SERIALously - 341: The Real Story Behind Netflix’s Nathan Carman and The Family Murders
Episode Date: December 1, 2025When 22-year-old Nathan Carman was miraculously “found” after a week lost at sea, his survival made headlines. But as investigators took a closer look, questions about his too-perfect rescue, and ...the disappearance of his mother during that same trip, quickly spiraled into something far darker. With a murdered grandfather, a sinking boat, a massive inheritance, and a suspect who insisted he was innocent, the Carman family tragedy only grows more twisted the deeper you go… . If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow the show for weekly deep dives into the darkest true crime cases! To watch the video version of this episode, head over to youtube.com/@annieelise. . 🔎Join Our True Crime Club & Get Exclusive Content & Perks. . 🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to both of my weekly true crime series 10 to Life & Serialously with Annie Elise wherever you get your podcasts on the Annie Elise Channel! 🍎 Apple Podcasts | Where you can also unlock access to 100+ and growing extra exclusive deep dives. 💚 Spotify 🔴 YouTube 🎙️ All Other Platforms . 🚩 Announcements 🎁 Want ad-free episodes, access to our community chat, and monthly giveaways? Subscribe to our annual membership for under $30 during our Black Friday Patreon Sale! https://www.patreon.com/c/annieelise/membership 🔥 Buy merch for a Black Friday discounted price NOW! https://annieelise.com/collections/shop-all . 📸 Follow Annie on Socials Instagram: @_annieelise TikTok: @_annieelise Substack: @annieelise Facebook: @10toLife . ⭐Sponsors RoBody: Head to http://Ro.co/AE to see if insurance covers GLP-1s for completely free. BetterHelp: Visit http://BetterHelp.com/ae today to get 10% off your first month. Ka’Chava: Go to http://kachava.com and use code AE for 15% off. Omaha Steaks: Go to http://OmahaSteak.com for 50% off sitewide and an extra 20% off select favorites during their Cyber Sale. And for an extra $35 off, use Promo Code AE at checkout. Chime Financial: Open your account in just a few minutes at Chime.com/Serialously . 👗 Shop Annie’s Must-Haves! ShopMY: bit.ly/AnnieElise_ShopMy Amazon: bit.ly/AnnieElise_Amazon . 🫵🏻 Get Involved or Recommend a Case About Annie: www.annieelise.com For Business Inquiries: 10toLife@WMEAgency.com . 📚 Episode Sources ABC News | CBS Boston | CNN | Moviedelic | The Middletown Press | WCVB Channel 5 Boston | WIRED •••••••••••••••••• 🚨Disclaimers 1️⃣ Some links may be affiliate links, they do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Thank you so much for watching and supporting me. 2️⃣ Sources used to collect this information include various public news sites, interviews, court documents, FB groups dedicated to the case, and various news channel segments. When quoting statements made by others, they are strictly alleged until confirmed otherwise. Please remember my videos are my independent opinion and to always do your own research. 3️⃣ The views and opinions expressed in this video are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the creator(s). These views are subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and are not to be held in perpetuity. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this video and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. It is the reader’s responsibility to verify their own facts.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Stepping into the Kia K4 or K5 isn't just getting behind the wheel of any average sedan.
It's stepping into what's next.
With a K4, it's stepping into a world that's exciting.
With a K5, it's one that's bold.
The Kia K4 and K5, the next movement for sedans.
See your local Kia dealer or visit kia.com to learn more.
Kia, movement that inspires.
Call 800334 Kia for details.
Always die safely.
The ocean carries a lot of secrets.
Rescued at sea after his mother disappeared in what seemed to be a freak boating accident.
He says he expected sympathy.
But what he got was a police investigation.
It looked like an inspiring tale of survival.
A young man missing for seven days.
Nathan Carman was found floating on a life raft in the ocean.
Boats don't just drop out from under you the way he described.
The lack of things that were done raised questions.
