Judge grants 6th extension for indictment in 2019 murder case

LACONIA — For the sixth time, a Superior Court judge has given prosecutors more time to indict Hassan Sapry, who is charged in connection with a 2019 homicide case.

The latest extension allows the state Attorney General’s Office to seek an indictment when the Belknap County grand jury meets in February, by which time Sapry will have been confined for more than 21 months.

Sapry, 23, is charged with killing Wilfred Guzman, who died from “blunt and sharp-force trauma,” according to the charging document filed shortly after his arrest on April 26, 2019.

Since then, Sapry has been held without bail in the Belknap County jail. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder on April 29, 2019. This past December, for the third time, he waived his right to a speedy indictment, according to court records.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt. Rather, it is a finding by a grand jury that enough evidence of a possible crime exists to warrant bringing a case to trial.

Under state rules governing criminal cases, authorities have 90 days to bring formal charges against someone in custody unless a judge grants an extension.

The state Attorney General’s Office, which prosecutes homicide cases, obtained extensions on July 16, 2019, Sept. 13, 2019, Dec. 4, 2019, March, 12, 2020, May 26, 2020, and Oct. 1. 2020. The latest extension was requested on Dec. 3, and was immediately granted by Superior Court Judge James D. O’Neill III.

In the latest extension, prosecutors repeated what they stated in their earlier requests, that the additional time was needed “to allow for a pretrial investigation, relative to the potential track of this case, to take place by the defendant, with likely follow up by the State.”

COVID-19 restrictions have also contributed to the delay, the prosecutors stated in their latest extension request.

“In its March 12, 2020, filing, the State represented that it did not intend to seek additional extensions and requested a final extension to the June (2020) meeting of the Belknap County Grand Jury," Senior Assistant Attorney General Danielle Sakowski stated in the prosecution’s motion. “That representation was made prior to counsel for the State or for the defendant understanding the delay and ramifications that COVID-19 would have on the parties completing the outstanding pretrial investigation.”

Two documents related to the case have been sealed, and are shielded from public view. One is a motion in the case filed by prosecutors. The other is the sworn statement that was filed to support Sapry’s arrest.

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 Blueberry Lane apartment for a welfare check at the request of a family member.

Second-degree murder is potentially punishable by life in prison.

Though confined indefinitely, Sapry reserved the right to ask the court to grant him a hearing, at which time his lawyer could ask that he be released on bail.