A former Fairfield man serving 40 years in the state prison for killing his girlfriend in 1997 has denied criminal responsibility in the death another inmate in June, his lawyer said.

Guy E. Hunnewell III, 42, an inmate at Maine State Prison, is accused of killing fellow inmate Alan D. Powell, 57, originally from Oakland, on June 25 in an outdoor exercise area at the prison in Warren. Both men were serving sentences for murder.

Hunnewell was indicted July 11 by a Knox County grand jury for intentional or knowing murder.

In his first formal appearance in court in August, Hunnewell, whose nickname is Chip, entered a plea of not criminally responsible, according to a court clerk.

“In the parlance of today, it’s an insanity plea,” Hunnewell’s court appointed attorney Jeremy Pratt said by phone Friday.

Hunnewell was also indicted for aggravated assault connected to Jan. 28 incident when another inmate was injured with a shovel. They are both Maine Department of Corrections cases prosecuted by the attorney general’s office.

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Powell and Hunnewell spent time together at the prison in the past, but without incident, Scott Fish, director of special projects at the Department of Corrections, said in June.

Powell died of blunt force trauma, according to the autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The death was ruled a homicide.

Fish did not know if the men knew one another before their separate murder convictions.

One of the two men was receiving services in the prison’s special management unit, a mental health section, but Pratt would not say which inmate that was.

Powell was serving a life sentence for stabbing and strangling Martha Daigle on June 29, 1989, inside a Waterville apartment house known as the beehive. Powell’s criminal record included a conviction for aggravated rape in Texas as well as rape and attempted rape in Maine.

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

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

Hunnewell remains at the state prison. A trial date on the murder charge has been set for April.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@mainetoday.com


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