VA VA - Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, mom & pediatric nurse, 'involuntary missing,' husband reported her missing Aug 5, Manassas Park, 31 July 2024 *Arrest*

[MassGuy]

He may not have dug in the woods. The whole school site is disused, and there is plenty of grass in the aerial shot.

They are also searching multiple different locations right now, according to the press release. It doesn’t look like they’ve found anything there, but at least they have locations of interest to search.

 

[Starlight0229]

They are also searching multiple different locations right now, according to the press release. It doesn’t look like they’ve found anything there, but at least they have locations of interest to search.

JMO, but they may have reason to believe that he may have left evidence in multiple locations depending on the data they received. I personally wouldn't be surprised if he thought the Civil War encampment (Camp Carondelet) would be a good place to do so.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The Manassas Park and Prince William County police departments announced Thursday that officers are actively searching an area near Blooms Park for evidence after a "methodical review of recently obtained records." The areas of interest include the Blooms Crossing Community, Manassas Christian School and Camp Carondelet.

Missing Virginia mom's husband granted speedy trial on concealing a body charge

A judge has granted a speedy trial for a Manassas Park man accused of concealing the body of his wife, who hasn’t been seen since July.

www.nbcwashington.com

 

[iamshadow21]

JMO, but they may have reason to believe that he may have left evidence in multiple locations depending on the data they received. I personally wouldn't be surprised if he thought the Civil War encampment (Camp Carondelet) would be a good place to do so.

Well, we know that dismemberment is a strong possibility. She could be in multiple places. As could be anything else he used to commit the murder and transport her.

MOO

 

[PommyMommy]

The Manassas Park and Prince William County police departments announced Thursday that officers are actively searching an area near Blooms Park for evidence after a "methodical review of recently obtained records." The areas of interest include the Blooms Crossing Community, Manassas Christian School and Camp Carondelet.

Missing Virginia mom's husband granted speedy trial on concealing a body charge

A judge has granted a speedy trial for a Manassas Park man accused of concealing the body of his wife, who hasn’t been seen since July.

www.nbcwashington.com

Noting:

No evidence had been collected by early Thursday afternoon...

Adding the additional search areas to the map:

9400-9498 Heather Ct to Manassas Christian School

www.google.com

 

[Charlot123]

.

Well, we know that dismemberment is a strong possibility. She could be in multiple places. As could be anything else he used to commit the murder and transport her.

MOO

He might have burned the remains. There still should be remnants of bones, but confined in a narrow area.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 5, 2024
Missing Virginia mom's husband granted speedy trial on concealing a body charge
Bhatt's trial must be held within five months of his next hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 16, Judge Carroll Weimer ruled in court Thursday.

Prosecutors argued against a speedy trial, saying it would be challenging to be ready that quickly.

The defense is expected to ask for funds for expert testimony at the Sept. 16 hearing.

 

[Megnut]

Also possible he moved her. No doubt telematics gave up these credible locations but he may have doubled back with a different vehicle, relocating her body out of the area.

I hope they find her without delay.

For her family, for the investigation.

JMO

 

[MassGuy]

.


He might have burned the remains. There still should be remnants of bones, but confined in a narrow area.

I can’t imagine he did that. We haven’t heard of anything being found in a fireplace or anything, and burning in an area like that would risk discovery.

 

[Seattle1]

Naresh appeared in a Manassas court after a judicial and domestic court judge approved an appeal from his defense that moved his trial to Prince William County Circuit Court on charges of concealing a dead body.

Thursday's motion hearing is for a judge to waive a grand jury. Due to the lack of a Nepalese interpreter, the judge rescheduled a 10 a.m. hearing to 11:30 p.m

Recent motions by Naresh's public defender have only made some community members believe he's trying to expedite an impending trial.

Husband of missing Manassas Park mother waives grand jury, will soon schedule trial date

Naresh Bhatt, the husband of missing Manassas Park mother Mamta Kafle Bhatt, waived his right to a grand jury Thursday as his defense appears to expedite a crim

www.wjla.com

Come on VA/News 7, more likely 11:30 AM, not PM!

