Naresh Bhatt murder trial goes to jury after nearly six weeks

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: The Naresh Bot murder trial is now in the jury's hands. A verdict could come down any moment. Thanks so much for joining us on this Tuesday. I'm Annie Yu. For nearly six weeks, a Prince William County jury has her testimony from investigators, family and friends about the disappearance of Momta Coughlet Bot. She was just 28 years old when she went missing two years ago. She was a mother to an 11-month-old girl and a nurse, and she has not been seen or heard from since July of 2024. Her husband, Naresh Bot, has been accused of killing her and dismembering her body. Last week, his testimony stunned the courtroom as he admitted to cutting up his wife's body and throwing the remains away, but denied killing her. Both the prosecutors and his defense gave their closing arguments earlier this afternoon. Our Katie Lusso has been in the courtroom for every single day of this trial. Katie, the jury began deliberations this afternoon. Do we have any idea how long this could take? [00:00:56] Katie Lusso: Well, I can tell you the courthouse closes at 5 o'clock tonight, but the judge has told them they can stay as late as they need to say. Now, how late will they stay? Who could say at this point? But what I can tell you is that they are going to let them stay as long as they want. And I can also tell you there is no court tomorrow. So, you know, what is the motivation for them to try and get a verdict as soon as possible? It's pretty high if they do want to get out of here and get home. But at the same time, they have a ton of evidence to consider here. The Commonwealth, they called about 100 witnesses in this case. They brought in about 500 exhibits, so a ton of evidence for them to sort through. And this morning, we heard some incredibly powerful closing arguments, specifically by the prosecution. We heard the Commonwealth, Sarah Sammy, really going in on Naresh, explaining to the jurors that he lied. He lied for two years. And, you know, Naresh has said he didn't lie for two years. He only lied for two weeks after he was arrested and those weeks leading up to his arrest. He says he told his attorney in jail when he was arrested back in 2024 this story about Momta taking her own life and him admitting to dismembering her body. But for two years, the family did not know this other story that he shared last week. I want you to take a listen to some of the biggest moments coming out of those closing arguments this morning. [00:02:14] Speaker 3: The days are coming that you will regret a lot. That's a text message that the defendant sent to Momta Coughlin. One hundred and sixty-two days later, he delivered on that promise. [00:02:29] Speaker 4: You would have to keep your minds open as you listened to evidence and not allow your sympathy or your emotion to short-circuit your ability to fulfill your obligations under the law. [00:02:49] Katie Lusso: Yeah, and Annie, it was really tough to see Naresh's face during this, but at points he was shaking his head. No, we saw him grabbing for tissues and wiping at his face, but it didn't really seem like too much emotion coming from him through this whole process. [00:03:03] Speaker 1: And that's sort of the sticking theme throughout the trial, the lack of emotion and remorse as people watch this unfold. Katie, I want to ask you, to your point, the defense, the prosecution gave two very powerful closing arguments, two different stories. What stood out to you the most, and did you get a glimpse of anybody else aside from Naresh during the closing arguments for any reaction, maybe the family and friends of Momta? [00:03:30] Katie Lusso: Yeah, so it was actually very, you know, on board with what we've seen the past few days since Naresh took the stand. There is a packed crowd inside of the courtroom. The whole courtroom was full of people, but in the hallway, there was a line of people waiting to get in. The family, Momta's mother and brother, they were sitting directly in front of me, and this was tough. It was tough to hear these things being said. We saw the images, again, of Momta with those bruises on her face that she had sent to friends in the past, and then we saw these TikTok videos of Momta playing with her daughter, and it was incredibly emotional for them. And Sarah Sammy, she pointed out that Momta's daughter, she will never see her mother again, and they will eventually have to explain to her what happened, how she died, and why her father was on trial, accused of killing her. So really tough stuff for them to process, and I think, you know, the prosecution made a point to say that the community was fully behind this family from day one. They were the ones who pushed for the police to get involved. They pushed for that missing persons to be put out, and right now they are pushing for justice inside that courthouse. Annie? [00:04:34] Speaker 1: After weeks of testimony, evidence, our Katie Lasso keeping a close eye on the courtroom right now. Katie, we're going to let you get back to it. Just let us know if you hear anything as we continue to be on Verdict Watch any moment now. Thanks, Katie. As soon as we get word of a verdict, we will send an alert to the WUSA9 app. Make sure you have that app. We are going to start streaming coverage to bring you that verdict live. Go ahead and scan this QR code on your screen if you need to download it. Updates are also available on our website, WUSA9.com, and our WUSA9 YouTube page.