Sapry pleads innocent to Guzman death; remains in jail

LACONIA — Hassan Sapry pleaded innocent Monday to killing Wilfred Guzman.

Sapry, 21, waived arraignment and agreed to be held without bail in preventative detention in the Belknap County Jail, according to documents filed in Belknap Superior Court.

The state Attorney General’s Office formally charged Sapry with one count of second-degree murder.

Guzman, 57, was found dead Friday, April 19, in his apartment in the Perley Pond Townhouses apartment complex on Blueberry Lane, in Laconia, not far from where Sapry lived with his parents, at 411 Pleasant St. Guzman had apparently been dead for two days before police found his body after going to the apartment for a well-being check, according to the court file.

The charging document filed in court Monday states that Guzman died “on or about April 17,” and further states his death was caused by “blunt and sharp-force trauma.”

It further alleges that that the manner in which Guzman was killed showed “extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

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

Sapry was arrested at his parents’ home late afternoon, putting an end to a three-day manhunt for the Iraqi-born man who emigrated to the U.S. with his parents and older brother 13 years ago.

Police declared Sapry a “person of interest” on Wednesday, hours after police converged on his parents’ home Tuesday evening and spent hours searching the premises. A State Police helicopter flew overhead Tuesday night, in hopes that Sapry could be spotted from the air. On Thursday state Marine Patrol officers, and other law enforcement personnel searched the waters of Lake Opechee, less that 1,000 feet from where Sapry lived. The AG’s office confirmed the search was related to Guzman’s death.

Court documents show that Sapry claimed no financial assets. He is being represented by attorneys Caroline Smith and Allison Schwartz of the Public Defenders Office.

Sapry is being held in jail indefinitely because releasing him would pose a danger to the community or himself, according to court records. However, he reserved the right to ask the court to allow him to be released on bail in the future.