An autistic man was accused of murdering his mother after she disappeared at sea when their boat, the Chicken Pox, sank during a fishing trip in Rhode Island in September 2016.
Nathan Carman, 23, was rescued after a eight days, however his mother Linda Carman was never discovered. He was also a suspect in his grandfather John Chakalos’ death after the wealthy 87-year-old real estate developer was shot and killed in his Vermont home in 2013.
It has now been revealed that Nathan was a troubled and aggressive anti-social loner who once gave out bags of fish guts to children at Halloween.
Nathan Carman, 23, was accused of murdering his mother after she disappeared at sea when their boat, the Chicken Pox, sank during a fishing trip in Rhode Island in September 2016
Apparently Nathan was diagnosed with Asperger’s, a high-functioning variation of autism spectrum disorder, when he was a child, New York Magazine reported.
Those who knew him at high school said he was very socially awkward and that he had the social aptitude of a child.
His classmates from high school said that during Halloween in 2009 a parent of a trick-or-treater called police because Nathan had been handing out Ziploc bags filled with fish guts to people.
Nathan Carman, 23, was rescued after a week, however his mother Linda Carman (pictured) was never discovered
They said he had a strange obsession with the Second Amendment and believed ‘U.S. citizens should be allowed to buy any form of weapons, including rocket launchers, automatic weapons, grenades.’
His classmates also said Nathan was a six-foot giant loner who was teased and taunted. Apparently this made him very hostile towards students and faculty members. ‘He was very insistent that he was right, and that was it,’ a former classmate said.
‘He would knock stuff over or whatever off the desk. The teacher would try to go out and talk to him, but there was no reasoning with Nathan,’ they continued.
Although he was close to his mother growing up their relationship became strained when he was a teenager. He apparently threw a tray of cookies at a wall after his mother burnt them. ‘Soon enough he’s going to slit your throat while you’re sleeping,’ her boyfriend at the time said.
Nathan is pictured here with his mother Linda and although they were close growing up their relationship became strained when he was a teenager. He apparently threw a tray of cookies at a wall after his mother burnt them
Another reason Nathan has been a suspect in his mother’s death is because with her dead he was set to inherit at least $7 million of the family’s wealth.
When Nathan and his mother set for sail off Narragansett Bay in 2016, Linda had texted a family friend right before to let them know they would be back by morning.
The friend then alerted the Coast Guard when she realized Linda and Nathan had not returned.
After five days of endlessly searching for the duo officials decided to call it off. However, two days after they called off the search an individual who was sailing 115 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard spotted Nathan on a red raft.
Nathan is seen here with reporters following him after he became a suspect in his mother’s death
Nathan (pictured here) has been a suspect in his mother’s death because with her dead he was set to inherit at least $7 million of the family’s wealth
After he was rescued the search for Linda was aborted after the Coast Guard said there was no chance of her still being alive.
In 2013 Nathan was also a suspect in the murder of his grandfather Chakalos, a real-estate developer worth an estimated $44 million.
Chakalos, a Second World War veteran, was shot dead at his home in Windsor, Vermont in 2013, just weeks after Carman’s grandmother died of cancer.
The lawsuit says that a police investigation found Nathan had bought a semi-automatic rifle from a gun store in New Hampshire that matched the same caliber weapon used in his grandfather’s killing.
Nathan and Linda disappeared at sea when their boat, the Chicken Pox, sank during a fishing trip in Rhode Island in September 2016
To this day Nathan’s three aunts, Valerie Santilli, Elaine Chakalos, and Charlene Gallagher, blame him for the death of their sister (he’s pictured here hosting a memorial service for his mother)
In July 2014, Windsor police submitted an arrest warrant for Nathan on a murder charge, but a prosecutor rejected it the next day and returned it with a ‘request for further information.’
Nathan told the Hartford Courant: ‘He loved me very dearly,’ he added. ‘I was like a son to him; he was like a father to me.’
To this day Nathan’s three aunts, Valerie Santilli, Elaine Chakalos, and Charlene Gallagher, blame him for the death of their sister and father.
Last year Linda’s three sisters filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire’s Cheshire County, asking a judge to block Nathan from collecting money from his grandfather’s estate, which was divided among his four daughters.
Nathan was the last known person to see both Chakalos and his mother before their deaths, but he still denies any wrongdoing, saying he loved both relatives.
He was also a suspect in his grandfather John Chakalos’ (pictured here) death after the wealthy 87-year-old real estate developer was shot and killed in his Vermont home in 2013