Fishing boat captain’s report challenges Nathan Carman’s account of his sinking boat, mother’s disappearance, escape by raft

Jul. 19--A fishing boat captain's report could cast doubt on Nathan Carman's account of where his boat, the Chicken Pox, sank in waters off Block Island, his mother was lost, and he clambered into a fluorescent orange inflatable raft and began eight days of drifting before his rescue in September 2016.

Alex Aucoin, captain of the 82-foot Prudence, an offshore lobster vessel, said in court papers filed Wednesday his crew was fishing in a spot on the same day and within a few miles of where Carman reported going down and did not see any sign of a sinking boat, a raft or anyone in distress.

Carman is suspected by his mother's sisters of having first killed his wealthy grandfather John Chakalos, who lived in Windsor, in 2013. They allege that he later staged his mother's disappearance at sea three years later to claim his mother's share of his grandfather's estate -- as much as $7 million. Carman denies this and has testified his boat, which he had earlier tried to repair, rapidly took on water and sank, pitching his mother, Linda Carman, into the sea. He said he never saw her go in.

Aucoin's statement is contained in a 58-page document filed by insurance companies seeking to deny Carman's $85,000 claim for his sunken boat. The proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law was filed ahead of a trial set for next month before U.S. District Judge William Smith in Providence.

The Prudence's automatic identification system places the vessel in the area known as Block Canyon "on the very day Carman claims to have sunk there and ... confirms Prudence was within a few miles of where Carman says he was trolling. Aucoin did not see the boat or a life raft that day in Block Canyon," the document says.

In an interview Thursday, Aucoin, 36, of North Kingston, R.I., said he spoke to an insurance company lawyer on the phone, and a face to face meeting was planned soon.

He said he didn't know Carman and only knew of his story from media accounts. Aucoin was asked if the fact that he saw no sign of the boat or raft on what was a clear day with miles of visibility discredited Carman's account in his mind.

"That's for a jury to decide," Aucoin said.

In a statement released Thursday, the Chakalos family said: "It has been almost three years since our sister Linda's disappearance at sea during the sinking of Nathan's boat and almost six years since the murder of our father, John Chakalos.

"We continue to seek justice every day, and continue to assist law enforcement so that justice will ultimately occur. We look forward to this public trial allowing the public, law enforcement, and the court to learn as much as possible about the circumstances surrounding this tragic event at sea."

In denying the claim, the insurance companies have alleged the boat sank because of alterations Carman made to it. They have also located receipts for a weapon that Nathan Carman purchased shortly before his grandfather was murdered that uses the caliber of bullets used to kill his grandfather.

Carman has been unable to produce the weapon, and lawyers for the insurance companies have alleged he disposed of it on the fishing trip where his mother disappeared as part of his scheme to inherit millions of dollars.

The new court filing also quotes a Woods Hole oceanographer emeritus, Richard Limeburner, as saying ocean current and wind data and information from weather buoys and other sources contradict Carman's account of an eight-day drift.

Carman was rescued by a freighter that spotted his raft about 600 miles off Martha's Vineyard. Mother and son had been tuna fishing, and Carman has described her disappearance as a "tragic accident."

Carman's lawyer, James Rosenberg of Concord, N.H., could not be reached Thursday.

The insurance companies, National Liability & Fire Insurance and Boat Owners Association of the U.S., are also pressing to have testimony and evidence of John Chakalos' murder in Windsor admitted at the trial before Smith.

State and federal authorities are still conducting a criminal investigation into the murder in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Windsor police investigators filed for an arrest warrant for Carman in his grandfather's murder in 2014, but a judge denied the application.

In May, an effort by Carman's aunts to disqualify Carman from inheriting money was rejected by a New Hampshire judge.

Josh Kovner can be reached at [email protected].

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