LACONIA — A Superior Court judge has granted prosecutors a two-month extension to bring an indictment against, Hassan Sapry, who has been charged with reckless second-degree murder in the death of Wilfred Guzman, 57.
Guzman was found dead in his apartment in the Perley Pond Townhouses complex on Blueberry Lane on April 19, two days after he succumbed to “blunt and sharp-force trauma,” according to the charging document.
Under the order issued by Judge James D. O’Neill III the state Attorney General’s Office now has until Sept. 19 to indict Sapry.
Under the New Hampshire Rule of Criminal Procedure, the court is required to dismiss charges if a grand jury does not formally indict a defendant within 90 days of the charges being filed. Without the extension, the 90-day deadline in Sapry’s case would have occurred next Monday.
Sapry, 21, was arrested the week after Guzman's death — on April 26 — at his parents’ home on Pleasant Street, bringing an end to a three-day manhunt that involved a nighttime search using a State Police helicopter, robocalls urging Laconia residents remain indoors, and a search of the waters of Lake Opechee by state Marine Patrol and other law enforcement officers.
Second-degree murder is potentially punishable by life in prison.
Police named Sapry as a person of interest in the case five days after Guzman’s body was discovered by an officer who went to his apartment for a welfare check at the request of a family member.
Sapry, who was born in Iraq and emigrated to the U.S. with his parents and older brother 13 years ago, entered a not guilty plea on April 29. He continues to be held in preventive detention at the Belknap County Jail. Though confined indefinitely, he reserved the right to ask the court to allow him to be released on bail in the future.
An indictment is not an indication of guilt. Rather, it means that a grand jury believes there is enough evidence to bring the case to trial.
The prosecution and defense are in active discussions about the case.
“Both the state and defense counsel agree that further discussion regarding this case prior to indictment is warranted,” the motion reads.
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