MANASSAS, Va. (Court TV) — A man is standing trial in Virginia on charges that he killed his missing wife, a pediatric nurse who has not been seen since 2024.
Naresh Bhatt, 39, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and defiling a dead body in the presumed death of Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, whose body has never been found.
(L) Naresh Bhatt, (R) Mamta Kafle Bhatt. (Prince William County Adult Detention Center/Manassas Park Police)
While prosecutors have said they believe that Mamta Bhatt was killed on July 30, 2024, police didn’t get involved in the case until Aug. 2, 2024, when the missing woman’s co-workers called police to request a welfare check after she failed to arrive at work. When officers arrived at the house, they spoke with Naresh Bhatt, who told police that he and his wife had recently agreed to separate and were in the process of selling the house. The defendant told officers that Mamta Bhatt had “left and cut off contact, mentioning that this time she might be headed to Texas or New York.” When Mamta Bhatt was still missing days later, police launched a full investigation.
Naresh Bhatt wasn’t charged in his wife’s disappearance for nearly a month. In the days after Mamta Bhatt was last seen alive, prosecutors said, her husband purchased cleaning supplies and a pack of three knives. When detectives searched the couple’s home, most of the cleaning supplies and two knives were missing.
Despite not having a body, prosecutors have said that evidence inside the couple’s home suggests that the victim was killed, including blood visible in the house’s bathroom and closet. Crime scene investigators described processing the scene with the chemical Bluestar, saying “it’s the most blood they have ever detected in their careers.” But Naresh Bhatt’s attorney questioned how much blood was really found. In a motion reviewed by Court TV, he said that “Bluestar cannot quantify the amount of blood present when it is not visible to the human eye. In other words, a single drop of blood mixed in a gallon jug of water would cause the entire jug to glow under Bluestar.”
While investigators have not released many details about the evidence they have against the defendant, the criminal complaint filed in the case references “a substantial amount of digital and forensic evidence,” including evidence that “the body was inside the residence and dragged out of the residence.” The forensic evidence allegedly includes human hairs and fibers found on a power saw inside the couple’s home, Courthouse News Service reported. Prosecutors say the digital evidence includes computer searches on a device Naresh Bhatt was known to use that included “how long it takes to remarry after a spouse’s death.”
Jury selection began Monday; the trial is expected to last up to seven weeks.
