MANASSAS, Va. — A Prince William County judge on Monday rejected a defense request to dismiss the murder case against Naresh Bhatt, moments after prosecutors rested.
Defense attorneys argued the commonwealth had failed to meet its burden of proof on all three charges, DC News Now reported. Circuit Court Judge Kimberly A. Irving disagreed. She said the evidence so far points to Mamta Kafle Bhatt being dead, not merely missing.
Bhatt, 39, faces a first-degree murder charge. He’s also charged with concealing and defiling a dead body.
As Courthouse News Service laid out the prosecution’s theory, the Manassas Park man killed his wife, who was 28, then dismembered her and got rid of her remains in dumpsters around Northern Virginia. Her body still hasn’t been found.
The commonwealth rested after four weeks of testimony from forensic experts, police, friends and relatives.
Brother recounts sister’s fears
Mahesh Kafle, her brother, was the prosecution’s final witness. Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Sweet asked what he had told his sister before she married.
“I told her not to get married to this man.”
Kafle answered through a Nepali interpreter, drawing an audible reaction in the courtroom. The couple married in Nepal in December 2020 and had a child.
According to Courthouse News, Kafle had met Bhatt when his sister announced the engagement and came away with a poor impression of him.
The last exhibit prosecutors showed was a photo of Kafle Bhatt with what appeared to be a bloodied face. Her brother said she sent it to him in February 2024, months before she disappeared.
She asked him to save the photo because she might need it and not to tell their parents, Kafle testified. She also told him she had not eaten in two days. In a later message, she wrote that she was not safe.
Prosecutors closed with TikTok videos Kafle Bhatt made of herself, her baby and her husband, including one in which she sang a children’s song with her daughter. Kafle dabbed at tears as the footage played. Bhatt reached for tissues at the defense table and wept.
Blood and DNA in the bedroom
Earlier in the day, a forensic expert testified that DNA likely belonging to Kafle Bhatt and the couple’s infant daughter was found on a bloodstained section of carpet. The sample came from the main bedroom of their Manassas Park home, where prosecutors say the killing took place.
Bloodstain pattern analyst Iris Dalley Graff told jurors that blood had pooled around the bathtub in that bedroom suite. She said stains on the carpet were consistent with someone cleaning blood and dragging it across the floor.
Friend describes jewelry and adoption request
Mandira Shrestha, a longtime friend of Bhatt, testified that he gave her his wedding ring and other jewelry in the weeks after his wife vanished. Some of the pieces had belonged to Kafle Bhatt. Shrestha later turned the jewelry over to police.
She also said Bhatt tried to get her to adopt the couple’s daughter, who was nearly 1 at the time. The girl is now being raised by Mahesh Kafle.
After his arrest, Shrestha testified, Bhatt told her to stop asking where his wife was. He said he would not be in jail if he knew, and he warned her that his calls were being recorded.
Judge kept trial on track
Irving has turned back repeated efforts to slow the case. When the trial opened Oct. 5, she denied a renewed defense request for more time, the Prince William Times reported. She had rejected an earlier delay request 18 days before.
Chief Public Defender Tracey Lenox told the court the defense was not ready. Irving noted that the public defender’s office had had access to the evidence since February 2025. She acknowledged the volume of electronic records but said the case would go to trial.
Bhatt, who had declined a plea agreement, then pleaded not guilty. Irving also refused his request that she recuse herself. She found his plea was entered freely, voluntarily and intelligently.
Defense case begins Wednesday
Court is off Tuesday for Election Day. The defense is scheduled to call its first witness at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Bhatt’s lawyers are expected to challenge the crime-scene techniques police used. The trial was expected to last seven weeks.
Also Read: Bhatt Jury Hears Searches About Missing Spouse; Defense Questions Timing
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