Naresh Bhatt, the Manassas Park man accused of killing and dismembering his wife, was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder.
In footage of the proceedings posted on social media by Court TV, Bhatt appeared calm and unexpressive.
The finding came after the Prince William Times previously reported that during the trial on Monday, the mother of Mamta Kafle Bhatt, the 28-year-old nurse who has been missing and presumed dead for two years, testified that her daughter would not have killed herself, as Naresh Bhatt claimed.
After maintaining his innocence of all charges for years, Naresh Bhatt, 39, abruptly claimed on the witness stand last week that he had indeed dismembered and disposed of her body following what he says was his wife's suicide.
The Times also reported that a psychiatrist who examined Bhatt in jail in September and October testified that Bhatt had told him his wife committed suicide.
Bhatt was charged with first-degree murder, defiling a dead body and concealing a dead body. The jury found him guilty of all three on Tuesday, as shown in the Court TV footage. His sentencing hearing is set for March 12. He could face up to life in prison.
Mamta Bhatt was last heard from on July 28, 2024. Her body has never been found.
The couple's daughter was an infant at the time of Mamta Bhatt's disappearance, according to CNN.
"He killed her, he defiled her, he threw her away like trash," the victim's friend and former colleague, Holly Wirth, said Tuesday, as reported by CNN. "But let me tell you what I know: She is not trash. She wasn't trash then and she's not trash today, and we are going to do everything we can, Mamta, to make sure your daughter knows how much you are loved, and we are going to give her the best life ever."
Naresh Bhatt's lawyer told CNN they could not comment before the case's conclusion.
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