Jury selection in Sapry case set for Aug. 11, competency questions persist

LACONIA — Jury selection for the second murder trial of Hassan Sapry is set to begin Monday, Aug. 11, though his attorney said he’s likely incompetent to participate in his own defense.

Sapry, 27, accused of killing Wilfred Guzman Sr., age 57 when he died, has been held in custody since April 26, 2019, about a week after officers discovered Guzman deceased in his apartment on Blueberry Lane. 

Sapry’s trial began in 2022, but was halted in August of that year by Belknap County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Leonard, who declared a mistrial due to "unforeseen issues.” Reports from 2022 indicate Leonard ordered a competency evaluation of Sapry. 

Mark Sisti is representing Sapry. During the final pre-trial hearing on Thursday afternoon, Sisti said Sapry is in the worst shape he’s seen him since the mistrial three years ago, despite two evaluators previously finding Sapry competent for trial, and asked the court to order a third, independent competency evaluation.

“I’m raising competency,” Sisti said Thursday afternoon. 

“Please file a motion, and then I’d want some supporting documentation,” Leonard said during the hearing.

Two experts previously opined that Sapry is mentally competent to stand trial, but Thursday Sisti asked the court to order a third competency evaluation, and said medical records from the Department of Corrections — records he said he’s been waiting on for two months — arrived in his possession just two days ago.

“Neither evaluators found him incompetent,” Leonard said Thursday.

Leonard instructed Sisti to file a motion with supporting documentation, and Sisti said he would do so on Friday. 

Sapry's second trial was scheduled for April of this year, but was delayed following a closed status conference in January at Belknap County Superior Court due to unspecific “complications.” Court records show a motion to immediately transfer Sapry to the care of the New Hampshire Hospital in Concord was filed on Jan. 14.

In the care of the Department of Corrections, Sisti said Sapry has been on “homicide watch” in an infirmary for the past month, and worried about security implications were Sapry to stand trial in open court in August as scheduled.

“As far as being a security risk, I don’t think he trusts himself,” Sisti said.

State prosecutor Jeffery Strelzin told Leonard the Attorney General's Office would like a definitive Tuesday, Aug. 19 start date for trial, and suggested taking whatever security measures were necessary, noting there are flexible ink pens available and floated scheduling truncated trial days, perhaps beginning at 9:30 a.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m.

“It’s stressful for every defendant to have to face a first-degree murder trial,” Strelzin said Thursday afternoon.

The state leveled nine charges against Sapry, including first- and second-degree murder, falsifying evidence, theft, credit card fraud and criminal trespassing. 

“He can’t be here, in the condition that he’s in,” Sisti told Leonard. “I have a lot of concerns.

“He’s an absolute mess, worse than I’ve ever seen him.”

Sapry has been diagnosed with four serious mental illnesses, Sisti said, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Suggested instructions to jurors filed by defense counsel on July 18 note Sapry is a devout Muslim born in Iraq. Sisti previously raised in court that he’s affected by childhood PTSD related to a suicide bomber and an improvised explosive device detonating in his native country, according to reporting by the Union-Leader. 

The jury instructions also note Sapry raised the insanity defense, which is recognized by the State of New Hampshire, and essentially requires the defense submit sufficient proof which allows a juror to conclude that Sapry’s acts were the product of mental illness or disease.

“He is not going to get a fair trial because of himself,” Sisti said. “He’s a sick human being.”