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The deaths of John Chakalos and Linda Carman span nearly a decade, marked by financial disputes, unanswered questions, and legal proceedings that remained unresolved at the time of Nathan Carman's death in 2023. In 2013, millionaire real estate developer John Chakalos was found shot to death in his Connecticut home.
Three years later, his daughter, Linda Carman, vanished during a fishing trip with her son, Nathan Carman, who was later rescued adrift in a life raft. Linda's body was never recovered, and in September 2023, she was declared legally dead, as per the Middletown Press report dated September 28, 2023.
Federal prosecutors later indicted Nathan for the murder of Linda Carman at sea and alleged he also killed John Chakalos as part of a scheme to access family inheritance funds, as per an NPR report dated May 11, 2022.
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His story is the subject of the ABC 20/20 episode Family Lies, which includes interviews with investigators and family members who revisited the events and raised further concerns about Nathan’s motives, as noted in an ABC News report dated April 4, 2025.
A detailed timeline tracing the events surrounding Linda Carman’s disappearance in 2016 and John Chakalos’s 2013 murder
In September 2016, 22-year-old Nathan Carman and his mother, Linda Carman, embarked on a fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island that ended in a high-profile mystery when Nathan was discovered alone on a life raft, while Linda remained missing and was never recovered.
Her disappearance came three years after the unsolved murder of Nathan’s grandfather, John Chakalos, a wealthy real estate developer who was shot dead in his Connecticut home.
Together, these two deaths connected by inheritance, investigation, and suspicion have shaped one of New England’s most puzzling criminal sagas, recently revisited in ABC's 20/20 episode Family Lies? on April 4, 2025.
John Chakalos’ death and early suspicions
On December 20, 2013, 87-year-old John Chakalos was found shot three times while asleep in bed in his Windsor, Connecticut home. According to ABC News, April 4, 2025,
“There had been large sums of money in the house and other valuables, and honestly, nothing appeared to be touched,”
indicating to investigators that the motive was likely personal, not robbery.
Nathan Carman, the last known person to see Chakalos alive, was quickly drawn into the investigation. Ballistics testing later linked the bullets to a .308 caliber Sig Sauer rifle—a weapon Nathan had purchased weeks earlier but then reported missing as per NPR, May 11, 2022.
Despite suspicions, no charges were filed in connection to the grandfather’s death. Authorities alleged that Chakalos’ murder was the starting point of a years-long inheritance scheme, eventually bringing Nathan $550,000 from two accounts Chakalos had set up for him, as reported by The National Desk, June 15, 2023.
Linda Carman’s disappearance at sea
On the night of September 17, 2016, Nathan and Linda Carman set out from Ram Point Marina aboard a 31-foot fishing boat named The Chicken Pox. According to court documents, Nathan had told Linda they would fish near Block Island and return by noon the next day, as per the Middletown Press, Sep 28, 2023.
When they failed to return, a massive Coast Guard search was launched, covering more than 64,000 square nautical miles. Nathan was found alone in a life raft on September 25.
Authorities grew suspicious of Nathan’s version of events. The U.S. Coast Guard noted he showed no signs of dehydration or hypothermia, unusual for someone who had reportedly been adrift for a week.
As Crime and Coffee Couple, June 26, 2023, investigators later discovered that he had removed trim tabs and bulkheads from the boat, which could have contributed to its sinking. An attorney representing Linda’s family said,
“The modifications that were done to the boat had no rational basis unless your goal was to take the boat out & sink it.”
Indictment, trial preparations, and Nathan Carman’s death
In May 2022, Nathan Carman was federally indicted for the murder of Linda Carman and multiple counts of fraud. Prosecutors alleged that by 2016, Nathan was low on funds and plotted to kill his mother to secure an additional $7 million inheritance, according to NPR, May 11, 2022. The indictment also stated,
“As a central part of the scheme, Nathan Carman murdered John Chakalos and Linda Carman.”
Nathan took his life in his New Hampshire jail cell on June 15, 2023, months before his trial was scheduled to begin in October of that year. According to WPTZ, he left a note for his attorneys, and no foul play was suspected. As per NewsChannel9, June 15, 2023, one of his lawyers remarked,
“We were prepared to start picking a jury on Oct. 10 and we were confident we were going to win. It’s just a tragedy, a tragedy.”
Linda Carman was officially declared dead in September 2023, seven years after her disappearance, as per Connecticut law. The probate proceedings involving both her estate and John Chakalos’ $42 million fortune remain unresolved, complicated by the legal claims filed by her surviving sisters.
As per ABC, former FBI agent Lisa Tutty in 20/20 summarized,
“We had no boat, we had no body," ..."But as in any investigation, there's always evidence that can be recovered. It's just a matter of making sure that you know where to look.”
In the ABC 20/20 episode Family Lies?, which aired April 4, 2025, co-anchor Deborah Roberts explored new revelations from law enforcement and family members.
Stay tuned for more updates.
