The jury went out at 12:56 p.m. and came back around 5 p.m. with guilty verdicts on every count.
A Prince William County jury of eight women and four men convicted Naresh Bhatt on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, of first-degree murder, concealing a dead body and physically defiling a dead body in the death of his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a 28-year-old nurse who vanished from Manassas Park in the summer of 2024, WJLA reported. Her body has never been recovered. Judge Kimberly Irving presided, and sentencing is set for March 12, 2027.
The verdict came on what WJLA counted as day 19 of a six-week trial.
What Bhatt admitted, and what he denied
Bhatt took the stand. He told jurors his wife died by suicide after swallowing Celphos, an agricultural pesticide, WJLA reported. He admitted that he cut up her body and disposed of it. He denied killing her.
The defense built its case around that account. A toxicologist, Dr. Abigail Kearns, testified that aluminum phosphide, the active ingredient in Celphos, can release phosphine gas and can kill within hours. Chief Public Defender Tracey Lenox told the jury the prosecution's case rested on guesses. "Theories are not truth-seeking tools. They are doubt," she said in closing.
The prosecution answered with witnesses who knew Mamta. Bhatt's own mother and brother testified that she would never have taken her own life, according to WJLA. A friend, Sunita Basnet Thapa, testified that Mamta had told her Bhatt abused her, and described a bruise on her face. Judge Irving also let jurors hear about a 2021 incident in which Bhatt allegedly threatened a former roommate with a gun.
Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Sarah Sami summed up Bhatt's testimony in one line. "He had to admit what he could not deny and deny what he could not admit," she told the jury.
How the case was built without a body
Mamta Kafle Bhatt was a registered nurse on the medical surgical unit at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center in Manassas, WTVR reported in December 2024. She was last seen at the hospital on July 27, 2024. When she missed shifts on August 1 and 2 without calling, coworkers asked police to check on her.
Officers went to the couple's home on August 2. Bhatt did not report her missing until three days later, and told police he last saw her at the dinner table on July 31, according to that report. Investigators found what appeared to be pooled and spattered blood in the main bedroom and blood in the bathroom, and DNA testing confirmed the bedroom blood was hers. Prosecutors said surveillance cameras recorded Bhatt dropping trash bags into dumpsters and compactors in the days after she was reported missing.
"From the beginning, we believed that she was murdered," Manassas Park Police Chief Mario Lugo said at the time, adding that the lack of a body did not hurt the investigation. "July 30th, 2024, marks the beginning of a series of the most horrific and violent crimes against his wife," Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Matthew Sweet told jurors in his opening, WSET reported.
Prosecutors in murder cases without a body have to prove death itself through circumstantial evidence, which is the same problem we examined in the Florida case of Michelle Parker and the cell data affidavit. Here, Bhatt's own testimony took that question off the table. He told the jury she was dead and that he had dismembered her. The only real dispute left was how she died.
What sentence can he get?
We worked out the range from the Virginia Code. It is our arithmetic, not a figure from the court.
First-degree murder is "punishable as a Class 2 felony" under Va. Code 18.2-32. Under Va. Code 18.2-10, a Class 2 felony carries "imprisonment for life or for any term not less than 20 years" and a fine of up to $100,000.
Concealing a dead body to prevent detection is a Class 6 felony under Va. Code 18.2-323.02. So is willfully and intentionally defiling a dead body under Va. Code 18.2-126. A Class 6 felony carries one to five years in prison, or at the court's discretion up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
Add it up and each body count can add anywhere from no prison time to five years, or up to 10 years together, on top of the murder count. The floor for the case is the murder count's 20 years. The ceiling is life. WJLA reported the same 20 years to life range for the murder conviction.
Under Va. Code 19.2-295, the judge sets the sentence unless the defendant filed a written request, at least 30 days before trial, for the jury to do it. None of the reports we read said whether Bhatt made that request, so we cannot say yet whether the judge or the jury will fix the sentence.
Our timeline, with day counts
July 27, 2024: Mamta Kafle Bhatt is last seen at the hospital where she works. Day 0.
August 2, 2024: Police make a welfare check at the couple's home, day 6.
August 5, 2024: Bhatt reports her missing, three days after the welfare check, day 9.
August 22, 2024: Police search the home and arrest Bhatt on the concealment charge, day 26.
December 2024: A grand jury indictment adds murder and defilement charges, WTVR reported.
November 10, 2026: Guilty on all three counts, day 836, and 810 days after his arrest.
March 12, 2027: Sentencing, 122 days after the verdict.
What the family and prosecutors said
"This verdict represents an important measure of justice for Mamta Kafle Bhatt," Commonwealth's Attorney Amy Ashworth said, according to WJLA. Mamta's young daughter was reunited with her maternal grandparents from Nepal in August 2024, WTVR reported. "I rather have Mamta back. Regardless of what happened today, there's no fulfillment," Bina Khadkalama told WJLA.
Bhatt's lawyers argued throughout that the state never proved how Mamta died. For how jurors are told to weigh that kind of gap, see our explainer on what reasonable doubt means for jurors.
What to watch
Sentencing is March 12, 2027. After that, Bhatt could seek review in the Court of Appeals of Virginia. None of the reports we read said whether the defense plans to appeal.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
