A 28-year-old man from Vermont in the US has been charged with the murder of his grandfather and mother in an attempt to access millions of dollars in inheritance, NBC News reports.
Nathan Carman is accused of first killing his grandfather so that he could obtain trust fund money. Federal prosecutors allege that he later killed his mother while they were at sea on a fishing trip to give him access to the inheritance. Prosecutors say that he deliberately sank the boat, called Chicken Pox, off Rhode Island.
According to the charge, prosecutors claim Carman rigged the boat so that it would take on water. He then lied to the Coast Guard and other law enforcement officials about his mother Linda’s disappearance.
Shot twice
Prosecutors say that he three years earlier, Carman killed his grandfather John Chakalos by shooting him twice while he was asleep at his home in Windsor, Connecticut.
In a statement, the US Attorney’s office in Vermont said that both killings were part of a scheme to obtain money and property from John Chakalos’ estate and related family trusts. Carman has consistently denied that he had anything to do with either death.
The late John Chakolos left behind an estate of $42 million, which he bequeathed to his four adult daughters, including Linda Carman. John Chakalos made his month through building and renting nursing homes.
Half a million dollars
According to the indictment, Carman spent “significant time” with his grandfather in 2012 and 2013. His grandfather put $550,000 into his grandson’s bank accounts during that time.
The indictment also alleges that in that same period, Carman persuaded his mother to designate him as one of the beneficiaries of her inheritance. The Chakalos children had a dynasty trust inheritance, which was valued at $42 million.
It goes onto state that Carman, living in a New Hampshire home purchased by his grandfather, purchased the rifle used in his murder on 11 November 2013 and used it the next month to kill John Chakalos.
Following his grandfather’s death and to help cover up his crime, the indictment says that he discarded his computer’s hard drive and the GPS unit that had been in his truck on the night of the murder.
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