The man accused of killing his mother at sea during a 2016 fishing trip off the New England coast has died awaiting trial, federal authorities said Thursday.
Nathan Carman, 29, of Vermont, was scheduled to face trial in October for what prosecutors said was a scheme to inherit millions of dollars. He had pleaded not guilty last year to fraud and first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Linda Carman of Middletown, Connecticut.
The cause of death for Nathan Carman was not immediately clear. One of his attorneys, Martin Minnella, said the US Marshals Service informed him of Carman’s death on Thursday.
“We had spoken with him yesterday. He was in a good mood,” Minnella said. “We met with some experts via Zoom at 12 o’clock. We were prepared to start choosing a jury on October 10, and we were confident that we were going to win. It’s just a tragedy, a tragedy.”
The eight-count indictment also says Carman shot and killed his grandfather John Chakalos at the man’s home in Windsor, Connecticut, in 2013 as part of a scheme to obtain money and property from his grandfather’s estate. But the prosecution does not charge him with murder in his death.
“Carman was in the custody of the US Marshal, as is the case with all pretrial defendants who are in custody. The US Marshal confirmed Mr. Carman’s death this morning. We have no further comment beyond our public filing said Fabienne Boisvert-DeFazio, public affairs officer for the Vermont US attorney’s office.
The filing says prosecutors received information from the US marshal that Carman died “on or about” Thursday.
Minnella and fellow attorney David Sullivan, both from Connecticut, where Carman grew up, had criticized the allegation, including that Carman had killed his grandfather, since he was never charged with that crime.
“The whole situation would have come out in court,” Minnella said Thursday. “It would have come out in court and I’m sure … this young man would have been vindicated.”
Assistant US Attorney Paul Van de Graaf said in court in February that the “murder” of Chakalos was part of the fraud charge.
In September 2016, Carman organized a fishing trip with his mother, during which prosecutors say he planned to kill her, and report his boat sank and his mother missing in the accident.
He was found floating in an inflatable raft eight days after leaving a Rhode Island marina with his mother, who has never been found. Prosecutors allege that he tampered with the ship to make it more likely that she would sink. Carman denied that accusation.
