Vermont man, 29, HANGED himself while awaiting trial for murdering mom at sea to collect inheritance

The death of a Vermont man accused of killing his mother – and grandfather – in an attempt to get his hands on a $7 million inheritance would be suicide by hanging.

Nathan Carman, 29, died on or about Thursday at the Cheshire County Jail in Keene, New Hampshire, according to court documents filed this morning.

Carman was charged with killing his mother, Linda Carman, 54, during a fishing trip off the coast of New England in 2016. Eight days after they left the Rhode Island marina, he was was found hooked to an inflatable life raft by a passerby. cargo. His mother’s body was never found.

Police said he was discovered dead around 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning by a prison officer who was doing his routine inspection rounds.

The Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office did not give a cause of death, but Martin Minnella, one of Carman’s attorneys, confirmed he took his own life.

“The medical examiner says he hanged himself,” Minnella told the boston globe Friday. “I don’t understand why or how.

David Sullivan, another attorney for Carman, spoke to him the day before he died and said he “had no idea” the 29-year-old was in a state where he could take his own life.

“I’m so overwhelmed by the thought that at some point after 7, something in his mind brought him to that moment,” Sullivan said. “I don’t understand.”

Sullivan, who does not blame the Cheshire County Jail and said to his knowledge that his client was treated well there, said his last words to Carman were “okay my friend, sleep tight”.

Minnella also said Carman tested positive before his death and was due to defend himself in a trial in October.

Carman has Asperger’s Syndrome, which Minnella says may have affected him during his long-term detention.

‘My only concern right now is getting him out of [the morgue] and get him a proper burial, so he can rest in peace,’ said Minnella, who said he would pay for the funeral. “I feel like I owe him that.”

In 2019, a federal judge ruled that Carman contributed to the sinking of the 31-foot fishing boat, ruling in favor of an insurance company that refused to pay an $85,000 claim for the loss of the boat.

Carman was charged with killing his mother, Linda Carman (pictured left), 54, on a fishing trip off the coast of New England in 2016. Eight days after they left the marina in Rhode Island, he was found clinging to an inflatable life. raft by a passing freighter. Her mother’s body was never found.

The indictment in Burlington, Vermont also alleges Carman shot and killed his grandfather John Chakalos (right), 87, as he slept at his home in Windsor, Connecticut, in 2013.

In 2022, six years after the sinking, he is arrested for murder. Carman’s high seas murder trial was scheduled to take place in October. Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of his death.

He was also accused of killing his wealthy real estate developer grandfather, John Chakalos, at his home in Windsor, Connecticut, in 2013 as part of a money-making scheme. Carman inherited $550,000.

Carman was found clinging to a life raft eight days after going on a fishing trip with his mother, who was never found and presumed dead.

A passing freighter picked up Carman, before he was charged with multiple counts of fraud and murder in May 2022.

During his arraignment in federal court in Rutland, Vermont, he told reporters he was “not guilty.”

His death was cited as a reason federal authorities dismissed an indictment against him, according to court documents.

Fabienne Boisvert-DeFazio, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont, said in a statement: “Mr. Carman was in the custody of the U.S. Marshal, as is the case with all defendants in pretrial detention.

“The US Marshal confirmed the death of Mr. Carman this morning. We have no further comment beyond our public record.

Carman is seen after his ‘rescue’ at sea in 2016. Prosecutors say he killed his mother and intentionally sank his boat as part of a scheme to obtain a $7 million inheritance.

A lawyer for Carman spoke to him the day before he died and said he “had no idea” the 29-year-old was in a state where he could take his own life.

The unsealed indictment claimed Carman shot Chakalos, 87, in an attempt to obtain money and property from his grandfather’s estate – but was never charged with the murder .

In September 2016, Nathan Carman was found in an inflatable raft eight days after leaving a Rhode Island marina to go fishing with his mother.

Prosecutors allege Carman killed her on the boat, which he had modified to make it more likely to sink that day.

He denied doing anything to intentionally render the boat unseaworthy, with the indictment stating that he “removed two forward bulkheads and trim tabs from the transom of the hull”.

Court documents claim his legacy plan spanned nearly a decade and began with Carman purchasing a rifle in New Hampshire which he used to shoot Chakalos on December 20, 2013, while ‘he was sleeping.

He then threw away his computer’s hard drive and GPS unit that were in his truck, prosecutors said.

Police say Carman was the last person to see his grandfather alive and had a semi-automatic rifle similar to the one used to kill Chakalos – but the gun is missing.

A will showed that Chakalos left an estate worth $42 million to his four adult daughters. Carman received $550,000 from two bank accounts his grandfather had opened and of which he was the beneficiary.

Prosecutors allege Carman killed his mother on his boat, nicknamed the Chickenpox (above) which he had modified to make it more likely to sink that day

Carman and his mother Linda often went on fishing trips together (above) and prosecutors say he used it as a pretext to lure her to her death in 2016

He moved from an apartment in Bloomfield, Connecticut, to Vernon, Vermont, in 2014, but was unemployed and wasted the money.

In the fall of 2016, he was short of funds when he hatched the scheme to kill his mother, prosecutors said.

In September 2016, Carman arranged to go on a fishing trip with his mother on his boat named “Chicken Pox”.

“Nathan Carman planned to kill his mother on the trip,” the indictment reads. “He also planned how he would report the sinking of the ‘Chicken Pox’ and the disappearance of his mother at sea as accidents.”

“After leaving the marina, Nathan Carman killed his mother, Linda Carman, and eventually sank the Chicken Pox,” it says.

Carman was suspected in the murder of his grandfather and the disappearance of his mother for years, but before his death he always insisted he was innocent of any crime.

In 2019, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that Carman contributed to the shipwreck of chickenpox.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued a written ruling in favor of an insurance company that refused to pay an $85,000 claim against Carman for the loss of its 31-foot fishing boat.

Carman’s grandfather made his money building and selling retirement homes

Carman, left, arrives with his attorney, David Anderson, at U.S. District Court for his federal civil trial in Providence in August 2019

Carman denied the allegations, telling the Coast Guard that when the boat quickly filled with water, he swam to the life raft and called his mother but never saw her again.

He was found floating in the raft off Martha’s Vineyard, an island in Massachusetts, by the crew of a freighter eight days after the boat went missing.

Chakalos, who was a real estate developer, left behind an estate worth nearly $29 million, which was to be shared among his four daughters.

Carman was in line to get around $7 million from the estate, as his mother’s sole heir.

Chakalos’ three surviving daughters sued Carman in New Hampshire probate court, seeking to enjoin him from receiving money from Chakalos’ estate.

A judge dismissed the case in 2019, saying Chakalos was not a resident of New Hampshire. The registration dossier has been refiled in Connecticut, where it remains pending.