@meghannmcuniff: A jury in Prince William County, Virginia, convicted a 39-year-old man today (Tuesday, November 10) of murdering his wife in a case that drew widespread attention in their native country of Nepal. Jurors deliberated less than four hours before finding Naresh Datt Bhatt guilty of all three counts: first-degree murder, physically defiling a dead human body and transporting, secreting, concealing or altering a dead body. Judge Kimberly A. Irving of Prince William County Circuit Court scheduled his sentencing for March 12 at 1 p.m. Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a 28-year-old pediatric nurse and mother of one, didn't report for work on Aug. 1, 2024. Bhatt reported her missing on Aug. 5. He was arrested for her murder on Aug. 22, 2024. Investigators have not found her remains. Bhatt testified in his trial that he found her dead of suicide and dismembered her, then lied and said he didn't know what happened to her. Mamta Kafle moved to the United States from Nepal in 2021 after an arranged marriage to Bhatt in 2020. Her family lives in Nepal, and the Nepali government issued a statement about her disappearance, which drew widespread attention in the country. Bhatt, now 39, worked as a logistics specialist the Army Reserve from June 2017 to February 2024. He was in jail during trial and will remain there througn sentencing, where he'll face life in prison. Irving thanked the jurors for serving. "You've done something that nobody else has been required to do, and that's to not decompress by discussing what you've heard with absolutely anybody for six weeks. And I know that's a heavy ask, and I know it takes its toll. And I want to tell you how grateful I am for your service, and let you know that you are now free of that," the judge said. Attorneys may ty to talk to them about the trial, "but you do not need to talk to anybody, and nobody's going to hound you about that." #law #crime #court

Meghann Cuniff

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Wednesday 11 November 2026 00:33:46 GMT