Pat Grossmith
The New Hampshire Union Leader
MANCHESTER — Two New Hampshire State Prison for Men supervisors were indicted on felony charges accusing one of them of using a knife to cut a prisoner’s shirt and the other threatening to withhold medical care if the inmate didn’t write a statement saying he cut himself.
The indictments against Lt. Robert Gauthier, operations chief of the Community Corrections and Programming Services (Corrections Transitional Work Center), and Sgt. Dennis Fitton were issued May 15 by a grand jury sitting in Merrimack County Superior Court.
Neither Gauthier, 47, of 193 Black Hall Road, Epsom, nor Fitton, 40, of 254 McMurphy Road, Alexandria, are identified in the indictments as state corrections officers.
Jeff Lyons, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, confirmed that three correctional officers - a lieutenant and two sergeants - were suspended. He said an investigation into the alleged incident was handled by state police and he referred all questions to the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office.
County Attorney Scott W. Murray said his office only received the case a few weeks ago and is “still reviewing it.” He said a state police officer with the Major Crimes Unit, assigned to the prison, investigated the case. Assistant County Attorney George Waldron is prosecuting it.
He said the incident happened on the grounds of the state prison and that the two men were not identified as N.H. Department of Corrections employees in the indictments because “typically” that is not done.
According to the indictments, on July 10, 2014, Gauthier put Roshun Austin in danger of serious bodily injury by using a knife to cut the shirt he was wearing. He was indicted on a charge of reckless conduct.
While Gauthier is not accused of injuring Austin, Fitton was indicted on a charge of witness tampering for refusing Austin medical care unless he wrote a statement saying that he cut himself.
Gauthier also was indicted on a charge of falsifying physical evidence for allegedly getting rid of the shirt that was cut and witness tampering for allegedly trying to induce Austin to withhold testimony or information about the alleged assault by offering him gifts and favors.
Austin was not identified as a prisoner in the indictments.