Man charged with first-degree murder in 2019 Laconia death

LACONIA — Hassan Sapry, the Laconia resident who has been held for close to two years in the death of a Laconia man, has been indicted for first-degree murder and other charges.

Sapry, 23, is charged with beating and cutting the neck and head of Wilfred Guzman “multiple times,” on April 18, 2019, according to the indictment issued by the special COVID statewide grand jury which met in Concord on Friday.

He was also indicted for second-degree murder, for allegedly causing Guzman’s death recklessly “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life,” the indictment reads.

Sapry was further indicted for falsifying physical evidence – for allegedly throwing Guzman’s cell phone into Lake Winnisquam; theft by unauthorized taking for allegedly stealing Guzman’s wallet and credit cards; four counts of attempted fraudulent use of a credit card, allegedly to purchase Sony Playstation products or services; and one charge of criminal trespass for breaking into a home at 48 Edgewater Ave., in Laconia, on April 26, 2019.

Police found Guzman’s body on April 19, 2019, when they went to his Blueberry Lane apartment to check on his welfare after receiving a call from a concerned family member.

Sapry was named a person of interest in the case on April 24, 2019. Police asked Laconia residents to stay in their homes for several hours soon afterward while they initiated a ground and air search for Sapry.

He was arrested two days later, hiding out in his parent’s home at 411 Pleasant St. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on April 29, 2019, and has been held without bail in the Belknap County Jail since then.

In the months that followed, the state Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, asked for and received six extensions to bring an indictment. Sapry agreed to waive his right to a speedy indictment.

Normally prosecutors have 90 days to indict a defendant or drop the charge.

An affidavit which details the evidence that authorities say shows probable cause to arrest Sapry for Guzman’s death has been sealed since his arraignment.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole. Second-degree murder, on the other hand, is potentially punishable by life in prison.

Sapry is being represented by Mark Sisti, a well-known criminal defense attorney.

In the days immediately following Guzman’s death police said there did not appear to be a forced entry into Guzman’s apartment at Perley Pond Townhouses complex, at 57 Blueberry Lane. There were also no signs of robbery or evidence of drugs.

Sapry, his older brother, and their parents, Ali Hassan and his wife Ferdos Ajeel, arrived in Laconia in 2008. 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. At one point he was kidnapped, and severely beaten during his captivity. Eventually he was freed after his family paid $80,000 in ransom, according to a local person who became a family acquaintance. Shortly after his release the family moved to Syria. It was from there they emigrated to the U.S.