KEENE, N.H. — The family of a man suspected in the 2013 slaying of his millionaire grandfather has filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire accusing him of killing his grandfather and possibly his mother, who was lost at sea during a mother-son fishing trip.
The family says Vernon, Vermont, resident Nathan Carman wanted to collect a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
Eighty-seven-year-old real estate developer John Chakalos was found fatally shot at his Connecticut home. Carman was a suspect, but no one was arrested.
Carman survived the 2016 fishing trip near Rhode Island after the boat carrying him and his mother sank. Mom Linda Carman is presumed dead.
Her sisters sued on Monday. They've asked a judge to block Nathan Carman from collecting money from his grandfather's estate.
Nathan Carman has denied any involvement in his grandfather's death. He says he didn't sabotage the boat.
The sister's attorneys released a statement:
“In 2013, four sisters suffered an unthinkable tragedy when their father John Chakalos was murdered in his own home. Less than three years later one of those sisters, Linda Carman, disappeared at sea under highly suspicious circumstances. The last person to see both of these family members alive was Nathan Carman, John's grandson and Linda's son. The details and evidence in the death of John and the disappearance of Linda all point to Nathan as the prime suspect. Yet he now stands to inherit millions of dollars from their estates.
The surviving sisters cannot stand idle while their father's killer, and perhaps their sister's killer also, profits from his actions. Since the law has a provision to stop this unjust inheritance, they have filed a so-called ‘slayer action’ in New Hampshire State Court to block Nathan from collecting money from his murdered grandfather's estate.
This is not about money, it is about justice. If the Chakalos sisters win this lawsuit and any money that would have gone to Nathan instead goes to the surviving sisters individually, they pledge to use those funds exclusively to pay for expenses incurred relating to the investigation into the death of their father and disappearance of their sister, and any remaining funds will go to charity.
The Chakalos sisters did not undertake this action lightly. This entire ordeal has been extraordinarily painful to the family and the public attention has made it even more difficult. However, they also know this is the right thing to do, and it is what their father and their sister would have wished.” - Dan Small, Holland & Knight LLP, Attorney for The Chakalos Family