Latest / Crime Alert Hourly Update / Husband Convicted of First-Degree Murder After Court Confession to Dismembering Missing Nurse Wife | Crime Alert 11.11.26

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Husband Convicted of First-Degree Murder After Court Confession to Dismembering Missing Nurse Wife | Crime Alert 11.11.26 · Crime Alert Hourly Update

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now. I'm Sydney Silvani.
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  Speaker 1: For more than two years, the disappearance of Mom Takafle-Bont
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  Speaker 1: left her family without answers. Now, her husband stands convicted
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  Speaker 1: of her murder, just days after a courtroom admission detailing
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  Speaker 1: what happened to her body. On Tuesday, November 10, following
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  Speaker 1: a six-week trial featuring testimony from nearly 100 witnesses, a
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  Speaker 1: jury found Naresh Bhat guilty of first-degree murder, concealing a
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  Speaker 1: dead body, and defiling a dead body. Mamta, a 28-year-old
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  Speaker 1: nurse and mother, disappeared from the couple's Manassas Park, Virginia
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  Speaker 1: home in July 2024. The verdict came days after Naresh
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  Speaker 1: took the stand in his own defense, admitting he used
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  Speaker 1: a reciprocating saw to dismember his wife's body and attempted
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  Speaker 1: to dispose of her remains. However, he denied killing her,
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  Speaker 1: claiming he found Mamta dead beside their bed from an
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  Speaker 1: alleged suicide on July 30, 2024, surrounded by vomit containing
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  Speaker 1: pills and an open packet of insecticide. Naresh claimed he
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  Speaker 1: attempted resuscitation for an hour before deciding to hide the body.
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  Speaker 1: He considered dumping her in the Potomac River, bought supplies
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  Speaker 1: at Home Depot, and cut her body apart when it
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  Speaker 1: would not fit into trash bags, intending no one would
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  Speaker 1: find her. When public defender Tracy Lennox asked why he
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  Speaker 1: never called 911, Naresh testified he panicked. Prosecutors argued Naresh
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  Speaker 1: planned the murder, presenting forensic evidence, search histories, and a
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  Speaker 1: power saw with blood and hair. They revealed text messages
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  Speaker 1: showing arguments and his stated desire for a Colombian woman.
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  Speaker 1: On cross-examination, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Matthew Sweet confronted his inconsistencies
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  Speaker 1: and called him a liar. Manta was reported missing in
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  Speaker 1: early August 2024 after missing two shifts, prompting a police
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  Speaker 1: welfare check. In body camera footage from the Manassas Park
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  Speaker 1: Police Department, an officer questions Naresh at the home. Hello, sir.
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  Speaker 1: How are you? I'm officer to Manassas Park Police. We're
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  Speaker 1: looking for Ms. Manta Cofle. Yeah, we see like on Tuesday, Wednesday.
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  Speaker 1: She left, and then she says she's going to go
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  Speaker 1: either New York or Texas, and then she had the phone,
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  Speaker 1: and then she destroyed that phone, and then she left.
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  Speaker 1: Following that initial welfare check, detectives discovered evidence showing a
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  Speaker 1: body had been dragged out of the home. Naresh was
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  Speaker 1: arrested on August 22, 2022, initially facing concealment charges before
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  Speaker 1: being indicted for murder and defilement. Despite extensive searches, Mamta's
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  Speaker 1: remains have never been found. Naresh faces life in prison
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  Speaker 1: at his March 12, 2027 sentencing. More crime and justice
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  Speaker 1: news after this. A luxury cruise turned deadly after a
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  Speaker 1: woman was found deceased inside a cabin aboard the MSC Seascape.
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  Speaker 1: The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas
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  Speaker 1: announced that 48-year-old Jason Watford was arrested on Monday, November 9,
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  Speaker 1: facing a federal murder charge. Police have not released the
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  Speaker 1: victim's identity or commented on her relationship with Watford, but
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  Speaker 1: authorities believe she died Sunday evening. According to a federal affidavit,
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  Speaker 1: Watford admitted he beat and choked the woman following a
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  Speaker 1: dinner argument. Watford returned to their cabin first, with the
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  Speaker 1: woman entering 20 minutes later. Security footage shows she never
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  Speaker 1: came out of the room again. Watford told investigators the
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  Speaker 1: dispute escalated and he snapped, beating the woman until blood
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  Speaker 1: poured from her mouth and spilled onto his clothes. Watford
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  Speaker 1: allegedly choked her with both hands before wrapping his arm
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  Speaker 1: around her neck from behind as she lay down, applying
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  Speaker 1: pressure for four to five minutes until he became exhausted.
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  Speaker 1: A Cruz housekeeper discovered the scene while delivering towels, observing
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  Speaker 1: Watford in bloodstained clothing and the victim lying face down, unresponsive.
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  Speaker 1: Cruz officials alerted police while security video captured Watford changing
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  Speaker 1: clothes and sitting in the lobby scrolling through his phone.
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  Speaker 1: MSC Cruz's is cooperating and court records show no plea
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  Speaker 1: entered or attorney retained. In federal court, 82-year-old Thomas Markle Sr.,
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  Speaker 1: the estranged father of Meghan Markle, is back behind bars.
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  Speaker 1: Markle was arrested on November 6 in Florida on a
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  Speaker 1: charge of possessing child pornography filed in the Central District
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  Speaker 1: of California. He did not enter a plea during his
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  Speaker 1: appearance in Tampa and was released on his own recognizance,
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  Speaker 1: required to wear an ankle monitor, at Maravita Senior Living
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  Speaker 1: in Lakeland, Florida. However, on Tuesday, November 10, First Assistant U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Attorney Bill Assele posted on X that Markle cut off
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  Speaker 1: his ankle monitor at 1.45 a.m. Law enforcement rearrested him,
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  Speaker 1: booking him into the Pinellas County Jail at 6.11 p.m.
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  Speaker 1: before releasing his mugshot. U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsey Griffin promptly
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  Speaker 1: revoked Markle's pretrial release, ordering him detained pending trial. Judge
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  Speaker 1: Griffin noted Markle tampered with the device and ruled his
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  Speaker 1: housing situation untenable, stating no conditions could reasonably assure community
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  Speaker 1: safety or his court appearances. The arrest follows an October
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  Speaker 1: report where his son, Thomas Markle Jr., alleged his father
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  Speaker 1: possessed hundreds or thousands of abuse images in the Philippines.
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  Speaker 1: According to a federal complaint, a witness affidavit led federal
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  Speaker 1: agents to two storage units Markle rented in Los Angeles
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  Speaker 1: since 2008. Executing search warrants, FBI agents seized 78 items,
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  Speaker 1: including slides, negatives and books. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Assay
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  Speaker 1: Lee stated Markle kept sexually explicit photographs of himself with
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  Speaker 1: young minor girls hidden for nearly two decades. For more
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  Speaker 1: crime and justice news, Be sure to join us for
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Fox One, YouTube, Sirius XM,
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  Speaker 1: and now streaming on Tubi. With this Crime Alert, I'm
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  Speaker 1: Sydney Silvani.