Carman insurance case witnesses scared to testify

Aug. 03--The unsolved deaths of Nathan Carman's mother and grandfather are spooking witnesses from an insurance company that's fighting him in court over his $85,000 claim for the boat that disappeared with his mom.

A lawyer for the Boat Owners Association of the United States, which sold Carman the insurance policy, is withholding the contact information of employees, saying they have concerns about their personal safety if they are called to testify against Carman. Authorities have identified Carman as a suspect in his grandfather's 2013 shooting death, and are investigating his mother Linda's mysterious loss at sea last September. Carman himself was rescued days later by a Chinese freighter, alone in a life raft.

Dave Farrell, representing the Boat Owners Association and the National Liability & Fire Insurance Co., told Carman's lawyers he'd be withholding the employees' personal info "because we have concerns for employee safety," according to court papers.

Carman's attorney, David Anderson, had pressed Farrell on why he wouldn't hand over the "actual addresses and actual phone numbers" for the witnesses in the insurance dispute.

Anderson recounted Farrell's response from a phone conversation: "You advised me that the basis of your client's security concerns and consequential refusal to provide actual address and phone no.'s of your client's employee witnesses was, accusations made by others that Nathan killed two people. We agreed to disagree."

Farrell declined to comment when reached at his office yesterday, and Anderson did not respond to messages seeking comment.

The lawyers' emails, attached to court filings, preview issues they want to address at a hearing Monday in federal court in Rhode Island -- touching on topics including the concerned employee witnesses. a proposed deposition of Carman and the insurers' wish to also investigate the mysterious deaths of Carman's mother and grandfather.

The insurer's attorney indicated they wanted to dig into Carman's "actions/inactions regarding his mother's death" as well as "his grandfather's unsolved homicide," arguing any revelations regarding "illegality" or "criminal wrongdoing" in those incidents could also bar his insurance claim.

Carman's attorney pushed back, arguing the insurers haven't argued that the sinking had anything to do with the death of Carman's mother, Linda Carman, or grandfather, John Chakalos.

"You have not alleged that Nathan intended to sink the vessel and/or kill his mother or that he killed his grandfather several years ago," Anderson wrote. "I do not intend to sit by and allow you to conduct discovery relating to these subjects."

Carman's aunts -- the sisters of the late Linda Carman -- have filed a separate lawsuit in New Hampshire seeking to block Carman from getting a $7 million cut from his grandfather's estate by claiming he was responsible for the two unsolved deaths.

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