IMO, waiving a GJ Indictment will not necessarily expedite an impending trial since I think waiving the GJ will mean that there will have to be a preliminary hearing to establish probable cause.

Regardless of Naresh's options exercised, all defendants have a right to a speedy trial.

Virginia has a specific statute that addresses what’s considered a speedy trial in felonies and misdemeanor cases on appeal to the circuit court in our commonwealth. Under Virginia Code § 19.2-243, the following rules apply.

If the court finds probable cause that an individual has committed a felony and is in custody until their trial, the trial must be conducted within five months of probable cause being established. If the person isn’t in jail awaiting trial, the trial must be held within nine months of the probable cause hearing.

(If there was no preliminary hearing, or the accused waived the preliminary hearing, the five or nine-month deadline runs from the date of the indictment or presentation against the accused).

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 5, 2024

Police continue search for Mamta Kafle Bhatt more than a month after her disappearance

Her husband, Naresh Bhatt, was in a Prince William County courtroom Thursday morning.

www.wusa9.com

Lawyers WUSA9 spoke with say Naresh Bhatt's public defender is trying to speed up this case so it heads to trial quicker. The hearing was scheduled for Oct. 24. In it, prosecutors would lay out all the evidence that they have against Naresh Bhatt.

"Time is of the essence, and I think the public defender was really smart to try to speed things up," Virginia-based lawyer Pierre Priale told WUSA9.

If a judge grants the request to waive the grand jury hearing Thursday, the case would go directly to trial. Legal analysts say the odds are stacked against the prosecution, so the faster a case moves, the more pressure law enforcement is under to find additional evidence.

 

[Seattle1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1831742157838791062

So the prosecution has 10 days to establish probable cause? A defendant can't waive both a GJ Indictment and PH/probable cause presented. If he remains in jail, trial should be 5 months from the toll date or 9/16 -- not later than February 2025.

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 5, 2024

Prince William judge grants Bhatt's motion to waive a grand jury; discussions begin over trial dates

Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Carroll A. Weiner Jr. on Thursday agreed to waive a grand jury on the charge against Naresh Bhatt.

www.insidenova.com

While no firm dates were settled upon, the defense sought a trial beginning in mid-December. A late-January hearing was almost set, but the defense said it conflicted with scheduling.

The sides have agreed to a six-day trial.

More motions are expected to be heard and a potential trial date set during a hearing in Circuit Court Sept. 16.

The motions include ex parte and discovery.

 

[Seattle1]

This is another good reason to have an interpreter present.

Mother and brother should have their own interpreter from Victims Advocate/Services. Generally, you'll see the defendant wearing headphones to listen to their interpreter.

 

[PommyMommy]

Prince William Circuit Court
Case #: CR24002302-00
Defendant: BHATT, NARESH DATT

Hearing Information

Date	Time	Result	Type	Courtroom	Plea	Duration	Jury
10/08/2024	10:00 AM	WITHDRAWN	TERM	4
10/07/2024	08:45 AM	WITHDRAWN	GRAND JURY	2
09/16/2024	09:00 AM		MOTION - OTHER PRE-TRIAL	4
09/16/2024	09:00 AM		TO BE SET	4
09/13/2024	09:00 AM	WITHDRAWN	MOTION - OTHER PRE-TRIAL
09/05/2024	10:00 AM	GRANTED	MOTION - OTHER PRE-TRIAL	4

Virginia Judiciary Online Case Information System

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 5, 2024

UPDATE: Police chief says 'nothing of evidentiary value' located during Thursday's searches in the Mamta Bhatt case

Police conducted several searches on Thursday based on new evidence in the Mamta Kafle Bhatt case.

www.insidenova.com

The Manassas Park police chief said Thursday’s searches across the city in the Mamta Kafle Bhatt case “resulted in nothing of evidentiary value being located.”

“The Manassas Park Police Department would like to thank the community for being patient and allowing our officers to conduct these searches,” Chief Mario Lugo said in a two-sentence update around 4:20 p.m.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/05/mamta-kafle-bhatt-missing-woman-virginia/4de20038-6bd1-11ef-86b4-58b1d68922fb_story.html

“We have multiple agencies, multiple witnesses who are out of the state — out of the country — that we have to prepare for,” Sweet said in court.

