City man guilty in savage 2013 beating walks away from halfway house

Clifford Joseph Gagnon (NH State Prison photo)

MANCHESTER - The Rochester man who viciously beat a man at the Rochester Inn four years ago causing him to lose sight in one eye has walked away from his minimum security detention center in Manchester.

Clifford Joseph Gagnon, 29, formerly of Milton Road and Prospect Hill Road in Lebanon, Maine, never returned to the Calumet Transitional Housing Unit in Manchester after leaving for work.

Gagnon left the halfway house Friday at 10:25 a.m. to report to work, left his place of employment that evening at 9:50 p.m., but failed to return to Calumet.

He was sentenced in Strafford Superior Court on December 17, 2013, to a 5-10 year sentence for first-degree assault in connection with the Rochester Inn assault, which occurred in February 2013.

The victim was found covered in blood and taken by helicopter to Maine Med where he was put in an induced coma for several days before his condition improved. The victim lost sight in one eye due to the attack.

According to a police affidavit, the victim suffered facial and cranial bone breakage in the assault.

When police arrived at the inn for a report of a possible beating around 8 p.m. on Feb. 14 they found the victim bleeding from his face and head, with clothing covered in blood and pools of blood in his room, according to the affidavit.

The caller who reported the suspected beating to police told them he heard three loud thumps, and upon looking out the window, saw Gagnon leaving the victim's room, the affidavit states.

Another resident of the inn said Gagnon yelled for someone to call for help because the victim got "jacked up." Gagnon then left the area, the affidavit states.

Police finally located Gagnon at a Periwinkle Drive residence and arrested him on a bench warrant for failure to appear on a separate case.

Gagnon denied assaulting the victim, according to the affidavit.

Gagnon began his prison stint at New Hampshire State Prison on Dec. 17, 2013, and was eligible for release or parole on Sept. 3, 2019, with a maximum release date of February 2023.

Gagnon is 6' 2" and 200 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. He has multiple tattoos over his body, including the tops of both hands and his left palm.

The New Hampshire State Police and the New Hampshire Department of Corrections Investigations Bureau is investigating. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact their local law enforcement agency or the New Hampshire State Prison at 603-271- 1801.