Six more picked to be on Sapry trial jury

Sapry, 24, is accused of killing Guzman in his Blueberry Lane apartment on April 18, 2019. He has been charged with both first- and second-degree murder, as well as theft, falsifying evidence, credit card fraud, and criminal trespass.

Sapry has told the court that he intends to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Each of 27 prospective jurors who were interviewed during Wednesday’s voir dire session in Belknap Superior Court were asked whether they viewed insanity as a legitimate legal defense.

The six who were selected for the jury include a postal worker, a man who said he would enjoy serving on a jury and also mentioned he has a family member who suffers from depression, a woman who said she found it “an interesting case” and pledged to be ”open to honesty” and promised to be a fair juror who would listen to both sides, and a hospital worker with prior jury experience.

Seventeen of those questioned were excused for a variety of reasons, including work commitments.

Four were excused for cause. One said he had “a bit of a bias” against the insanity defense. Another attended Laconia High School at the same time as Sapry. A third was a staffer at the New Hampshire State Hospital, which prosecutors argued should be disqualified because she would be deciding the fate of Sapry who, depending on the outcome of the case, might be confined to that hospital. The fourth said that she was concerned by stories she has read about people who were wrongly convicted of a crime.

As was the case on Tuesday, attorneys for both the prosecution and defense spent a great deal of time asking the prospective jurors about their feelings on the concept of an insanity defense and their ability to look closely at graphic photographs of Guzman’s mutilated body.

Sapry’s attorneys Mark Sisti and Wade Harwood again concluded their interviews of each of the prospective jurors by asking them to tell Sapry that if they were selected they would do their part to give him a fair trial. As Sapry looked at them from his seat at the defense table, he gently nodded his head in response to their promise of fairness.

Jury selection is scheduled to resume Thursday morning.

Four more jurors need to be selected for the panel, which will consist of 12 regular jurors and four alternates who will hear the case. The decision of which four of the 16 will be designated as alternates will not be made until just before the jury is ready to begin its deliberations.