Husband Charged in Dismemberment Death of Wife

ASHBURN, Va. - A man suspected of dismembering his wife, stuffing parts of her body into a suitcase and then dumping it in a trash bin was taken into custody Thursday and would be charged with first degree murder, authorities said.

Praveen Mandanapu, 32, was taken into custody at Winchester Medical Center, where he was being treated for an undisclosed condition, police said. He had had been found unconscious in his car Wednesday in the median of a highway in Clarke County, and a sheriff's deputy that found him later saw news reports that Mandanapu was wanted.

The bizarre case unfolded Monday when a maintenance worker discovered the suitcase with the remains of Divya Mandanapu in a trash bin behind an apartment complex.

Divya Mandanapu was last seen Friday at her job in Leesburg, Va. After she failed to report for work for three days, her employer reported her missing Wednesday, and authorities began looking for her husband, a computer specialist in Herndon.

Loudoun County Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said the remains had to have been placed in the bin after 11 a.m. Friday - when the bin was emptied - and before 11 a.m. Monday, when the remains were discovered. Investigators were unsure when she was killed.

Authorities also have declined to discuss a possible motive, and said they have not yet recovered all of her remains.

Authorities spent Thursday searching the couple's Ashburn, Va. house, about 13 miles north of where the remains were found.

Simpson said both were from India and are believed to have been in the United States for five years. They were not believed to have any children and Simpson was not sure of the victim's age. Neighbors said they were a quiet couple.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)