Naresh Bhatt murder trial: Prosecutors rest after calling rebuttal witnesses in Virginia
Prosecutors in the Naresh Bhatt murder trial rested their case on Day 19 after calling rebuttal witnesses to challenge Bhatt's suicide claim.
Prosecution rests on Day 19 of Naresh Bhatt murder trial in Prince William County
Prosecutors in the Naresh Bhatt murder trial rested their case on Tuesday after presenting final rebuttal witnesses, wjla.com reports. The proceedings marked Day 19 of the trial in Prince William County, Virginia, in which Bhatt stands accused of murdering his wife, Mamta Kafle.
The defence had rested its case on Monday. Bhatt has claimed that Mamta died by suicide on 29 July 2024, and that he subsequently dismembered her body between 30 and 31 July. Prosecutors called rebuttal witnesses specifically to challenge that account.
Dispute over rebuttal witnesses
As court opened on Tuesday, both sides argued over which rebuttal witnesses should be permitted to testify. Judge Kimberly Irving ruled that jurors could hear testimony about an alleged 2021 incident in which Bhatt threatened a former roommate with a firearm. Irving said the evidence could be used to challenge Bhatt's own testimony that he was a peaceful person.
The judge, however, excluded the roommate's wife from testifying. The woman had been expected to describe allegedly seeing other women leaving Bhatt's bedroom, but Irving found that the prosecution had not properly disclosed her as a witness in advance.
Toxicologist takes the stand
Irving also allowed the prosecution to call toxicologist Dr. Abigail Kearns as a rebuttal witness, overruling defence objections that the late disclosure had left them insufficient time to prepare. The court noted that prosecutors had been seeking a toxicology expert after Bhatt testified that Mamta had ingested Celphos, an agricultural pesticide, before her death.
Kearns, who has not previously testified in court, was nonetheless accepted by the defence as an expert witness. She testified about the potentially fatal effects of Celphos, which contains aluminum phosphide. When the substance is ingested, she told jurors, it reacts with moisture in the body to produce phosphine gas, causing severe abdominal pain, vomiting, cardiovascular problems and respiratory distress. In serious cases, Kearns said, poisoning can prove fatal within hours — often within 24 hours.
Kearns also warned that individuals attempting to perform CPR on a person who had recently ingested the substance could themselves be exposed to the toxic gas if residue remained in the mouth or gastrointestinal tract.
Former roommate testifies about firearm threat
Akash Rachh, who sought a room to rent in Virginia in 2021, also took the stand. He testified that Bhatt had initially listed the room on Facebook for approximately $750, but ultimately charged him $900 because he had a three-year-old daughter. Rachh said Bhatt told him that he and his wife would be living in the apartment, which turned out not to be true.
Rachh testified that his wife contacted him repeatedly about Bhatt's behaviour in the shared home. He said he confronted Bhatt on several occasions, and that the tension escalated to the point where Bhatt threw Rachh's belongings out of a closet and onto the floor, before eventually evicting him from the apartment.
"So basically it all started by confronting a situation and I believe he didn't like us confronting him for his wrongdoings in the apartment," Rachh told the court.
Rachh described one incident in which Bhatt produced a gun from his left pocket and threatened Rachh's wife. When prosecutors asked whether Rachh himself had been carrying a weapon at the time, he replied: "I've never had a weapon in my life. No gun, no knife, no bat. Nothing was in my hands at the time."
During cross-examination, defence attorneys questioned whether Rachh had been asked to keep belongings out of common spaces, and noted that Bhatt had also called the police during the dispute. Rachh confirmed that following the police visit, he and his family were evicted from the apartment.
The case now moves toward closing arguments, with the jury set to deliberate on whether Bhatt is guilty of his wife's murder.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)