3rd man arrested in Cushing death

A third man has been arrested in connection with a death in Cushing earlier this month.

John Flower Jr. 39, of Rockland has been charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, a felony, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Flower was arrested Thursday at the Knox County Jail, where he was being held on unrelated charges, Moss said Friday.

Flower was scheduled to appear in Knox County Superior Court at 1 p.m. Friday.

It’s the latest arrest made in the death of 45-year-old Kyle MacDougall of Waldoboro. He is believed to have been killed on July 7, the Courier Gazette reported.

Police first arrested 41-year-old Mark Gagne on July 12 as investigators converged on a River Road residence in Cushing. He was charged with hindering apprehension and abuse of a corpse, and appeared in court on those charges on July 15.

Then a second man, 39-year-old Jason Hewett of Augusta, was arrested on July 16 following a car chase that began on Route 26 in Windsor. State troopers pursued Hewett onto Route 3 toward Augusta until he went into a ditch and onto the lawn of Nadeau Chiropractic and Wellness Center to avoid spike mats.

Hewett then barricaded himself in the vehicle for four hours.

He eventually surrendered and was arrested and taken to the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta. Hewett has been charged with eluding an officer, domestic assault and manslaughter.

Authorities haven’t released a cause and manner of death. The death remains under investigation.