A Virginia man has been charged with murder more than four months after his wife disappeared and a substantial amount of blood was found in their suburban Washington home, authorities announced Monday. Naresh Bhatt, 37, was indicted by a Prince William County grand jury and faces a charge of murder as well as a count of defiling a dead body, according to online court documents.
The body of Mamta Bhatt, 28, has not been found. However, investigators linked her DNA to the blood found in the couple's home, Manassas Park Police Chief Mario Lugo said Monday evening at a news conference. Lugo stated, “From the beginning, we believed that she was murdered.”
During the investigation, a search warrant was executed at the couple's home where blood was discovered in the bedroom and bathroom. Evidence suggests that Naresh Bhatt dismembered his wife's body, leading to the defiling charge. Lugo expressed confidence in the case despite the absence of the victim's body, stating, “I feel we have a strong case for not having the body.”
Chief Public Defender Tracey Lenox did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new charges against Bhatt, who is currently in jail awaiting trial on separate charges related to the case.
The disappearance of Mamta Bhatt, a pediatric nurse, has garnered international attention in the small northern Virginia community. Community members and her family in Nepal have rallied together to seek answers, utilizing social media and hosting events to raise awareness.
Naresh Bhatt was initially charged with concealing a dead body three weeks after his wife's disappearance. Prosecutors indicated that the amount of blood found in the home suggested fatal injuries. Despite the ongoing investigation, Bhatt's public defender argued for a speedy trial on the initial charge of concealing a dead body.
Bodiless murder cases, while challenging to prosecute, have seen increased success in recent years due to advancements in forensic evidence such as DNA analysis, cellphone data, and surveillance footage. According to former federal prosecutor Tad DiBiase, who specializes in such cases, there has been an 87% conviction rate in bodiless murder trials across the U.S.
