Witnesses detail 2019 manhunt for Sapry in court on Thursday

LACONIA — “I just grabbed it and started attacking him,” Hassan Sapry told State Police Lt. Steve McAuley, commander of the major crime unit. 

“The last four days, all I did was sleep and cry,” Sapry said. “That’s all I did.”

Sapry, 27, is charged with nine counts including first- and second-degree murder in the 2019 killing of Wilfred Guzman Sr. in his Blueberry Lane Apartment. 

Spary is on trial for the second time in Belknap County Superior Court and, on Thursday, jurors heard an audio recording captured during his interview with State Police, conducted at the Laconia Police Department following his arrest at his family’s home on Pleasant Street.

His first trial, in 2022, ended abruptly when Superior Court Justice Elizabeth Leonard declared a mistrial for unknown reasons. 

“We appreciate you being honest with us, OK,” McAuley said in the interview. 

“I knew I did it,” Sapry said later in the interview. “I don’t want to believe that.”

The morning of the attack, Sapry’s day started out pedestrian — he woke up at 8 a.m., as he always did, ate breakfast and spent time with a sibling before playing Overwatch, a video game. Later on, he took a walk around the neighborhood. 

But that night, April 17 around 10:30 p.m., Sapry drove to Guzman Sr.’s apartment and spent several hours watching television and chatting in the living room before moving to the kitchen to share a snack. That’s when Sapry allegedly initiated a brutal attack, lasting 10 to 12 minutes by his own account, which ended in Guzman Sr.’s death. 

“I was just trying to grab for other things,” he said in the interview. “Knife, forks, really anything — it was dark, so ...”

Before he died, Guzman Sr. repeated something in Spanish. Sapry remained in the apartment for around four hours before heading back to his residence, he told investigators. 

The next morning, Guzman Sr.'s body was discovered by city police officers following a welfare check. An investigation began, and soon thereafter, a large-scale manhunt to find Sapry, after a warrant was issued for his arrest for the murder of Guzman Sr.

After the alleged murder and before his arrest, Sapry apparently visited hospitals in New London and in Lebanon, seeking treatment for serious wounds sustained to his hands. 

According to the recording of the interview conducted by State Police, Sapry became alerted to an increased police presence in his neighborhood on April 23, upon returning to his home from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. That’s when he made his way to nearby Edgewater Avenue, where he would remain until the day of his arrest. 

Kenneth Hamel owns 68 Edgewater Ave., and found Sapry there on April 26, 2019. Neighbors had seen Sapry walking up and down the street on security camera footage, and alerted each other to remain vigilant. 

Hamel arrived at the home — he was renovating it at the time — between 3:30 and 4 p.m., and noticed the screen of a first-floor bedroom window was ripped. He hadn’t been there for a week, but it wasn’t ripped when he left.

Upon entering the house, proceeding with caution, Hamel discovered Sapry in the doorway of that bedroom. He asked Sapry what he was doing in the house, and Sapry told Hamel he didn’t know.

“He was just kind of staring at me,” Hamel said under direct examination on Thursday. 

Hamel told Sapry to leave and called the police. 

Laconia Det. Sgt. Benjamin Black spoke with Hamel over the phone. He learned Sapry was wearing grey pants and a dark sweatshirt. Officers investigated the residence, but Sapry was no longer there.

Shortly thereafter, the State Police SWAT unit arrived at the Sapry home on Pleasant Street, parking a large armored vehicle in their driveway and blaring commands over a loudspeaker. 

On April 26, State Police Patrol Supervisor Nicholas Levesque was serving with the SWAT team. He told jurors Thursday they set up a perimeter around 411 Pleasant St., and ordered Sapry to leave the home. In less than a minute, Sapry exited through a side door on the garage and complied with police instructions without incident, surrendering his cellphone and wallet before being transported to the police station. 

Black assisted the State Police Major Crimes Unit in executing a warrant to search Sapry’s body while at the Laconia Police Department. 

“He was emotionless,” Black said.