Nathan Carman, charged with killing mother at sea, dies in jail
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Nathan Carman, who was set to go on trial this fall after being charged with killing his mother at sea during a 2016 fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island, died in jail, prosecutors said Thursday.
Charges against Carman have been dismissed, prosecutors said, after U.S. Marshals reported that he died "on or about" Thursday at Cheshire County Jail in Keene, N.H. His lawyer told WBZ-TV that he died sometime overnight.
"The Keene Police Department is handling the investigation of the incident at the facility," the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Carman's cause of death is not yet clear.
"Mr. Carman was in the custody of the U.S. Marshal, as is the case for all pretrial defendants who are detained. The U.S. Marshal confirmed Mr. Carman's death this morning. We have no further comment beyond our public filing," said Fabienne Boisvert-DeFazio, public affairs officer for the Vermont U.S. attorney's office.
One of Carman's layers, Marty Minnella, said the legal team is devastated and in shock.
"We had conversations with him earlier yesterday and he was upbeat," Minnella said. "We were planning to go to trial and we were very confident we were going to win."
"Here he is, 29 years old, and his journey has ended and we'll never be able to write that last chapter now," said Carman's other lawyer, David Sullivan. "Nathan will always be innocent until proven guilty. In the court of public opinion, I suspect that won't be the case, but under the law that is the truth and we would have liked the opportunity to have him acquitted."
Carman, of Vernon, Vermont, pleaded not guilty last year to fraud and first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Linda Carman of Middletown, Connecticut.
In September 2016, Carman arranged a fishing trip with his mother, Linda, during which prosecutors say he planned to kill her and report that his boat sank and his mother disappeared in the accident.
He was found floating in an inflatable raft eight days after leaving a Rhode Island marina with his mother, who was never found. Prosecutors allege he altered the boat to make it more likely to sink. Carman had denied that allegation.
The indictment also says Carman shot and killed his wealthy grandfather John Chakalos at his home in Windsor, Connecticut, in 2013 but did not charge him with murder in his death.
"A very unusual young man, I'm sorry about his passing," said Connecticut attorney Jerry Klein, who represented Linda Carman years ago. "His late mother had told me about that ever since he was a young boy, had a form of autism. I believe the term is Asperger's syndrome, where one can be challenged as to social relationships but extremely intelligent and he certainly fit that category."