Warrants: Man accused of killing girlfriend searched ‘How to gag someone'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New search warrants document eerie details in the case of a man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend in Charlotte and then dumping her body in York County.

Mahmood Bhatti is charged with the murder of Natalie Merrick and her unborn child.

Authorities said Merrick was strangled to death before being left on the side of the road.

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Channel 9 obtained warrants Thursday that details the timeline of the case and the internet search history on Bhatti’s cellphone.

Merrick’s body was found in Oct. 19 in York County.

Warrants show that a man named “Ron” found Merrick’s cellphone Oct. 19 on Scaleybark Road in south Charlotte and called Merrick’s mother.

Merrick’s mother told officers she was worried because her daughter didn’t go anywhere without her cellphone, according to court documents.

The warrant said that same day, police went to the apartment that Merrick shared with Bhatti. He told officers he hadn’t seen Merrick in days and invited the police to walk through the apartment to look for her, the warrant said.

Officers didn’t find her but the warrant states that they eventually determined that Bhatti was the last person to see Merrick alive Oct. 17.

The warrant revealed that police seized several items from the apartment, including a white mattress cover, beige sheets and two iPhones.

Investigators searched the internet history on Bhatti’s cellphone and said on Oct. 17, he searched, “Can you put a gag in someone’s mouth,” “How to gag someone so they can’t scream,” and “How to properly choke a girl.”

The warrants also showed that on Oct. 18, one day before Merrick’s body was found, Bhatti’s phone searched “Best secluded spots near me,” and on Oct. 22 “What your cellphone can't tell the police.”

Bhatti remains in jail.

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