As search goes on, sisters recall a devoted, peaceable family

LACONIA — As law enforcement officers worked for a second day to locate Hassan Sapry, who is wanted for questioning in the death of Wilfred Guzman, people acquainted with Sapry and his family were expressing astonishment, dismay and concern.

Authorities have been looking for Sapry, 21, since Tuesday night when police searched the premises around his parents’ home at 411 Pleasant St. The state Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday morning announced Sapry was a  “person of interest” in Guzman’s death, which has been ruled a homicide.

Doris Duff of Laconia, and her sister Ginny Lovett of Meredith, have known Sapry, his older brother, and their parents since shortly after they arrived in Laconia as part of a refugee resettlement program in 2008.

The two sisters were volunteering at the time for the Refugee Connection Committee.

“The boys were always respectful,” said Duff.

Lovett has the same memories from the times when Sapry and his family would go visit the Lovetts, who would take them out for a boat ride on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Ali Hassan and his wife Ferdos Ajeel and their two sons arrived in Laconia in 2008. The couple’s daughter was born later.

The family is originally from Iraq, where Hassan was a driver and bodyguard for Western and U.N. diplomats.

Hassan was among innumerable victims of Iraq’s sectarian violence between warring Islamic factions; he was kidnapped, and severely beaten during his captivity, Lovett said. Eventually he was freed because his family could afford the $80,000 ransom, she said. Shortly after his release the family moved to Syria. It was from there they emigrated to the U.S.

Sapry and his brother were well aware of the violence that surrounded them in Iraq, Duff and Lovett said.

Once in the Lakes Region the family adjusted to life in a new country and a new culture. Hassan already knew some English, but the rest of the family, including Sapry, had to learn it from scratch. Sapry and his brother were middle-school age at the time.

Within six months of coming to Laconia, Hassan and another immigrant spoke before students in the Leadership Lakes Region program about their experiences. Hassan also shared his thoughts in a talk to members of the Meredith Rotary Club, Duff said.

Hassan is a member of the Laconia Human Relations Committee.

“Sapry and his brother were always taught to be respectful, especially to women,” Duff said.

Lovett recalls him being very computer savvy, and especially athletic.

Pondering the situation in which Sapry currently finds himself, Lovett said, “We don’t know the other side of the story.”

Guzman was found dead last Friday in his apartment in the Perley Pond Townhouses at 57 Blueberry Lane. The Hassan family was living at a neighboring apartment complex at 103 Blueberry Lane when they bought their house in 2017, according to the property deed. The website Instant Checkmate also shows that, in addition to the 103 Blueberry Lane address, Ali Hassan also lived for a time at 57 Blueberry lane, but does not specify when.