Man charged with killing mother at sea seeks freedom

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The man charged with killing his mother at sea in a plot to inherit millions of dollars has asked a federal court Wednesday to authorize his release from custody pending trial.

The attorneys for Nathan Carman filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Burlington saying the evidence against him is “tenuous at best” and he is not a flight risk or a danger to the community.

As conditions of release, Carman is willing to surrender his passport, submit to electronic monitoring and turn over all the money he has, $10,000, to a

third party or post some of that money as bail, the filing says.

He has also been under criminal investigation for almost a decade and he has been facing civil litigation, but he has always shown up in court.

“At no time during that lengthy period has Mr. Carman ever attempted to threaten a witness, contact a witness inappropriately or sought to influence a witness in any way,” the filing says. “There is no evidence to support such a claim now.”

After Carman’s arrest, prosecutors argued he should be held because he poses a flight risk and is a danger to the community.

Carman has been held since his arrest in May when he was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Linda Carman of Middletown, Connecticut, during a fishing trip off the Rhode Island coast. Her body has never been found.

He was also charged with multiple counts of fraud.

Authorities also alleged Carman killed his grandfather, John Chakalos, at his home in Windsor, Connecticut, in 2013 as part of a scheme to obtain money and property from his grandfather’s estate, but he was not charged with that killing.

The Wednesday motion says that during his eight years living in Vernon, Vermont, Carman led a quiet life with solid ties to the community, participating in town forums, attending a local church and had many local friends.