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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A South Salt Lake man has been charged in the death of a 38-year-old woman found strangled in her apartment in July.
Dil Bahadur Magar, 25, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with single counts of murder and aggravated burglary, both first-degree felonies, in the death of Bhoti Subba.
Bhoti Subba's cousin Zit Subba said he and the woman's estranged husband went looking for her on July 6 at her apartment, 2860 S. 200 East, because they hadn't heard from her in three days. When they couldn't find her, Zit Subba asked police to conduct a welfare check.
South Salt Lake police said they found Bhoti Subba's body on her bed that night with an orange electrical cord wrapped around her neck. Her body was taken to the Utah Medical Examiner's Office on July 8, and an autopsy revealed she was strangled three days earlier, police said. She also had two cuts on her neck.
Magar told investigators he knew Bhoti Subba only through his girlfriend and had never called her on the phone or been inside her apartment, according to charging documents. Officers looked through Magar's phone and found Bhoti Subba in his contact list, charges state. They also noted Magar had deleted his call log from before July 4.
Police searched Bhoti Subba's phone and found 18 call records between the victim and Magar from July 1 to July 4, according to the charges. Activity on Bhoti Subba's phone ceased after 3 a.m. on July 4.
Magar's DNA profile is consistent with evidence found on Bhoti Subba's fingernails, pieces of electrical wire found in a bag in the victim's room, and a soda bottle in the apartment, according to charging documents. His fingerprints also were found on beer cans in the apartment and on a drinking glass in the woman's bedroom, charges state.
Magar is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $1 million bail.
Tori Jorgensen is a Deseret News intern and current communications major at Southern Utah University. Find her on Twitter @TORIAjorgensen Email: vjorgensen@deseretnews.com
