropped him off at a residence on River Road, the home of Mark Gagne, where MacDougall reportedly intended to buy drugs. She waited outside for about half an hour until a man named Jason Hewett came out and told her that MacDougall had taken a bag and run into the woods. After a brief search, she returned to the house, sensing something was deeply wrong.
The truth began to emerge five days later, on July 12, when a tip led police to Gagne’s home. There, they made a grisly discovery: Gagne was allegedly in the process of burning MacDougall’s remains and other evidence in a barrel. The investigation revealed that on the night he disappeared, MacDougall had been involved in a dispute with Hewett, allegedly over money MacDougall owed and for tampering with Hewett’s truck.
According to one witness, John Flower, Hewett told MacDougall, “Check yourself, fool,” just before shooting him in the neck with a shotgun.
The investigation led to a series of arrests. Mark Gagne, then 42, was taken into custody on July 12 and charged with hindering apprehension and abuse of a corpse. The primary suspect, 39-year-old Jason Hewett of Augusta, was located on July 16. He led police on a high-speed chase that ended in Augusta, where he barricaded himself in his vehicle for four hours before the Maine State Police Tactical Team took him into custody. Hewett was charged with manslaughter. A third man, 39-year-old John Flower of Rockland, was also arrested and charged in connection with the case.
The path to justice was complicated by conflicting accounts. Flower initially told investigators that MacDougall had accidentally shot himself but later changed his story, identifying Hewett as the shooter. Hewett maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to manslaughter in November 2024, with his defense highlighting the inconsistent witness statements. In the fall of 2024, both Mark Gagne and John Flower accepted plea deals, agreeing to testify against Hewett. Gagne pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension and abuse of a corpse, while Flower entered an Alford plea to falsifying evidence.
As his trial was scheduled to begin, Jason Hewett, then 41, entered an Alford plea to manslaughter in Knox County Superior Court in March 2026. While the plea allowed him to maintain his innocence, he acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence for a conviction. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison with all but four years suspended, to be followed by four years of probation. At his sentencing, Hewett apologized to MacDougall’s family for not calling 911, stating he was scared because of his criminal record.
Also in March 2026, Mark Gagne was sentenced to three years with all but 60 days suspended for hindering apprehension, with a concurrent 60-day sentence for abuse of a corpse. During Hewett’s hearing, MacDougall’s sister spoke of her brother as a son, father, and friend, telling Hewett, “You have an opportunity to change your life and I really hope that you do it. Kyle doesn't have a chance to change his life.” The case was fully adjudicated as of March 2026.
