
(This story by Bob Audette was published on Dec. 13, 2017, in the Brattleboro Reformer.)
[P]ROVIDENCE, Rhode Island โ A federal judge has ordered Nathan Carman, of Vernon, Vermont, to answer questions and supply documents related to the insurance claim for his boat, which sank in deep water off Martha’s Vineyard on Sept. 18, 2016, with his mother on board.
Carman was told by United States Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan to comply by Dec. 22. Her order was issued on Tuesday, following a hearing in Providence on Dec. 8. Sullivan wrote in her order that because discovery requests “must be construed broadly,” most of the questions “that bear on Defendant’s knowledge and intentions with respect to the sinking of the boat are relevant.”
The insurance companies have denied Carman’s claim for his boat, the Chicken Pox, “because your boat’s sinking was caused by your intentional acts … [and] the loss was not fortuitous or accidental.” The plaintiffs contend that Carman, by physically altering the boat, created an “unseaworthy” vessel. Attorneys for the maritime insurance companies have accused Carman’s attorney of “stonewalling” their requests for discovery.
According to attorneys for the insurance companies, Carman’s claim is being denied because of Carman’s “unclean hands” and his alteration of the boat. The insurance companies contend the sinking of the Chicken Pox was caused by Carman’s intentional act of enlarging holes in the boat’s hull after he removed trim tabs, just days before setting sail with his mother.
In mid-September, David J. Farrell Jr., an attorney for the National Liability & Fire Insurance Co. and the Boat Owners Association of the the United States, filed a motion to force Carman to answer questions and to supply documents and information on his past employment, treatment for mental health issues, any civil or legal actions he has been a party to or insurance claims he has made in the past, firearms he owns or has owned and his school records starting from when he was in sixth grade. In addition, Farrell asked for information on the homicide of Carman’s grandfather, John Chakalos, in 2013.
According to court documents obtained by the Hartford Courant, an arrest warrant was issued in July 2014 for Carman on a murder charge. Chakalos was found dead in his home in Windsor, Connecticut. According to the warrant, Carman was the last known person to see his grandfather alive. Chakalos had been shot three times with the same caliber semi-automatic rifle Carman told investigators he no longer possessed. The arrest warrant was returned unsigned with a request from the prosecutor for further information and the investigation into Chakalos death has stalled. Chakalos owned a second home in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, which he decorated each year with Christmas lights.
Carman’s grandfather left behind a $44 million estate that went to his children, including Carman’s mother, Linda Carman. That cash is the subject of another ongoing legal battle. In a civil suit pending in New Hampshire, attorneys for Chakalos’ three surviving daughters are asking a probate court overseeing his estate to “declare that the murderer was Nathan Carman โ John’s grandson, their nephew โ and that Nathan committed this heinous act out of malice and greed,” records show. The suit also alleges that Carman is the prime suspect in his mother’s disappearance.
Carman was rescued by a Chinese freighter after he was spotted in a life raft a week after the Chicken Pox sank. Carman told Coast Guard investigators that his boat quickly took on water and that he looked for his mother but did not find her before jumping into a life raft with food and water.
“You asked your mother to ‘bring in the lines’ … which she acknowledged, and you never communicated with … or saw her again,” stated court documents. “You began moving safety and survival gear to the bow to prepare for the possibility of abandoning ship; however, despite entering the cabin three times you did not make a distress call …” or activate the emergency beacon “… notwithstanding the fact that three times you were within feet of both these devices while you were preparing for the possibility to abandon ship.”
In her order issued on Tuesday, Sullivan granted the insurance companies’ requests for information on Carman’s “medical, mental, psychiatric, psychological or social condition …” but denied the request for information on any prior criminal convictions or court cases except any that might be related to insurance claims.
Carman must also respond “to both requests by supplying information about the specific firearm that has been associated with the death of his grandfather.” However, wrote Sullivan, questions on other firearms Carman may have or might still own are prohibited unless discovery leads to the necessity for further questioning. Sullivan also granted a request for any physical items that might be in the custody of law enforcement agencies related to the murder of Carman’s grandfather, as well as text messages, social media messages and posts, and any materials stored in a cloud or other electronic storage mechanism.
“Nathan Carman was the last known person to see his grandfather and mother alive,” wrote Farrell in a motion to compel filed in September. “Plaintiffs submit they are entitled to discover the identity of all persons Nathan Carman communicated with … regarding his grandfather’s homicide and/or his mother’s death and other potential witnesses.”
Anderson had contended that questions in the motion to compel were “very burdensome, of limited relevance, [and include] information outside the scope of discovery, and is not proportional to the needs of this case.”
