Netflix’s The Carman Family Deaths - A detailed case overview

Netflix's latest documentary, The Carman Family Deaths, revisits September 17, 2016, when 54-year-old Linda Carman and her 22-year-old son, Nathan, set sail on the latter's boat, Chicken Pox, to spend the night on the water. When Linda went missing at sea and Nathan was rescued after eight days adrift, many questions arose about what truly happened.

The case was linked to the unsolved death of Linda's father, millionaire real estate developer John Chakalos, who was shot in his Connecticut home in 2013. As the last person to see his grandfather alive, Nathan became a focus of investigations amid suspicions involving the family's $42 million estate and inheritance disputes.

Diagnosed with autism as a child, Nathan's account of mechanical failure conflicted with evidence of skipped safety checks and family tensions, including reports of abuse and control issues. A case of grief and legal battles, The Carman Family Deaths explores privilege shadowed by suspicion.

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The Carman Family Deaths: A brief family background

The Carman Family Deaths (Representative Image via Unsplash/@Ivan Ragozin)

John Chakalos, a self-made real estate developer from Connecticut, was the source of the Carman family's wealth. Born in 1936, Chakalos raised four daughters, including Linda Carman, and accumulated a fortune exceeding $42 million through real estate developments in Windsor. Linda, born in the 1960s, married Clark Carman in the 1980s. Their son, Nathan, was born in 1994.

After the couple's quick divorce, Nathan was primarily raised by Linda in Vermont and Connecticut. Despite the breakup, Clark remained involved in Nathan's life, later describing family life as strained by emotional and financial difficulties, according to CNN.

Despite his privileged upbringing, Nathan faced personal challenges. As a child, he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, now classified as part of autism spectrum disorder, which affected his social skills and friendships. He formed a strong bond with his grandfather, who treated him like a favored heir, funding an apartment and sharing meals.

Chakalos's affection contrasted with tensions at home; Linda developed a gambling habit and accumulated debts, and reports indicated household arguments and issues of control. In 2011, Linda faced assault charges after an altercation with her father over Nathan's care. However, the case was dismissed on self-defense grounds, as shown in The Carman Family Deaths.

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The Carman Family Deaths: The unsolved murder of John Chakalos

As per The Carman Family Deaths, John was shot three times (Representative Image via Unsplash/ @Tsvetoslav Hristov)

John Chakalos, 76, was found dead in his Windsor, Connecticut home on December 20, 2013, after being shot three times in the head and back. There was no evidence of forced entry or stolen goods, suggesting that the killer was someone he knew.

Chakalos, a millionaire with an estate valued at over $42 million, left his fortune to his daughters, including Linda, with his grandchildren as contingent beneficiaries. After dining with Chakalos the night before, Nathan, who was 19 at the time, was the last person seen with him.

Nathan had bought an assault rifle in the same caliber, .223, as the murder weapon, but he claimed to have forgotten and later misplaced it, according to investigators. He erased data from his computer's hard drive around the same time. Police drafted an arrest warrant for Nathan, but hesitated due to a lack of probable cause.

Linda passed a polygraph test and was not considered a suspect, although her gambling issues raised questions about her motives, as reported by Biography. The killing strained family ties, with relatives questioning Nathan's involvement, given his close connection to Chakalos. Windsor's Cold Case Unit continued investigating, but no arrests have been made.

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The Carman Family Deaths: The fateful fishing trip and the disappearance of Linda Carman

Nathan was found on a life raft (Representative Image via Unsplash/ @ Mark König/ The Carman Family Deaths)

On September 17, 2016, Linda and Nathan departed from Ram Point Marina in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, around 11 pm for an overnight fishing trip aboard the 31-foot boat, Chicken Pox. It was a familiar outing for the duo, who frequently went fishing together. The next day, friends reported them missing after Linda failed to check in.

The U.S. Coast Guard launched a search covering approximately 62,000 square nautical miles but ended it on September 24, presuming the boat was lost at sea. On September 25, a Chinese freighter spotted Nathan in a life raft about 100 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. Dehydrated but alive, he was transported to Boston for questioning, according to CNN.

Nathan recounted hearing a noise from the engine, noticing water flooding the boat, and witnessing it sink suddenly as he grabbed a safety bag. He said he called out for Linda but saw no sign of her amid the chaos. The vessel was never recovered, and Linda's body remains missing.

Initially, police considered it an accident, but later details emerged: Nathan skipped pre-trip safety checks, took a riskier offshore route, and had recently installed an ill-fitting anchor chain. Ocean currents also didn’t match his drift path, moving eastward instead of westward, according to CNN.

Friends and family reunited with Nathan, but his alleged composed demeanor during interviews raised early suspicions, especially considering his autism diagnosis. He filed an $85,000 insurance claim for the boat, which was later denied. This incident quickly drew comparisons to the 2013 murder, leading to renewed scrutiny, as reported by Biography.

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Investigations, charges, and Nathan's death in The Carman Family Deaths

Federal probes by the Coast Guard, FBI, and local police linked the sea incident to Chakalos's murder, focusing on inheritance as the motive. Nathan stood to inherit millions if Linda died before accessing her share, which was blocked by family controls. Evidence included his pre-trip modifications to the boat and inconsistent statements.

On May 10, 2022, Nathan, then 28, was arrested in Vernon, Vermont, and indicted in federal court for first-degree murder on the high seas, along with fraud related to insurance and estate schemes. He pleaded not guilty, claiming the sinking was accidental and denying involvement in his grandfather's death, according to Biography.

Prosecutors argued he staged the boat failure to kill Linda and claim the insurance funds. A trial was scheduled for October 2023, but never proceeded. On June 15, 2023, jail staff found Nathan unresponsive in his cell at Cheshire County Jail in Keene, New Hampshire. Despite efforts including CPR and defibrillation, he was pronounced dead at 28.

An autopsy determined the death was non-suspicious, possibly due to natural causes or overdose; a note with case details was found, but it was not considered a suicide message. Charges were dismissed posthumously, as reported by Biography.

Family reactions varied; some aunts expressed relief amid their grief, while the estates entered probate amid ongoing disputes, as shown in The Carman Family Deaths. The investigation into Chakalos's murder continues without resolution.

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The Carman Family Deaths was released on Netflix on November 19, 2025.