Twisted true story behind ‘bizarre’ Netflix documentary about son accused of murdering mom at sea
Netflix is back with yet another gripping true crime documentary to get stuck into.
The popular streaming service and true crime docs are practically synonymous at this point.
In recent months, Netflix has had us in tears with 'disturbing' body cam documentary The Perfect Neighbor, and in disbelief over real-life bullying saga High School Catfish.
Now, they're delving into a case true crime podcasters have branded 'bizarre'. The story of a Vermont man accused of a string of despicable crimes against his own family is under the spotlight.
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The Carman Family Deaths centers on a wealthy Vermont family wracked by a series of chilling incidents - or so it appears...
A New England family patriarch, real estate developer John Chakalos, died in unusual circumstances in 2013. His 19-year-old grandson, Nathan, inherited $550,000, as per NBC.
But he rapidly spent most of it all, investing some in a house and a fishing boat dubbed the Chicken Pox, reports ABC News. That very vessel became the center of national news when, three years later, Nathan's mom, Linda, vanished at sea.
A family fortune and a fateful fishing trip
Linda and Nathan set out on Chicken Pox for a trip off Rhode Island in 2016. While at sea, the boat apparently sank and Linda suddenly vanished, leaving Nathan stranded.
Miraculously, the now 22-year-old was found alive on a life raft with food and water supplies, near Martha's Vineyard. He'd apparently spent eight days at sea since they'd first set off.
But his mom was nowhere in sight and neither her body, nor the boat, were never recovered.
Suspiciously, Nathan claimed he 'didn't know' they were sinking until it was too late.
"The whole time from when I saw water in the boat to when the boat sank was probably three to five minutes," he told ABC News. "I did not see or hear my mom."
From tragedy to suspicion
Nathan’s story quickly began to unravel when he attempted to claim an $85,000 insurance payout from the Chicken Pox disaster. Investigators ultimately ruled the boat must have been tampered with and suspected Nathan had a financial motive. He had already spent his inheritance, and as his mother’s only heir, stood to gain around $7 million from her death.
Prosecutors accused him of luring Linda onto the boat, killing her, and sinking it to collect the family fortune.
Charges against Nathan Carman
Nathan's own aunts later sued him to block his mom's inheritance, as attention soon turned to another mystery: the unsolved 2013 shooting of his grandfather, Chakalos.
The businessman was found shot dead in the bed of his Connecticut mansion. Investigators believed the murder weapon was a Sig Sauer rifle. Nathan was the last person to see him alive and had even purchased the exact same gun weeks before his death.
In May 2022, Carman was indicted by US federal prosecutors on multiple counts including first‐degree murder for Linda’s death and fraud. He was never charged with Chakalos' murder, however.
Nathan pleaded not guilty to murder and fraud charges.
Where is Nathan Carman now?
While awaiting his trial in 2023, Nathan was found dead in his cell at the Cheshire County Jail in Keene, New Hampshire.
His cause of death was never publicly revealed, but the state Department of Justice confirmed it wasn't suspiscious.
He was reportedly alone in his cell when he was found unresponsive on June 15, 2023.
Multiple media outlets reported that he died by suicide, and his own lawyers claim they left him a note.
The new Netflix film retells the mind-boggling case, using archive footage and interviews with Nathan’s father, Clark Carman, one of Linda’s sisters, and investigators from the Coast Guard, local police and the FBI.
Directed by Yon Motskin and produced by Mary-Jane Mitchell, the film examines how a missing-person case at sea spiraled into a nationwide murder investigation.
The Carman Family Deaths is streaming on Netflix from Wednesday November 19.
Topics: Crime, Film and TV, Netflix, Streaming, True crime, US News
Ellie Kemp