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Pretrial · trial Oct 5, 2026 Pretrial — jury trial begins the week of Oct. 5, 2026

Naresh Bhatt No-Body Murder Trial

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Bhatt's jury trial is set to begin the week of Oct. 5, 2026 in Prince William County Circuit Court before Judge Kimberly A. Irving, and is expected to run about seven weeks. At an August 2026 hearing the judge ordered an unusually large pool of about 300 prospective jurors summoned and declined to mail advance juror questionnaires, agreeing with the defense that they might prompt residents to research the heavily covered case. A pretrial hearing is set for Sept. 10, 2026. The trial was continued from 2025 after the defense said it needed time to review more than 1.5 terabytes of digital evidence. — WTOP — two years after she disappeared, husband's murder trial nears · Potomac Local News — Bhatt trial, 300 jurors, seven weeks · InsideNova — what's next in the Mamta Kafle Bhatt case

Naresh Bhatt, 37 · Three charges by indictment: first-degree murder, concealment of a dead body, and defilement of a dead human body. Naresh Bhatt is the husband of Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a Manassas Park nurse who has been missing and presumed dead since July 2024. Her body has never been found. He has pleaded not guilty and is held without bond.
Not guilty. Bhatt has pleaded not guilty to all three charges and is held without bond; his defense argued at the bond stage that the state cannot prove a murder without a body.
Prince William County Circuit Court, Virginia · Judge Kimberly A. Irving

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How this can end
Guilty of first-degree murder
First-degree murder is a Class 2 felony in Virginia, punished by 20 years to life in prison. A jury would decide guilt; unless Bhatt asks the jury to fix the sentence, the judge sets it within that range at a later hearing. A guilty verdict on this count means the Commonwealth convinced the jury a killing happened and that Bhatt caused it, even with no body recovered.
— Va. Code § 18.2-32 — first and second degree murder · Va. Code § 18.2-10 — punishment for conviction of felony
Guilty only of concealing or defiling the body, not murder
Concealment of a dead body and defilement of a dead human body are each Class 6 felonies in Virginia, carrying one to five years in prison, or at the jury's or judge's discretion up to 12 months in jail and a fine. The jury could convict on these counts while acquitting on murder if it believed Bhatt hid or harmed the body but was not satisfied a murder was proven.
— Va. Code § 18.2-323.02 — concealing a dead body · Va. Code § 18.2-126 — defilement of a dead human body
Not guilty on all counts
Bhatt would be acquitted and could not be tried again for these charges. Because Mamta Kafle Bhatt's body has never been found, the defense argues the state cannot meet its burden; an acquittal would mean the jury agreed the proof fell short of reasonable doubt.
— WTOP — two years after she disappeared, husband's murder trial nears
Hung jury (no unanimous verdict)
If the jurors cannot agree unanimously, the judge declares a mistrial and nothing is decided. Prosecutors would be free to try Bhatt again before a new jury, because a hung jury is not an acquittal.
— Va. Code § 18.2-32 — first and second degree murder

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