Virginia man convicted of first-degree murder for killing and dismembering wife

Naresh Bhatt was convicted after a six-week trial for the first-degree murder of his 28-year-old wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, in July 2024. During the trial, Bhatt claimed he woke up to find his wife had died by suicide and that he panicked, admitting he bought knives and a cleaning supply to dismember her body and place it in a garbage can. Prosecutors dismissed his suicide claim as ridiculous, presenting evidence that included surveillance footage of Bhatt discarding large items in dumpsters and suspicious internet searches. A jury ultimately rejected his defense and convicted him on Tuesday of first-degree murder, concealing a dead body, and defiling a dead body, and he is scheduled to be sentenced in March.