It was a media story from the beginning. When 54-year-old Linda Carman and her 22-year-old son Nathan never returned from a fishing trip around Rhode Island’s Block Island — the sort of expedition they’d been on many times before — a friend of their wealthy New England family immediately contacted the US Coast Guard. The Coast Guard combed through a 62,000 nautical-square-mile area. Eight days later, after the search was called off and a vigil was held for Linda, a passing freighter spotted Nathan floating alone in an inflatable raft. Nathan swam to the life preserver as his raft sank and was pulled on board. News crews rushed to interview Nathan, who gave somber, measured expressions of gratitude to the public for their prayers and concern and a matter-of-fact description of his heroic survival. He’d meted out emergency food packs to last, kept himself hydrated, and looked out for rescue vehicles.
However, as depicted in the documentary The Carman Family Deaths, the public began to grow more skeptical as information came out about Nathan’s perceived strength and health after eight days at sea — and especially as more came to light about a murder that occurred in the family in 2013.
Nathan’s grandfather and Linda’s father was wealthy real estate developer John Chakalos, who was described in the documentary by Linda’s friends and ex-husband as controlling, volatile, and occasionally violent. They also say he had a dysfunctional relationship with his daughters, including Linda, who received a monthly allowance from him through a living trust. Chakalos’s estate, worth more than $42 million, was expected to be divided among his daughters upon his death.
Despite a rocky relationship with Linda, Chakalos had a strong bond with Nathan, who wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and become a developer. Chakalos believed that Linda’s interventions with Nathan’s autism were unnecessary. Nathan’s cousin, Chuck Lapenna, says in the documentary that he believed Nathan was receiving $100,000 a year from his grandfather. Nathan’s lawyers confirm that Chakalos was supporting Nathan during this time.
In 2013, 87-year-old Chakalos was found murdered in his bed with a gunshot wound to the head. His death was deemed a homicide, and investigators began to believe that the killing was deliberate. Nathan was the last person to have seen his grandfather before the murder. Investigators found that prior to the murder, Nathan had emailed his grandfather’s trust and estate attorney, essentially asking who had to die first for Nathan to inherit money. Investigators also found a receipt for a rifle, which Nathan had lied about owning. However, Nathan had an alibi for where he was when neighbors heard a gunshot, and no arrest warrant was ever signed.
The event tore the Chakalos family apart, and many believed that Nathan was responsible. He received a substantial amount of money from an insurance policy and bought a property in Vermont to renovate.
Nathan was the only child of Linda and Clark Carman, and he was diagnosed with autism when he was young. The documentary reveals that his relationship with his mother was intense but complicated. She sought various interventions to manage Nathan’s autism while trying to give him the independence and privacy he wanted. At times, he felt she was overprotective and smothering; she felt he was self-isolating and resistant to medication and therapy. Linda thought it was important to nurture their bond through fishing trips, which was an area of interest for Nathan.
After the disappearance of his mother and his rescue at sea, Nathan filed an insurance claim for his sunken boat, which the insurance company fought. In their investigations, they found a witness who saw Nathan the day before the incident working on his boat with a drill, removing trim tabs that would have created holes in the hull. Further investigations and data tracking found inconsistencies in Nathan’s story, and there was suspicion around the incredible strength he displayed in his rescue. In 2022, Nathan was indicted for the murder of his mother (the indictment also claimed Nathan shot and killed his grandfather but did not charge him with the crime).
While awaiting trial, Nathan died by suicide in prison, and all charges against him were dismissed. The investigation into Linda’s death has been closed, and she was officially declared dead in 2023.
