Nathan Carman died in custody on June 15, 2023, before he could stand trial on federal charges accusing him of murdering his mother, Linda, during a 2016 fishing trip and committing related fraud. He had pleaded not guilty. Because the trial never happened, no criminal verdict established whether he killed Linda or deliberately sank the boat. Prosecutors also alleged he killed his grandfather, John Chakalos, but did not charge him with that murder.
Why Nathan Carman was charged
On May 10, 2022, federal prosecutors announced an eight-count indictment accusing Carman of murder on the high seas and fraud connected to family inheritance funds and an insurance claim. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont said the indictment alleged that the deaths of Linda Carman and John Chakalos were part of a scheme to obtain money and property. Those claims were accusations, not findings: the Justice Department expressly said Carman was presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Read the Justice Department’s announcement and description of the charges.
What happened to Linda Carman?
In September 2016, Nathan and his mother, Linda, went on a fishing trip off New England. Linda disappeared after their boat sank. Nathan was found alive in an inflatable raft eight days after leaving a Rhode Island marina; Linda’s body was never recovered. Prosecutors later alleged that Carman planned the sinking and killed his mother. Carman denied the allegations, and they were never tested at a criminal trial. The Associated Press account published by Connecticut Public reported his death and the unresolved case.
Why the criminal case ended without a verdict
Carman pleaded not guilty. A federal judge scheduled his trial for October 2023, but Carman died in custody on June 15, 2023, before that date. The murder charge concerning Linda and the related fraud allegations therefore were not tried to a verdict. The Associated Press reported that the cause of his death was not immediately clear; the fact that he died in custody does not establish a cause or manner of death. The February 2023 trial report covered the planned October date.
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Was Nathan Carman charged with killing his grandfather?
Prosecutors alleged in the indictment that Carman shot his grandfather, John Chakalos, at Chakalos’s home in Windsor, Connecticut, in December 2013, as part of a scheme involving estate funds. But Carman was not charged with Chakalos’s murder. An allegation in the indictment’s account of the alleged scheme is not the same as a murder charge or a proven finding. ABC News reported in April 2025 that Chakalos’s killing remained unsolved at the time of its report. ABC News’s later account discusses the investigation and the separate proceedings.
What the insurance dispute did—and did not—decide
Insurers separately disputed a claim for the sunken boat. ABC News reported that an insurance judge ruled for the insurers over faulty repairs. That civil ruling did not determine whether Carman deliberately sank the boat or murdered Linda. The insurance dispute and the untried federal criminal allegations were separate proceedings, with different questions before them.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is established about the case today?
The essential legal outcome is that the federal case ended without a criminal verdict because Carman died before trial. Linda disappeared and was never recovered; prosecutors’ theory that Carman killed her and sank the boat remained unproven in court. The indictment also alleged a role in Chakalos’s death, but Carman was not charged with that murder. Later reporting from April 2025 said the Chakalos killing remained unsolved and the related estates were still in probate at that time; those are time-specific status reports, not a permanent update.
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