Who was Nathan Carman?
Nathan Carman was born Jan. 21, 1994, the only son of Clark Carman and Linda Carman (née Chakalos), who divorced when he was 10.
He grew up in Middletown, Conn., and was diagnosed with autism at the age of 4 or 5, Clark said in the 2025 Netflix documentary The Carman Family Deaths.
Nathan loved the outdoors but kept to himself and got along better with adults than kids his own age, according to his dad.
"People picked on him in high school," Clark told Wired in 2021, "even though he was over 6 feet tall."
His son's "best friend" was probably his horse, Clark said in the doc, and after the horse died Nathan retreated even more, moving into a camper parked outside his mother's house.
Meanwhile, Linda's father John Chakalos—described by several family members in the doc as generous with money but controlling and physically abusive—doted on his grandson, but fought with his daughter over how best to care for Nathan.
After her father was killed, Linda told detectives, per interview footage, "His heart was always in the right place, it's the way he went about it."
What happened to Nathan Carman's grandfather, John Chakalos?
John was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head at his Windsor, Conn., home on Dec. 20, 2013.
His eldest daughter, Elaine Carman, found him "literally executed in his bed," Clark said in the documentary.
Now-retired Windsor Police Lt. Mark Francis said in the doc that police quickly determined this was "not a break-in to take anything, but to do harm to John."
The 87-year-old real estate developer left a $42 million estate to be divided among his four daughters, according to the 2022 federal indictment charging Nathan with his mother's murder, per NBC News. John had also deposited $550,000 in bank accounts for Nathan between 2012 and 2013, when they spent "significant time" together, the indictment stated.
Windsor Police Det. Scott MacGregor said in the Netflix doc that, while Nathan maintained he had dinner with his grandfather that night and last saw him alive at 8:30 p.m., then later set off with his mom for a fishing trip at 3 a.m., there was unaccounted-for time during which Nathan could have committed murder.
Six months later, investigators found a receipt in Nathan's possession for a Sig Sauer 716 Patrol Rifle, purchased on Nov. 11, 2013, in New Hampshire for $2,100. Prosecutors alleged in the 2022 indictment that he then used it to kill his grandfather.
Nathan denied having anything to do with John's death and was never arrested or charged.
What happened to Nathan Carman's mother, Linda Carman?
In 2014, Nathan bought a boat, Chicken Pox, for $48,000, as well as a three-story farmhouse in Vermont that he set about renovating himself, living in the house even as he tore it down to the studs.
"I believe he wanted to immerse himself in something," Clark said in the doc, "and concentrate on building his property up."
By 2016, Nathan was running low on money and prosecutors alleged he decided to get rid of his mother to get his hands on her inheritance.
On Sept. 17, Linda and Nathan went out on the Chicken Pox for an overnight fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island, per the indictment. When a friend didn't hear from Linda the next day, she called the U.S. Coast Guard. The—t
The last ping from Linda's cell phone, per the USCG, placed the boat southwest of Block Island about an hour after they set off from Ram Point Marina in Wakefield, R.I.
Nathan told a Coast Guard rescuer, per interview footage, that he and his mom were fishing at Block Canyon when he heard "a funny noise in the engine compartment" and "looked and saw a lot of water."
As the boat started to sink, Nathan said that he did not see or hear his mother. He said he whistled and called out for her from the life raft, but he never saw her again.
"I've asked myself, did I do the right thing?" he said. "I know at the time what I was thinking was, 'I need to keep my mom occupied while I'm trying to fix the problem.'"
How was Nathan Carman rescued at sea?
The search for Nathan and Linda was called off by the Coast Guard after six days.
On Sept. 25, eight days after the Chicken Pox left the marina, the crew of the cargo ship Orient Lucky spotted Nathan and flung a life ring into the ocean. Nathan swam toward it.
Investigators alleged in the Netflix doc that Nathan was in suspiciously good shape after a week on the water. A former Navy SEAL enlisted by his defense attorneys countered in the documentary that he had seen adrenaline kick in and make a person appear energetic when it's a matter of life and death.
Nathan told the USCG he had 30 days' worth of food with him, as well as an emergency water maker.
While authorities found that to be a lot of provisions for a short trip, defense autism expert John Elder Robison said in the doc, "Needing structure and planning are part of autism."
When was Nathan Carman charged with murdering his mother, Linda Carman?
Two weeks after his rescue, Nathan filed an $85,000 insurance claim over his lost boat.
In denying the claim in 2019, a federal judge ruled that the plaintiff had contributed to sinking his own vessel.
The 2022 indictment alleged that Nathan altered the Chicken Pox by "removing two forward bulkheads and removing trim tabs from the transom of the hull."
Officials also expressed doubt that Nathan really was lost at sea.
"I think he was only in the life raft for a matter of hours," Coast Guard investigator Eric Gempp said in the Netflix doc, "and not days, as he described it."
The federal indictment charging Nathan with first-degree murder and multiple counts of fraud was unsealed May 2, 2022, per NBC News. Each fraud charge carried a maximum 30-year prison sentence.
Nathan pleaded not guilty on all counts. The indictment also detailed evidence in support of the allegation he killed his grandfather, but that case remains open.
What happened to Nathan Carman?
Nathan's murder trial was set to begin in October 2023.
But "on or about June 15," according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont, Nathan died while in custody.
At the time authorities said that the cause and manner of death would not be made public, but his father Clark confirmed in the Netflix doc that Nathan died by suicide.
"He was upbeat up until that point," Clark said, "so I was totally in shock."
Defense attorney David Sullivan told NBC Connecticut at the time, "No one more than Nathan wanted this entire...nightmare to be over. I spoke with him last night for an hour. He was in fine spirits, we were very encouraged, we had action items that we were going to address today, and the plan was to speak with him this afternoon."
Fellow defense lawyer Martin Minnella said they had been confident their client was going to be acquitted.
The case against Nathan was dropped and authorities consider their investigation into Linda's death closed.