What Happened to Nathan Carman? What to Know About His June 2023 Death, Months Before He Was Set to Go to Trial for Murdering His Mom By Jessica Sager

Nathan Carman first made headlines for his story of survival before he was accused of murder.

In September 2016, Nathan’s story went viral when he was found alive after his boat, Chicken Pox, allegedly sank in Rhode Island with him and his mother, Linda Carman, 52, on board. Nathan was rescued eight days later; six years later in May 2022, he was charged with Linda’s murder and fraud counts relating to the death of his grandfather, wealthy real estate developer John Chakalos, who had died in December 2013, per NBC News. Nathan was accused of shooting and killing John in the indictment but was not charged with his murder, per the United States Attorney’s Office.

Investigators theorized that Nathan was attempting to access millions of dollars in inheritance, which he denied. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“What happened on the boat was a terrible tragedy that I am still trying to process and that I am still trying to come to terms with,” Nathan, who had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder), told ABC News in September 2016. “I don’t know what to make of people being suspicious. I have enough to deal with.”

Linda and John’s deaths are at the center of the new Netflix documentary The Carman Family Deaths, which premiered on Nov. 20.

Here’s everything to know about what happened to Nathan Carman after he was charged with murder.

Who was Nathan Carman?

Nathan — a native of Middletown, Conn., who later moved to Vermont — was John’s grandson and Linda’s son.

Nathan was diagnosed with autism when he was about 4 years old. When he was a teenager, his mental health deteriorated sharply after his beloved pet horse, Cruise, died. He spent most of his time living in his family’s camper outside of their home, and was at one point placed in a psychiatric hold.

In The Carman Family Deaths, Linda’s cousin Chuck LaPenna estimated that Nathan received a total of about $100,000 from John every year. However, John eventually gave him an ultimatum: If Nathan didn’t get a part-time job and go to college, John would cut him off financially.

“But Nathan, he wouldn’t do it,” LaPenna said. “You could tell that he needed medication because he’d become very agitated.”

However, Nathan refused to take medication or to see a therapist or psychiatrist. Additionally, John was in denial about Nathan being neurodivergent and would often interfere with his care, Nathan’s father Clark Carman said in the documentary.

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On Sept. 17, 2016, Nathan and Linda went on a fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island when their boat, dubbed Chicken Pox, allegedly sank. A Coast Guard spokeswoman told the Associated Press that Nathan couldn’t find Linda in the water, then got into a life raft. He survived for more than a week at sea until he was rescued, but Linda’s body has never been found.

Six years after Linda’s death, Nathan was charged with her murder in May 2022. He vehemently denied being involved and pleaded not guilty.

“I know I wasn’t responsible for the boat sinking. I know that I wasn’t responsible for anything that resulted from the boat sinking,” he told ABC News in September 2016. “I know I wasn’t responsible for my mom’s death.”

However, investigators felt differently, with one police officer saying that Nathan’s “affect” during his questioning wasn’t “right.” Some experts, including autism specialist attorney Elizabeth Kelley, believe Nathan’s autism made him an unfair target for police.

“He responded in a way that was not only robotic, but, because he was giving detail after detail, almost seemed cold and calculated,” Kelley said in the documentary, adding that he shouldn’t have been subjected to a police interrogation when he was alone because autistic people are often misinterpreted.

What happened to Nathan’s grandfather John Chakalos?

John was found murdered in his bed on Dec. 20, 2013, per ABC News. He was shot in the head with what investigators said was most likely used a SIG Sauer rifle.

Nathan purchased a SIG Sauer rifle in New Hampshire just weeks before John was killed. When detectives asked Nathan about his gun, he initially denied owning a firearm, later saying that he “lost” the SIG Sauer, which still hasn’t been found.

Nathan was once named as a suspect in John’s murder, per the Hartford Courant. He denied any involvement.

“I did not kill my grandfather or my mother, nor did I engage in the violent behavior in my childhood that has been reported,” Nathan said in a February 2018 statement obtained by the Associated Press.

Nathan inherited $550,000 after John’s slaying, per NPR. The funds were from two separate accounts of which Nathan was listed as the beneficiary.

He also left behind an estate worth more than $29 million to his four adult daughters, including Linda, according to the Associated Press. As Linda’s heir, Nathan was in line to receive about $7 million, according to the outlet; however, he never did, as Linda’s sisters were fighting giving him the money in probate court at the time of his death, according to CT Insider.

What happened to Nathan’s mother Linda Carman?

Nathan gave police a detailed account of what he claimed happened to his mother on Sept. 17, 2016.

“My mom and I went to Stop & Shop, and I got something to drink. We drove to the parking lot at Ram Point Marina,” he recalled in a recorded interview featured in The Carman Family Deaths. “We loaded the cooler from the back of my truck with the bait in it onto the boat.”

He and Linda initially planned to sail to Block Island, but the duo changed their minds and decided to go to Block Canyons — which is about 60 to 70 miles further offshore than Block Island — instead.

When asked how he realized the boat was sinking, Nathan replied, “The engine sounded different to me, and I opened the hatch forward of the pilot house and observed a large quantity of water in the bilge.”

Nathan then said he tried to keep Linda distracted by having her pull fishing lines so she wouldn’t panic while he tried to fix the ship. He didn’t think the boat would actually sink, he claimed, so he didn’t call for help.

While Nathan was trying to repair the ship, the vessel gave way under them, he said, after which he couldn’t find Linda.

According to authorities, Nathan purchased bait, but left it in his truck, making police suspicious of whether he actually planned to fish that day. Additionally, investigators claimed a witness at Ram Point Marina saw Nathan drilling holes and removing the boat’s trim tabs before he and Linda left.

Linda’s body has never been recovered.

What was Nathan Carman charged with?

Nathan was charged with murder on the high seas in relation to Linda’s death, as well as three counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud, per the United States Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said in a statement that Nathan’s alleged crimes “involved detailed planning over the course of many years, as well as deceit, deception and subterfuge.”

They also claimed that Nathan was involved in John’s murder, alleging that Nathan “sought to defraud the estate of his grandfather … its executor, the Chakalos Family Dynasty Trust, and its trustees.”

Nathan and his attorneys maintained his innocence.

Were there any other suspects in Linda Carman or John Chakalos’ murders?

Nathan was the last person to see Linda alive and the last known person to see John alive.

However, according to the 2025 book Blood in the Water: The Untold Story of a Family Tragedy, Joy Washburn, who was the longtime caretaker of John’s New Hampshire property, said there were several people with motives to kill John.

Washburn said that a Chakalos family associate told her in 2013, “The entire family hates John. Can you take John out to the woods, shoot him, kill him, make it look like a hunting accident and we’ll pay you $10,000?”

Washburn dismissed the comment at the time; John was shot to death two weeks later.

Linda, on the other hand, believed her father was killed in a mob hit, her best friend said in the documentary. However, Nathan’s attorney Martin Minnella pointed the finger at Linda in Blood in the Water, claiming he found a text she sent before John’s killing about wanting to “blow her father’s f—— head off.”

What happened to Nathan Carman?

Nathan died by suicide in jail on June 15, 2023. He was 29 years old and slated to go to trial that October.

“He was upbeat up until that point, so I was totally in shock,” his father, Clark, recalled in the documentary. “We’re ready to go to trial and you get a call to find out that your son just died — just hard to accept. I still don’t.”

He added, “There is no way that Nathan could have killed his mother. It’s incongruous with everything in both Linda and Nathan. He never harmed a soul.”

After Nathan’s death, the charges against him were dismissed, per CNN.

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