Tuesday, March 26

Nathan Carman charged with killing mother at sea for inheritance


BURLINGTON, Vt. — A Vermont man found floating in a life raft off the coast of Rhode Island in 2016 after his boat sank has been indicted on charges alleging he killed his mother at sea in order to inherit his family’s estate.

A federal grand jury on Tuesday handed down an eight-count indictment in federal court in Burlington, accusing Nathan Carman, 28, in his mother’s death. The indictment also says he killed his grandfather, John Chakalos, at Chakalos’ home in Windsor, Connecticut, in 2013 as part of an effort to defraud insurance companies. He was not charged with Chakalos’ killing.

Carman was found in an inflatable raft a week after he and his mother, 54-year-old Linda Carman, went on a fishing trip.

His mother was never found and is presumed dead.

Carman was arrested Tuesday. He’s due in US District Court in Burlington on Wednesday. His lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.

More:Carman loses insurance case over lost boat

In 2019, US District Court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. determined at a bench trial in Rhode Island that Carman’s faulty repairs contributed to the 2016 sinking of the boat that led to his mother being lost at sea.

McConnell ruled in favor of an insurance company that had refused to pay an $85,000 claim to Carman for the loss of his 31-foot fishing boat, Chicken Pox.

Evidence showed that Carman removed bulkheads from the front of the boat that experts testified provided structural support and buoyancy. Carman told the court that he also removed trim tabs from the back of the boat the day before departing on the fishing trip with his mother, creating holes that he plugged with putty. He also replaced a bilge pump that same day after finding water in the boat.

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www.usatoday.com

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