ROCKLAND – A former Fairfield man who killed his estranged girlfriend in late December 1997 by stabbing her more than 21 times was indicted Thursday for trying to wound a prison guard with a shank.

Guy E. Hunnewell III, 32, is serving 40 years in the Maine State Prison for the murder of Stephanie Gilliland, who was 20 years old when she was stabbed to death in Hunnewell’s Fairfield apartment.

Hunnewell was one of 11 Maine State Prison inmates indicted Thursday by a Knox County grand jury. Most of the charges involved assaults on an officer; some, however, also involved trafficking in prison contraband and terrorizing.

Maine State Prison Warden Jeffrey Merrill could not be reached Thursday for comment on the number of assaults against guards or for further details about Hunnewell’s alleged assault on a guard.

Hunnewell was indicted on a charge of aggravated assault against a guard with the use of a shank, or makeshift knife. He also was charged with trafficking in prison contraband, which was the shank.

According to news reports at the time, Hunnewell told a mutual friend in December 1997 that Gilliland was seeing someone else.

A couple of days later, Hunnewell convinced Gilliland to come to his apartment after work. When she arrived, the couple had violent sex together, and then he stabbed her multiple times until she was dead.

The following other inmates were indicted for assault on an officer:

Mark Gessner, 38, one count;

Michael James, 20, two counts in one indictment; one count each in two separate indictments;

Paul Longtin, 24, one count;

Joseph French, 34, two counts; one count in a separate indictment;

Robert E. Dadmun Jr., 25, one count;

Kenneth Moore, 25, two counts.

Other inmate indictments were:

Antonio Pinto, 22, assault on an officer and terrorizing;

Daniel Simard, 29, trafficking in prison contraband (marijuana);

Douglas Littlefield, 31, trafficking in prison contraband (marijuana).

Russell Nelson, 22, assault on an officer; also assault on an officer and terrorizing.