Chief Public Defender Tracey Lenox argued that Bhatt was still entitled to a speedy trial, despite prosecutors’ wish for more time, adding that his defense couldn’t control whether the arrest was premature.

“They chose to charge in this,” Lenox said, adding: “I understand the inconvenience to the Commonwealth, but this is where we are.”

 

[VAres67]

I hate to be that person but this is becoming a little underwhelming. I think I had higher hopes for the Tesla data but that’s on me!

 

[PommyMommy]

SEP 5, 2024

Husband's request for speedy trial sparks questions as search continues for Mamta Kafle

A Prince William County judge ruled the husband of missing Manassas Park mother, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, has the right to a speedy trial.

wjla.com

[...]

Tad DiBiase is a former homicide prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and has consulted on no-body murder cases for 15 years. ...

"A defendant may feel, 'My chances are better if I'm going to trial when the government hasn't had to opportunity to develop the evidence to the extent they might if I'm going to trial a year from now,'" DiBiase said. "If you have a no-body murder case going to trial five years after the disappearance or alleged murder, it's a lot harder to argue the person is just missing, not dead, because it's so long and the government will be able to show a whole plethora of things, such as no contact with family, no credit card usage, no bank account, nothing on their social security that shows they worked somewhere else, no travel records. You have all of those things over a period of five years you can show, 'Hey, this is to prove the person is not just missing, but they're actually dead.' You don't have that, maybe, in a case where a case goes to trial within months of the disappearance."

[...]

Much more from Tad DiBiase at the link...

'You're going to see more of these searches' | Manassas Park Police Chief says searches for Mamta Kafle Bhatt will continue

On Thursday police conducted several searches but say they found no evidence.

www.wusa9.com

"We continue to get leads and tips from people, but also the records that we requested and subpoenaed for are starting to come in so now we are following those tracks and figuring out where to search next," said Chief Lugo. "You're gonna start seeing more of these sporadic searches going on".

He told WUSA9 that they did find "something" in last week's search of Signal Hill Park.

"So at Signal Hill Park, we did locate some stuff. We don't know if it's related. We collected it anyway. We sent it off to the lab to verify if it's connected. So, that was the only thing we located at Signal Hill Park. That was more on the backside of Signal Hill Park not necessarily where the parks and ball fields are at," said Chief Lugo.

 

[Simply Caustic]

It's about equal access for all to participate in their defense. Court language is complicated and completely different to conversational English. Nobody should be at a disadvantage in a courtroom because of their ESL status or sensory disability.

MOO

Indeed, and why leave an issue ripe for appeal? As an aside, if anyone can enlighten me, I think I may have misinterpreted a DCNewsNow post shared in-thread yesterday. It said:
“ An interpreter has been used all the times Naresh Bhatt appeared in court. The defense said they were ready to proceed without an interpreter but the judge said he needs to be assured Naresh understands the proceedings today. @DCNewsNow”
I’m not sure if the interpreter wasn’t there because the defendant did not want to avail himself of this service, or, if the translator wasn’t available and the defense offered to proceed for the day, anyway. I know it’s a moot issue because the judge decided it was required but I’m just curious.

 

[iamshadow21]

Indeed, and why leave an issue ripe for appeal? As an aside, if anyone can enlighten me, I think I may have misinterpreted a DCNewsNow post shared in-thread yesterday. It said:
“ An interpreter has been used all the times Naresh Bhatt appeared in court. The defense said they were ready to proceed without an interpreter but the judge said he needs to be assured Naresh understands the proceedings today. @DCNewsNow”
I’m not sure if the interpreter wasn’t there because the defendant did not want to avail himself of this service, or, if the translator wasn’t available and the defense offered to proceed for the day, anyway. I know it’s a moot issue because the judge decided it was required but I’m just curious.

They delayed the hearing a couple of hours, I believe, until one was available. I don't know how many translators fluent in Nepalese languages are available in the area. If there are only a couple, any minor delay or emergency for one would cause issues like this.

MOO