Nathan Carman charged with murdering mother at sea in 2016
VERNON, Vt. – Nathan Carman was arrested Tuesday and charged with his mother's 2016 murder at sea.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Vermont charged Carman, 28, as part of an 8-count indictment related to the death of his mother, Linda Carman. Prosecutors said Carman killed his mother to obtain family and insurance funds.
Carman is expected to be arraigned Wednesday in Vermont on charges that include murder on the high seas and fraud.
Newly unsealed court documents also accuse Carman of shooting and killing his grandfather, John Chakalos, at his Connecticut home in 2013. Carman had previously been named as a "person of interest" in his grandfather's death.
Prosecutors allege that in 2016, Carman killed his mother and sunk his boat "during a supposed fishing trip" off the coast of Rhode Island.
Carman was found floating in a raft off the coast of Martha's Vineyard eight days after the boat was reported missing. His mother was never found and is presumed dead.
If convicted of murder on the high seas, Carman faces a potential mandatory life sentence. He is also facing fraud charges that carry the possibility of up to 30 years in jail.
In 2019, a U.S. District judge ruled in favor of an insurance company that refused to pay an $85,000 claim on Carman's boat, a 31-foot vessel called The Chicken Pox.