'You're A Liar': Prosecution Grills NoVA Man After Shock Admission In Wife's Murder Trial

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA – Prosecutors in the trial of a man accused of murdering his wife cross-examined the suspect on Thursday after he made a stunning admission on the stand.

“You’re a liar,” Prince William County prosecutor Matthew Sweet said to Naresh Bhatt on Thursday as he began his line of questioning. As Bhatt responded, “Yes,” the courtroom burst into applause, causing the judge to step in and chastise observers.

Bhatt, 39, of Manassas Park, is on trial for the murder of his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, in 2024. Bhatt is charged with first-degree murder, defiling a dead body and concealing a dead body.

Mamta Bhatt was last heard from on July 28, 2024. Her body has never been found.

Bhatt, who pleaded not guilty, said he knew nothing about his wife’s disappearance or whereabouts until Thursday, when, while answering questions from his defense attorney, he abruptly changed his position and said he had in fact found his wife’s body after she committed suicide, panicked, and over the course of hours or days, cut her body into pieces, bagged them and threw them into the household garbage can, and left the can on the curb for garbage collectors to dispose of.

According to Bhatt, his wife committed suicide by consuming a pesticide called Celphos. In testimony on Thursday, he said he found his wife unresponsive, with vomit on her and hear her on the floor. He testified that he recognized the presence of Celphos in the vomit.

Sweet began questioning by listing people Bhatt lied to by saying he didn’t know where his wife was. He attacked Bhatt’s credibility regarding his claim that he had found his wife’s body and disposed of it but not killed her. He grilled Bhatt on how he could possibly recognize the substance in the vomit and on internet searches on topics like how long someone should wait to remarry after the death of a spouse, and accused Bhatt of planning to kill his wife. He also raised prior alleged incidents of violence toward Mamta Kafle.

The defense says it plans to finish its case on Monday.