NH v. Mauricio Guerrero: Stalker in the Attic Trial

STARFFORD COUNTY, N.H. (Court TV) — A jury delivered a mixed verdict in the case of a Pennsylvania man accused of breaking into the home of an OnlyFans model and hiding in the attic of her New Hampshire home.

Defendant Mauricio Guerrero appears in court Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (Court TV)

Guerrero was arrested Feb. 9, 2022, after officers with the Somersworth Police Department responded to a call of residents complaining of someone on their roof, according to an affidavit.

Guerrero was detained on the scene. An investigation revealed he had allegedly been breaking into the home for three days.

The reported victim, identified as R.N. in documents, told officers she met Guerrero in Oct. 2021 through her OnlyFans account. She admitted to giving him her address “because he wanted to buy her a TV and fireplace for her apartment,” states an affidavit.

Over the following months, Guerrero allegedly stalked R.N., and hours before his arrest, she woke up at her mother’s home to find him watching her from the hallway.

Guerrero told officers he entered the residence to take back a TV he purchased for R.N., and hid in the attic after hearing people inside.

Investigators said Guerrero had taken explicit photos of the R.N. without her consent as she slept and placed a tracking device on her keys.

Guerrero was charged with five counts of burglary and two counts of invasion of privacy.

In their opening statement, the defense described Guerrero as a “naïve” and “stupid” lovesick young man who was “duped” by an older woman who exploited his feelings for gifts and attention, and even “led him on” by inviting him into her home on an earlier occasion for sex. Attorney Harry Nelson Starbranch told the jury the case comes down to Guerrero’s intent, claiming he acted “impulsively” when he entered the home, but did not intend to commit a crime, an element of burglary under New Hampshire law.

Guerrero is scheduled to be sentenced in July. He was ordered to wear a GPS monitor while awaiting his sentencing hearing.

DAILY TRIAL HIGHLIGHTS

DAY 5 – 5/16/23

• The jury returns a split verdict
  • Burglary Count 1 – GUILTY
  • Burglary Count 2 – NOT GUILTY
    • Lesser included offense of criminal trespass – GUILTY
  • Burglary Count 3 – NOT GUILTY
    • Lesser included offense of criminal trespass – GUILTY
  • Burglary Count 4 – GUILTY
  • Criminal Trespass – GUILTY
  • Invasion of Privacy – NOT GUILTY
  • Invasion of Privacy – GUILTY
• WATCH: Stalker in the Attic Trial: Jury Reaches a Split Verdict

DAY 4 – 5/15/23

• Mauricio Guerrero returned to the witness stand Monday to tell jurors about his relationship with “RN.”
  • Guerrero testified that the victim, his first-time girlfriend, asked him to become “obsessed” with her, and their conversations were sexually explicit.
• In closing arguments, the prosecutor argued that Guerrero broke into the victim’s home, took items, and recorded a sexually explicit video of the victim as she slept.
  • WATCH: Stalker in the Attic Trial: Prosecution Closing Argument
  • The defendant hid in the victim’s attic for two hours until everyone went to sleep in the home, went through the victim’s childhood items, and took a spare set of keys for the house to make copies.
• WATCH: Stalker in the Attic Trial: Defense Closing Argument

DAY 3 – 5/12/23

• WATCH: Stalker in the Attic Trial: Day 3 Recap
• Defendant Mauricio Guerrero testified in his own defense
  • WATCH: Mauricio Guerrero Testifies in Stalker in the Attic Trial

DAY 2 – 5/11/23

• WATCH: Stalker in the Attic Trial: Day 2 Recap
• The alleged victim (who was not shown on camera) took the stand and described how her online interactions with the defendant – who started subscribing to her OnlyFans page in fall 2021 – crossed into real life, leading to daily flirtatious texts; gifts to her and her son; an actual sexual encounter in December 2021; and a brief hookup in his car hours before he allegedly broke into her home and took video of her vagina while she slept.
• She agreed she may have “messed with his head” and sent Guerrero “mixed messages” about how she felt about him by sleeping with him and making drunken professions of love, but she maintained that she did not consider them to be in a relationship, did not ask him to visit her, and did not give him permission to enter home or take videos or photos of her.
• The alleged victim attributed her conduct with the defendant to “very low” self-esteem and “mental problems” that led her to drink daily. Said she was usually drunk when she spoke to him.
• On cross, Guerrero’s lawyer drew out examples of how she allegedly “led him on,” including:
  • The time he showed up at her home unannounced and she sent him away, then texted him saying “I miss you” and that him showing up was “kind of hot.”
  • She told him she wanted him to be “obsessed” with her.
  • She texted him “rape me,” but she said didn’t actually mean it.
• The lead investigator, Det. John Williams Sunderland, read aloud text messages between the defendant and the alleged victim in the hours leading up to his alleged break-in of her house.
• In the texts, the defendant lied about being in New Hampshire and denied being in her home despite cell phone evidence placing him there (photos and videos he took inside the home and cell tower evidence placing him nearby).
• Guerrero finally admitted to being outside her home when she drunkenly sent him flirtatious texts the night of 2/8/22. She agreed to meet him in his car for a brief tryst, then texted him “don’t ever come here again” after leaving the car.
• Sunderland read aloud a to-do list on the defendant’s phone that said, “lock pick her house… put microphones and stuff to hear her… make sure to be careful and sneakful around her house.”
• The jury saw photos of fingerprints, pry marks and red paint transfer on the windows police believe Guerrero used to break into the house.
• Intelligence analyst Lisa Schultz said Guerrero’s cell phone records placed him near the alleged victim’s home twice in December 2021, January 2022 and February 7, 2022.

DAY 1 – 5/10/23

• Both sides delivered opening statements.
• Assistant Strafford County Attorney Emily Conant Garod said Guerrero’s obsession with R.N. led him to make a series of “poor, alarming, and ultimately criminal decisions,” including stealing her underwear, her keys, and filming her vagina while she slept.
• Attorney Harry Nelson Starbranch said the only contested issue in the case is intent, claiming Guerrero “stupidly” and “impulsively” entered the home but did not intend to steal anything or film illicit photos or video of R.N.
• After the jury left for the day, Judge Howard suggested that Guerrero’s lawyer implied in the defense opening that Guerrero was guilty of a lesser charge, criminal trespassing. The judge asked Guerrero if he agreed to this strategy and Guerrero said yes.
• R.N.’s mother described unusual activity in the home around the time of Guerrero’s alleged entry: windows mysteriously opened, a door unlocked, and a period in which R.N.’s keys went missing, then suddenly reappeared under the kitchen island. A copy of the key was later found on Guerrero’s keyring.
• Victoria Bourque teared up as she described a letter (below) she found on the porch that said “I love you (R.N.)” and “please forgive me for whatever I do.”
• Two Somersworth Police officers described finding items in the attic that suggested Guerrero was in the house for longer than he said was, including a McDonald’s bag with breakfast food, a filled cup with urine, and a “Tile” tracker that was connected to an app on Guerrero’s phone.