A man accused of murdering his mother in what authorities described as an inheritance scheme has died months before his trial was set to begin.
U.S. marshals notified federal prosecutors in Vermont of Nathan Carman’s death, which occurred “on or about June 15,” according to a court document filed Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont to dismiss the case. The circumstances of Carman’s death were not immediately known.
Neither the marshals office nor Carman’s attorneys immediately returned requests from NBC News for more information about her death.
Carman was charged with first-degree murder and several counts of fraud last year in connection with the death of his mother, Linda. He disappeared in 2016 after going fishing on Carman’s boat, the Chicken Pox.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Vermont described the case as a “murder on the high seas” after Carman was indicted last year.
Prosecutors alleged that Carman intentionally sank the boat off the coast of Rhode Island. Carman rigged the boat to take on water, then lied to the Coast Guard and other law enforcement officials about his mother’s disappearance, according to the 2022 federal indictment.
Carman was also accused of murdering her grandfather, John Chakalos, who had left a $42 million estate to his four grown daughters. Chakalos was shot twice as he slept in his home in Windsor, Conn., prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Carman bought the rifle used in his killing on Nov. 11, 2013, and used it to kill his grandfather a month later. His mother inherited part of the Chakalos estate, which was made by building and renting nursing homes.
Carman allegedly persuaded his mother to name him as her beneficiary. Years later, he was unemployed and with “little funds,” the indictment said.
Carman’s mother arrived home on the night of September 17, 2016, and spent some time in her son’s boat, believing he would be home the next day.
Linda Carman arrived at her home after 11 p.m. on Sept. 17, prosecutors said. Spending time on their son’s boat was their primary way of interacting with him, they said.
Carman’s boat did not return to port on September 18, and an official search was launched days later until he was found about 115 nautical miles off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, in a life raft adrift in shipping lanes , authorities said.
Carman faced up to life in prison if convicted of the murder charge during his October trial.
