Carman pleads not guilty in mother’s death
RUTLAND, Vt.— A former Connecticut man accused of killing his mother off the coast of Block Island to inherit the family's estate shouted at reporters that he was “not guilty” before his arraignment in federal court Wednesday.
Nathan Carman, 28, then officially pleaded not guilty during his arraignment inside the courthouse on multiple fraud charges and a first-degree murder charge in the death of his mother, Linda Carman.
The federal eight-count indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, also alleged Nathan Carman shot and killed his grandfather, John Chakalos at his Windsor home in 2013 to defraud insurance companies.
However, Carman has not been charged in that killing. Windsor police on Wednesday declined to comment on the allegations listed in the indictment.
During a search of Carman's Vermont home on Tuesday, federal agents found $10,000 in cash, according to court documents seeking to have him held without bond.
“Carman's alleged conduct clearly illustrates danger to the community: The evidence shows that he killed not once, but twice,” Vermont U.S. Attorney Nikolas Kerest stated in his motion. “Moreover, the individuals Carman killed were his own family members. For an individual to kill his own family members, nothing is off the table.”
Kerest contends that Carman was treated for mental health disorders as a child, including “social difficulties” and “explosive rages” when he can become “aggressive,” according to the court filing. Carman has been mostly untreated and off medication since he was 17, Kerest said, based on “available” mental health records.
The U.S. Attorney requested Carman be detained and undergo a “detailed mental health evaluation” through the federal Bureau of Prisons. A spokesperson for his office said Kerest declined further comment.
A federal judge granted Kerest's request to continue the case for three days, court staff said. Carman will remain in federal custody until a hearing is held Monday on whether he should be detained without bond.
In 2016, authorities allege Carman took his mother on a fishing trip aboard his boat — named the Chicken Pox — intending to kill her in hopes of inheriting her money.
Nathan Carman, a former Middletown resident, was found alone in a life raft eight days after the boat departed a Rhode Island marina. His mother was never found.
His grandfather's estate is worth $42 million and has not been settled, according to Connecticut probate court records.
“As a central part of the scheme, Nathan Carman murdered John Chakalos and Linda Carman,” the indictment stated.
The alleged scheme began in November 2013 when Nathan Carman purchased a Sig Sauer rifle using a New Hampshire license he had obtained, despite living in a rented apartment in Bloomfield, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleged “Nathan Carman murdered his grandfather, John Chakalos, shooting him twice with the Sig Sauer” while the man was sleeping in his Windsor home on Dec. 20, 2013.
Authorities believe Nathan Carman also got rid of a GPS device in his truck and his computer hard drive to cover up that killing, the indictment stated.
Following his grandfather's death, the indictment claimed Carman received around $550,000 between a beneficiary-on-death account and a college account set up by Chakalos.
After moving to Vermont in 2014, Carman depleted most of that money by 2016, according to the indictment.
“By the fall of 2016, he was low on funds,” the indictment stated.
“In September 2016, Nathan Carman arranged to go on a fishing trip on the Chicken Pox with his mother, Linda Carman,” the indictment stated. “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 claimed Carman killed his mother, then hid from search-and-rescue teams after the vessel failed to return. He was eventually picked up by a commercial vessel.
The following month, he filed an $85,000 insurance claim for the Chicken Pox, the indictment stated. He lost the claim after a nearly three-year court battle.