MANASSAS PARK, Va. — A Prince William County judge has ordered the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office to hand over some of the evidence to the defense attorneys representing Naresh Bhatt, the Manassas Park man accused of concealing his wife's dead body.
The public defender representing Naresh Bhatt said Friday that the evidence requested could be used to prove the 37-year-old father's innocence in the case of his missing wife.
Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, has not been seen since late July and Manassas Park Police say she is presumed dead.
Court documents indicate that Naresh Bhatt killed his wife, but he has only been charged with a single count of concealing a dead body. The defense argues that the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office is missing the key evidence in their case— Mamta's body.
The Prince William County judge ordered prosecutors to hand over two out of six items requested by the public defender.
The defense will now have access to a surveillance video from from July 27 obtained by investigators. Court documents indicate that the video shows Mamta Kafle Bhatt talking to a colleague outside of their work at the UVA Health Prince William Medical Center. After speaking to her coworker, investigators say Mamta cancelled an uber and got into a dark colored sedan.
On Friday, the public defender argued that Mamta Kafle Bhatt is still alive, and that he wanted his investigators to speak to Mamta's coworker and the driver who picked her up to determine if they had insight into why she left.
Supporters of Mamta Kafle Bhatt and those who have been searching for her diligently said they were upset by the defense lawyer's argument that she purposefully left her husband and 1-year-old child and is still alive.
"No mother would leave the child behind on their first birthday," said Prabha Deuja, who has been part of multiple search parties looking for Mamta Kafle Bhatt. "There was no phone call came in. That's what we were waiting for. That didn't happen."
The judge also ordered prosecutors to turn over the initial conversations that Naresh Bhatt had with Manassas Park Police. The defense argued that this evidence was necessary to push back on the claims from the community and police that Naresh Bhatt waited five days to report his wife missing.
Naresh Bhatt told police and WUSA9 that the last time he saw Mamta Kafle Bhatt was in their Manassas Park home on July 31.
Manassas Park Police say the conducted a welfare check at the Bhatt home on Aug. 2 after Mamta never showed up to work on Aug. 1.
Naresh Bhatt told WUSA9 in an Aug. 14 interview that a Manassas Park Police officer told him to search for his wife and to give the department a call when he got tired of looking. He also alleges that his wife had left their home for extended periods of time three times in the past.
Friends and colleagues admit that Mamta had spent times away from home, but it was a result of domestic violence inside the home. During court proceedings, prosecutors discussed troubling issues in the home in February.
The judge did deny the defense access to other evidence including cell data obtained from the couple's phones, as well as GPS records obtained from Naresh Bhatt's car. The judge also said prosecutors were not obligated to hand over all police reports connected to the case.
The defense team also took aim at Manassas Park Police Chief Mario Lugo, criticizing him for providing the community with updates about the searches his officers are conducting.
"We've done several searches, not only here in Manassas Park, Manassas, Prince William County," Chief Lugo told WUSA9 on Wednesday. "We've done them in Loudoun County and Fairfax County."
Naresh Bhatt has been held without bond since his arrest on Aug. 22. His public defender waived the right to a grand jury last week in an effort to get the case before a jury sooner. Naresh Bhatt is due back in court Monday morning, when a trial date could be set for sometime between December and February.