A murderer who was attacked Tuesday at the Maine State Prison in Warren died of blunt force trauma to the head, police said Thursday afternoon.

An autopsy on Alan D. Powell Jr., 57, Thursday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that the death was a homicide, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.

Powell was attacked in an outdoor recreation area by Guy Hunnewell III, 42, originally from Fairfield, McCausland said.

Powell and Hunnewell “recreated together” at the prison in the past, but without incident, according to Scott Fish, director of special projects at the Department of Corrections. Fish did not know if the men knew one another before their separate murder convictions.

Fish on Thursday said one of the inmates was receiving services in the prison’s special management unit, a mental health section, but he would not say which inmate.

Powell was serving a life sentence for stabbing and strangling Martha Daigle, 64, on June 29, 1989, inside a Waterville apartment house.

Hunnewell was sentenced to 40 years in prison for fatally stabbing Stephanie Gilliland, 20, of Benton, on Dec. 30, 1997.

At the time of his death, Powell had served about 22 years of a life sentence.

The case against Hunnewell is expected to be presented to a Knox County grand jury during the July session. No further investigative details were released Thursday.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com