Man charged with murdering mother on fishing boat to inherit grandfather’s riches

Nathan Carman, 28, has been charged with murder on the high seas and several counts of fraud

A Vermont man has been accused of killing his mother on a fishing boat in order to inherit the wealth of his grandfather – who he also killed, prosecutors say.

Nathan Carman, 28, was charged with murder on the high seas and several counts of fraud in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday. In a lurid press release, the US Department of Justice laid out the details of his alleged crimes.

“According to the unsealed indictment, in 2013, Nathan Carman shot and killed his grandfather John Chakalos at Chakalos’s home in Windsor, Connecticut, and, in 2016, killed his mother Linda Carman and sunk his boat during a supposed fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island,” the DOJ said. “The indictment alleges that both killings were part of a scheme to obtain money and property from the estate of John Chakalos and related family trusts.”

Mr Carman has also been accused of trying to defraud the insurance company that insured the fishing boat, which prosecutors say he deliberately sank. If found guilty, he would face a mandatory life sentence for the murder charge, and up to 30 years in prison for each of the fraud charges.

Mr Carman has not been convicted of any wrongdoing, and is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The Independent has reached out to the Office of the Federal Public Defender, which is representing him, for comment.

The indictment is the latest wrinkle in the long, strange saga of Mr Carman, who was found alone on a life raft off the coast of Rhode Island in September 2016. Eight days earlier, he and his mother had set out on a fishing trip together, but only Mr Carman returned. Linda Carman was never found, and is now presumed dead.

Mr Carman told authorities their boat sank after he heard a “funny noise” from the engine and water began rushing into the vessel. He says he tried to save his mother, but as he was grabbing bags of supplies she disappeared.

“What happened on the boat was a terrible tragedy that I am still trying to process and that I am still trying to come to terms with,” Mr Carman later told CBS News.

The 28-year-old’s aunts did not believe his story, and two years later, they sued to block him from receiving his inheritance from his grandfather. Mr Chakalos had left $42m to his four adult daughters, including the late Linda Carman, and the three surviving sisters believed Mr Carman had killed him – and possibly Linda as well – to get to his money.

Mr Carman has vehemently denied killing his grandfather.

“My grandfather was like a father to me, and I was like a son to him,” the grandson told CBS. “He was the closest person in the world to me, and I loved him and he loved me, and I had absolutely nothing to do with his death.”

Mr Carman’s arraignment will be held on Wednesday, 11 May.