In front of Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly A. Irving on December 4, 2024, prosecutors read the additional charges of First Degree Murder and Defiling a Dead Body to the defendant Naresh Bhatt.
He was indicted on First Degree Murder and Physically Defiling charges in the disappearance of his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, in August.
In a joint motion, prosecutors and Prince William County Senior Assistant Public Defender Shalev Ben-Avraham requested a continuance to stack the charges into a single trial. The defendant waived his constitutional right to a speedy trial to allow Ben-Avraham to mount a defense.
Ben-Avraham previously made motions to have the original charge go through court before any other charges could be added, a strategy that ultimately did not work out. Bhatt could be seen shaking his head as the new indictments were read.
The prosecution agreed to provide the defense with discovery by February 18, 2025.
Court TV requested permission to broadcast the trial. “Obviously, I have an issue with what they want,” Ben-Avraham told the Judge. The prosecution did not say they were for or against having the trial broadcast live to a national audience. Irving will hold a pre-trial conference in the future to hear arguments for or against allowing the media coverage.
Irving ruled the 16-day trial will start on September 8, 2025.
