Nathan Carman boat case heads to trial Tuesday

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PROVIDENCE -- It's a legal battle over an $85,000 insurance claim for a sunken boat, but the fiercely litigated case is about so much more. It encompasses allegations of murder, fraud and deceit that have pitted family members against each other.

Tuesday marks the first day of the trial before U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. over insurance companies' refusal to cover Nathan Carman's claim for the 31-foot aluminum boat Chicken Pox, which sank in September 2016 after leaving Ram Point Marina in South Kingstown.

The National Liability & Fire Insurance Co. and the Boat Owners Association of The United States allege that Carman, 24, of Vernon, Vermont, made faulty repairs that caused the boat to sink, thereby voiding the insurance policy. While Carman was rescued a week later on a life raft, his mother, Linda Carman, 54, has not been seen since and is presumed dead.

McConnell assumed the case last week, at U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith's request, due to "heavy judicial commitments."

McConnell issued an order Friday specifying that he would not be trying, at least initially, counts that allege intentional acts by Carman. The judge is also not allowing evidence regarding either the shooting death of Carman's grandfather, John Chakalos in 2013, or questions about whether Carman caused the death of his mother.

The court will, however, be trying four counts focusing on whether Carman's alleged removal of the bulkhead and trim tabs, and his repair of transom holes to determine if those acts invalidated the insurance contract by increasing the risk that the boat would sink without the insurers' knowledge. In addition, McConnell, who is trying the case without a jury, will consider Carman's allegations that the insurance companies are breaching their contract.

The companies allege that it was Carman who made faulty repairs that caused the boat to take on water and that he then failed to radio for help. Carman charges in a countersuit that the companies are breaching the terms of the "all-risk" insurance policy he took out on the boat that requires they pay more than $83,000, and accuses the companies of using "bait-and-switch" tactics.

The pretrial proceedings in the case have been marked by acrimony. Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan allowed the insurance companies to introduce into evidence Carman's testimony in a New Hampshire case that accused him of slaying 87-year-old Chakalos and contributing to his mother's death.

That "slayer petition," brought by Carman's mother's three sisters in probate court, challenged his right to his mother's share of the inheritance. Chakalos left more than $42 million to his four daughters.

The police have identified Carman as "a person of interest" in the 2013 shooting death of his millionaire grandfather, a real estate developer, but no one has been charged. Carman has vigorously denied he had anything to do with the death.

A judge in May dismissed court actions brought by Carman's aunts, saying the slain grandfather was not a resident of that state and, thus, the state lacked jurisdiction.

-- kmulvane@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7417

On Twitter: @kmulvane

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