Murder trial begins for Virginia man accused of dismembering wife

The Bhatt case is a murder trial with no corpse — but investigators found human hairs and fibers on a power saw inside the couple's house.MANASSAS, Va. (CN) — On an August day in 2024, a circle of well-wishers and news reporters formed around Naresh Bhatt. Most were there to help with the search for his missing 28-year-old wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt.“Thank you for what you are doing,” the Virginia man said, as television news cameras rolled. “I need your help in a positive way. Keep doing what you are doing. Just help us in this tough time.”But days later, Manassas Park Police led Naresh Bhatt out of his house in handcuffs, charged with concealing the body of his wife. Later, they added charges of murder and defiling a body after a state forensic report found human hairs and fibers on a power saw inside the couple’s house.On Monday, the jury selection process began in the trial of Naresh Bhatt, 39, who has entered a not guilty plea. Expert witnesses are expected to testify about critical DNA evidence and a suspicious spike in water usage that could be tied to cleanup efforts.The outcome of the trial will likely depend on them, too, since one critical piece of evidence is missing: Mamta Bhatt’s body was never found. Prosecutors claim her husband disposed of her body in garbage bags around the area.Mamta Kafle Bhatt., 28, vanished in 2024.The story of her disappearance has drawn national interest, as did other prominent domestic violence cases this year. In neighboring Fairfax County, Virginia, a jury convicted Brendan Banfield of hatching a plan — alongside the family au pair — to kill his wife. Last week, an Ohio jury found former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn guilty for the murder of his wife, Ashley Flynn. A couple days later, police in Miami Beach arrested rapper Rick Ross on a battery charge from a past relationship.Even against a flooded news backdrop, consumers are riveted by these stories, and there are plenty of them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 43 million women and 20 million men experience contact sexual violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetimes. Mamta Bhatt’s story has caught the attention of advocates.“We are following it,” said Courtenay Schwartz, policy director at the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. The group has lost most of its federal funding since 2020, she explained. Those cuts have made it harder to understand the landscape, “to figure out what went wrong and what we can do to try to prevent this kind of tragedy going forward.”During the trial, the jury will have to decide what to make of the incendiary details surrounding a young mother and nurse who is presumed murdered: She wanted citizenship, as her husband had supposedly threatened to send her to Nepal, where she was from. Prosecutors say he always knew where she was and all assets were in his name. In court documents, they recount how he would pull her hair and “pinch her private areas” so that he wouldn’t leave physical marks.Prosecutors are expected to paint a picture of a woman attempting to document and escape her abuse. They will present witnesses who remember her fears. In February 2024, she messaged her brother in Nepalese. Translated via interpreter, the message read: “Please save this. He (Naresh Bhatt) can delete it anytime from my phone.The witness list will also include experts in crime scene investigation and reconstruction. Several will testify about evidence collection, including use of a reagent to detect traces of blood at crime scenes. And a city public works official is expected to testify about the average water consumption patterns and thresholds that would be considered atypical for a home.A certified K-9 handler will testify about a “trained and certified cadaver dog” used during the investigation. Others will testify about video analysis that will include surveillance footage of Bhatt at various locations.The trial could extend six to seven weeks in Prince William County Circuit Court. Judge Kimberly Irving will preside.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads