MANASSAS PARK, Va. — A judge has ruled Naresh Bhatt be held without bond during a hearing in court Monday morning. A judge said Bhatt was considered a flight risk following his arrest for allegedly disposing a body last week. The judge also said he posed a danger to the community.
Naresh Bhatt is accused of killing his wife of more than three years, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, but the Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney's office has not presented evidence to charge the 37-year-old with murder.
Police found evidence inside their Manassas Park home that a body had been dragged out of the residence. Using Bluestar technology investigators say they also found large amounts of blood concentrated in the couple's primary bedroom and corresponding bathroom. Prosecutors said Monday that a presumptive test of the evidence determined it was blood inside the home.
The public defender representing Naresh Bhatt argued that the amount of blood found in the home was misrepresented by the prosecutors telling the judge, "that's maybe a nosebleed judge."
The defense argued that prosecutors are missing the primary evidence in this case, a body. He played a video clip from the Commonwealth's Attorney Ashley Amy Ashworth telling reporters that she did not know if Mamta was dead or alive following her husband's arrest.
Naresh Bhatt has been charged with concealing a dead body.
During the Monday bond hearing, prosecutors also revealed the U.S. Secret Service has offered up evidence in the case against Naresh Bhatt. In April, prosecutors say Naresh Bhatt used his work computer to google, "How long does it take to get married when spouse die" and "What happen to debt died spouse."
"That moment, today. Oh, they got him for murder one," Julia Kosatka said outside the courtroom. She is among the women who have helped in the search for the 28-year-old nurse.
Bhatt has ties to the U.S. Secret Service and has security clearance according to his defense.
Mamta Kafle Bhatt went missing in late July. She was last seen at UVA Health Health Prince William Medical Center on July 27. She spoke to a friend on the phone on July 28, according to police.
She also posted a video of her baby crawling up the stairs on her TikTok account on July 28.
On Aug. 2, a welfare check was called to the Bhatts’ home. When Manassas Park Police conducted the welfare check, officers said that Naresh Bhatt did not want to report Mamta Kafle Bhatt missing because he said she was with family in Texas or New York but prosecutors say Mamta Kafle Bhatt doesn't have family in the U.S.
He reported Mamta Kafle Bhatt missing three days later, on Aug. 5.
Friends of Mamta Kafle Bhatt organized searches for her in the weeks after she was reported missing, and the Manassas Park Police named Naresh Bhatt a "person of interest" on Aug. 21. Naresh Bhatt was arrested the next day on charges of concealing a dead body. WUSA9 was there when he was led from the home in handcuffs.
Prosecutors say Naresh Bhatt’s timeline he gave police was completely wrong and he changed his story. Naresh Bhatt had told WUSA9 and officials that he last saw her on July 31, but court documents show that she may have died on July 30.
Prosecutors also detailed a series of domestic abuse allegations made by Mamta Kafle Bhatt against her husband in February. She allegedly told Manassas Park Police that her husband would not hand over her personal documents like her passport and had destroyed her phone.
They also referenced testimonies from friends and colleagues who told investigators they had seen Mamta Kafle Bhatt with bruises and had offered her help and resources to get out of an abusive relationship.
In a Facebook post, a user named Mamta Kafle Bhatt asks a Facebook group dedicated to separated, divorced and single mothers in the DMV for guidance. The user writes in part, "I'm in process of separation I work 2 days a week and my husband is not helping to take care of baby he is saying that if I leave baby with him he will send child to custody is it possible?"
Colleagues say they believe that the account corresponds to Mamta Kafle Bhatt because she has shared the same concerns with them. The social media post was referenced in court on Monday.
Naresh Bhatt is due back in court on Oct. 24 for a preliminary hearing.
Meanwhile, groups that have lead community-wide search efforts for Mamta say they are pivoting their attention to Loudoun County. Prosecutors say the last place where her phone pinged to a cell tower was near a body of water in Loudoun County.
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Additionally, prosecutors say on July 30 Naresh Bhatt purchased three knives, two of which have not been found. Investigators say there is video evidence of Naresh Bhatt buying cleaning supplies the very next day.
Prosecutors also say, Naresh Bhatt sold his Tesla the week he was arrested and even tried to sell his home. When investigators got inside the house, they say the husband and father had packed up, with both his and his daughter's passports in plain sight.
He is only being charged with concealing a body at this point because prosecutors haven’t presented evidence that he actually killed his wife yet.
Naresh Bhatt claimed Mamta Bhatt destroyed her own phone before disappearing, but the phone kept receiving messages and calls up until Aug. 1 when the phone eventually died, according to prosecutors.
Investigators say the last cell tower that her phone made a connection with was in Loudoun County. Naresh Bhatt allegedly told police he was at a cafe in Loudoun County around the same time the phone pinged.
During Friday's hearing, his attorney called the case a 'media frenzy' and said they had no actual evidence. He asked for Naresh Bhatt to be released, but the judge ordered that he be held on no bond at his hearing Monday morning.
WUSA9 spoke to Naresh Bhatt twice in the weeks since Mamta Bhatt went missing.