‘Carman Family Deaths’: What Happened to Nathan Carman? His Death After Murder Accusations

Warning: The following post contains discussions of suicide.

The new Netflix documentary The Carman Family Deaths investigates the deaths of Linda Carman and her father, John Chakalos, in 2016 and 2013, respectively. Linda died on a fishing trip with her son, Nathan Carman, in September 2016, while John was shot and killed in his bed three years earlier.

In 2022, a grand jury indicted Nathan, who was diagnosed with autism as a child, for Linda’s death. He was also suspected of killing John, although prosecutors never had enough evidence to charge him. Nathan died in 2023. Scroll down for everything we know about what happened to him.

Why was Nathan Carman arrested?

Nathan was charged with his mother’s death in May 2022, along with three counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud connected to the death of his grandfather, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.

While prosecutors did not charge Nathan with John’s murder (the gun used to kill the real estate developer was never recovered), they did allege that he was involved and claimed he “sought to defraud the estate of his grandfather … its executor, the Chakalos Family Dyansty Trust, and its trustees.” NPR reported that Nathan inherited $550,000 after John’s death and CT Insider said he was in line to get $7 million as Linda’s heir (Linda’s sisters were fighting this at the time of Nathan’s death).

Courtesy of Netflix

Prosecutors claimed that Nathan’s alleged crimes “involved detailed planning over the course of many years, as well as deceit, deception, and subterfuge.” Nathan said that his mom drowned by accident after their boat sank during the 2016 fishing trip (he was found on a life raft eight days later and claimed to have survived on emergency packs). However, prosecutors suspected that Nathan staged the entire incident to receive his inheritance.

Among their evidence was that Nathan left his bait in his truck, seemingly revealing he was never planning on fishing on the day Linda disappeared. A witness also allegedly saw Nathan drilling holes in the boat and removing trim tabs from the vessel at the marina. Authorities felt that Nathan’s responses during questioning weren’t “right,” although an autism specialist attorney said in The Carman Family Deaths that Nathan’s autism made him an unfair target to police and that he may have been misinterpreted. Linda’s body was never recovered.

Nathan and his attorneys continuously maintained his innocence. In The Carman Family Deaths, Nathan’s father also stood by his son, telling producers, “There is no way that Nathan could have killed his mother. It’s incongruous with everything in both Linda and Nathan. He never harmed a soul.”

Did Nathan Carman go to jail?

Yes, Nathan Carman did go to jail after his 2022 arrest. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, but was being held behind bars until his trial, which was set for October 2023.

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How did Nathan Carman die?

Carman died by suicide while in jail awaiting his trial. He died on June 15, 2023, at 29 years old. The charges against him were dropped after his death.

“He was upbeat up until that point, so I was totally in shock,” Nathan’s father, Clark, said in The Carman Family Deaths. “We’re ready to go to trial and you get a call to find out that your son just died … just hard to accept. I still don’t.”

The Carman Family Deaths, Streaming Now, Neflix

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or dial 988. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.