Trial set for former CT resident in mother’s homicide

A federal judge on Tuesday set an October trial for former Connecticut resident Nathan Carman who is accused of killing his mother while on a fishing trip off Block Island in what prosecutors say was a scheme to inherit millions of dollars.

Carman, 29, pleaded not guilty last year to fraud and first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Linda Carman, of Middletown. The eight-count indictment also says Carman shot and killed his wealthy grandfather John Chakalos at his home in Windsor in 2013, but does not charge him with murder in his death.

U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford on Tuesday set the trial for Oct. 2 in Rutland, Vt. A federal prosecutor said the government planned to include several types of expert testimony, including testimony on marine survival and draft analysis. Prosecutors plan to make those disclosures to the court by May 1.

Crawford also heard from lawyers about the defense’s motion for partial disclosure of minutes from the grand jury proceeding that led to Carman’s indictment, seeking to learn what was said about his grandfather’s death.

Carman’s lawyer, David Sullivan, told the judge that his client was never charged in Chakalos’ death, but the indictment includes “outright assertions that are very troubling to the defense.” He said the investigation into Chakalos’ death is ongoing and has not been closed.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Van de Graaf said Chakalos’ “murder” is part of the fraud charge.

In a motion filed Jan. 26, Carman’s attorneys said they needed to see portions of the transcripts of the grand jury deliberations that led to the eight federal counts.

“Mr. Carman is entitled to know what the government presented to the grand jury regarding his purported involvement in John Chakalos’s death because, if what the government presented was inaccurate or untrue, then Mr. Carman may have grounds to dismiss the indictment,” his attorneys said in the motion.

In response to the motion, federal prosecutors said the “unadjudicated” allegations that Carman, a former Middletown resident who has been jailed since his arrest last May, killed his grandfather are part of his scheme to inherit his mother’s portion of the family’s $49 million fortune.

“He presents nothing more than speculation about the evidence presented to the grand jury,” said

Vermont U.S. Attorney Nikolas Kerest, who is prosecuting the case. “He offers no specific evidence that anything inappropriate took place during the grand jury proceedings. Rather, he relies on flawed readings of the charges and the law. Despite these failures, based on its normal, generous discovery practices, the government will make transcripts of the testimony of the federal agents who testified in the grand jury available to the defense.”

In other court documents, Kerest has said his office has provided “comprehensive” evidence that is easily searchable to Carman’s defense team and federal prosecutors have repeatedly offered to meet with his attorneys to discuss the case.

“There is little mystery about the allegations in the indictment,” Kerest said in a document detailing their* opposition to providing some of the evidence requested by Carman’s legal team.

“The indictment alleges that Carman concocted stories to hide his involvement in the murders,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. “Carman generally maintained his cover stories throughout the scheme, and these cover stories are outlined in the indictment. The defense is aware of all of Carman’s various statements — to police, to family, to the insurance company and in litigation” from the evidence that has been provided to them.

In the indictment, federal prosecutors outlined a scheme in which Carman planned a fishing trip with his mother in September 2016 aboard their boat, the Chicken Pox.

“Nathan Carman planned to kill his mother on the trip. He also planned how he would report the sinking of the Chicken Pox and his mother’s disappearance at sea as accidents,” the indictment read. Once off the shore of Block Island, authorities wrote in the indictment, Carman killed his mother and sank the boat.

While not formally charging him with the 2013 death of his grandfather, the indictment said Carman killed Chakalos along with his mother as part of a nearly decade-long scheme to obtain money from his grandfather’s trust.

“As a central part of this scheme, Nathan Carman murdered John Chakalos and Linda Carman. He concocted cover stories to conceal his involvement in those killings,” the indictment read.

Probate documents indicate that Carman’s family has been waiting to settle the estate until his criminal case is resolved.