As a follow up to a previous newsletter article, 29-year-old Nathan Carman of Vermont, who was accused of insurance fraud and the murder of his own mother to collect a multimillion-dollar inheritance, was found dead in his New Hampshire jail cell last month, according to Insurance Journal.
As previously reported, here are some details from the case:
“Carman is alleged to have shot his grandfather, John Chakalos, in December 2013 in order to access his $550,000 inheritance from the estate of his grandfather, who made millions in real estate,” (although he was listed as a suspect, he was never charged in the death of his grandfather).
“About three years later, when he was low on funds, Carman arranged for the death of Linda Carman, his own mother and one of Chakalos’s four daughters…”
“The indictment alleges Carman killed his mother to gain her inheritance from his grandfather, an amount court documents indicate could be as much as $7 million. He also schemed to fraudulently obtain $85,000 from his boat insurance company…”
“Carman took his mother on a fishing trip in waters off Rhode Island in a boat named Chicken Pox, a vessel which he admits he had modified prior to the trip in several ways, including removing two forward bulkheads, removing trim tabs from the transom of the hull and improperly repairing several large holes.”
“After leaving the marina, Carman killed his mother and eventually sank the Chicken Pox, according to the indictment. He turned up alive a week later on a life raft. His mother has never been found.”
“After he was rescued, prosecutors say he made false statements to the Coast Guard, law enforcement investigating, and others about what happened to his mother and about what occurred on the Chicken Pox.”
Insurance Journal writes, “Although Carman claimed the boat sinking was an accident, insurers and prosecutors believe he deliberately sabotaged the boat to kill his mother. In 2019, a federal judge in Rhode Island decided that Carman contributed to sinking the fishing boat, ruling in favor of an insurance company that had refused to pay the claim for the boat’s loss.”
Carman was officially charged with murder and fraud in connection to the plot in May 2022, was imprisoned pending an October 2023 trial in Vermont, and he officially had pleaded not guilty. Carman’s death is being investigated by the state medical examiner and the Keene police, and the New Hampshire Department of Justice indicated that the death is not believed to be suspicious.
Comments