MANASSAS PARK, Va. — Missing Manassas Park Mother Mamta Kafle Bhatt's husband Naresh Bhatt's next hearing is on Monday, and that is when a trial date is expected to be set.
During a hearing on Friday, his defense attorney requested six pieces of evidence from the prosecution. A judge ordered that two pieces of the requested evidence be turned over, surveillance footage from outside the hospital where Mamta Kafle Bhatt worked and police records from the initial interactions Naresh had with police.
The public defender representing Naresh Bhatt argued that Mamta Kafle Bhatt is still alive, and that he wanted his investigators to speak to Mamta's coworker along with whoever picked her up to see if they could shed light on why she might have left.
"It's a very common defense, of course, that the person is alive, which would take away this charge, concealing of a body and certainly a murder charge," said Tad DiBiase.
DiBiase spent more than 12 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in D.C. prosecuting homicides. In January 2006, he prosecuted the second "no body" murder cased tried in the District.
Since then, he's researched these cases, offering consultations to law enforcement agencies and has even written a book about "no body" murder cases. While he hasn't spoken directly with police who are investigating Mamta Kafle Bhatt's disappearance, he told WUSA9 he's been following the case, and her husband Naresh Bhatt's subsequent arrest very closely. He weighed in on some of what happened in Friday's hearing.
"The problem with making that argument though is that it then requires the government to put in a lot of proof about what the person was like in life and that evidence tends to be showing so many things about this person. Painting them in a very positive portrayal. Showing all of these connections that for the most part a jury for the most part ends up concluding, yeah someone with this type of life is not someone who just disappears off the face of the earth unless something bad happens," he said.
He explained that as an outsider looking in, just at what's been shared publicly, he believes the prosecution has a strong case.
"Here there was some clear evidence of marital discord between these two people. Then you had blood found in the home. You have evidence that the defendant had purchased three knives and only one was recovered, and then searches that are not particularly helpful like how soon can you get married after your wife dies. So, you have evidence of recent purchase of a weapon. Damning statements entered in to google. Blood in the house. All of those types of things are things you see in these types of cases. While 'no body' cases can often be very difficult to get to trial. When you have that type of evidence early on. To me that's an indication of the government having a strong case," said DiBiase.
He also said the inconsistent statements made by Naresh Bhatt, also raise some red flags.
"When you have inconsistent statements by a suspect, that can be very damning, because of course people say why would someone say something that's not consistent when they're trying to find their loved one. That's another indication that you see in a "no body" murder, inconsistent statements by the suspect to various people," said DiBiase.
He told WUSA9 his interpretation is based off of what has been publicly shared, but he believes investigators have even more that they haven't shared. Things like phone records, and in this case data from Naresh Bhatt's car.
On August 27, Chief Mario Lugo told WUSA9 they had recovered Naresh Bhatt's blue Tesla, even though Naresh had sold the car shortly after his wife's disappearance.
"I also suspect with the evidence of the cell phone records, location of the cell phones, all of those things are going to make it very clear that any phone calls stopped at a particular time and also show the connection between the suspect's and the victim's cell phones as well," said DiBiase.
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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.
DiBiase says the defense pushing for a trial date that starts sooner rather than later, is a common tactic in this situation.
"They may feel like by putting the government to it's evidence early on they won't have full evidence. They're probably also hoping that they don't find the body, I think that's a common technique," said DiBiase, "But I think what you're going to find that maybe as they get closer to the day of trial. The defense may decide, there's a lot of evidence from the government that we still need to digest and maybe we're not ready to go to trial."
He said in his experience, that thought process can change closer to the start date.
"I often find that defendants early on in cases when the person has been missing recently ask for a speedy trial because they think it's advantageous but often by the time they get to the trial they change their mind," said DiBiase.