The Coast Guard had been calming hundreds of.
of miles of ocean in vain, looking for Nathan Carman and his mother, Linda.
I love my mother.
Present tense, I love my mother.
So why are people so suspicious about what exactly happened to Nathan's mother, Linda?
Hey, true crime besties.
Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly.
Hello, hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all new episode of serialously with me, your true crime bestie, Annie Elise, and I'm here to break down a freaking wild and kind of controversial case, actually.
Now, this one has been on my radar for several months and we started researching it.
weeks and weeks, actually months ago when it first came on our radar. And recently, I saw that a
documentary dropped on Netflix. And I love Netflix. No bad blood. I love you guys. I love you,
all of you at Netflix. But I will say that sometimes, as I understand, whether it's Netflix,
Hulu, Peacock, they are more careful as to what they include in their documentaries or docu-series,
whether it's for, you know, for legality issues, time constraints, whatever it may be. And we had
started researching this, like I said, a couple of months ago or, you know, at least
at least a couple of months ago at this point. And there were just so many details that I was
kind of like, hmm, you know, like, why, not why did you leave that out, but like, why didn't
you explain this more in depth? And I was planning on releasing this episode originally
later in December, but I decided to like rapid speed move it up because when I saw that this
documentary came out, I was like, no, no, I want people to hear about this now. I want people to
hear this full version and the way I tell it now. Because like I said, it is pretty controversial and
I'm curious what you guys think about it. Because today's case, it's one that has tons of twists and
turns that it's honestly going to have you guessing if you didn't watch that documentary. It's going
to have you guessing until the very end. It's one that to this very day has mystery in it,
despite a thorough investigation surrounding it, and countless of theories from both law enforcement
and from the public and the true crime community.
And it's rooted in a story about a mother and son who went out fishing together only to
be met with tragedy, a tragedy that absolutely would rock the New England area, because
one of them was rescued while the other was never found.
Now, this case also involves a very mysterious fatal shooting and a massive, I am talking
massive inheritance.
So it's a case that will have you asking the question.
Was this just a series of tragedies and unfortunate freak accidents?
Or was this something far more nefarious?
Now let's talk about who is at the center of this case, Nathan Carmen.
Nathan Carmen was born in 1994 to his parents Linda and Clark.
And his early life really was spent being raised as an only child.
He grew up in Middletown, Connecticut.
It's a city that was once known for being a very busy sailing port turned college town,
and it's around 16 miles south of the more well-known city of Connecticut, Hartford.
Now, at an early age, Nathan began facing some pretty tricky life challenges.
When he was only five years old, he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.
Now, of course, he was so young that he didn't really understand or comprehend what that really meant for his life.
He would only learn that later on through, I have to be honest, very unfortunate bouts of bullying and teasing that he pretty much dealt with for his entire life.
and we all know kids are extremely cruel, even to kids where there's something going on that's out of
their control, and that unfortunately was the case for Nathan. Now, his mom, Linda, wasn't a stranger
to children who had developmental delays or medical issues or specifically children with autism.
She actually worked as a nanny for young kids who did have autism. And from what I can tell,
both Linda and her husband Clark really partnered together to make sure that Nathan never felt
any different from any other kid.
They tried to get him involved in sports like baseball and basketball.
Unfortunately, neither one of those never really stuck.
It just wasn't his thing.
Most of the time, he just preferred to do things in solitude on his own.
And this very quickly made him a target for other kids
who immediately labeled him as the weird kid or the loner.
Then, a few years later, when he was 10 years old, his parents divorced.
And even though divorce itself is a pretty common thing,
it certainly doesn't diminish how challenging it can be for kids
to go through, especially in those formative years. You're trying to find your identity, figure things
out, look to learn about conflict resolution, what healthy relationships look like, all of the things
that roll into it. And Nathan's family life as an only child was really all that he had come to know.
So when his dad moved out and he began living full time with his mom, there was a pretty big
adjustment for him. At some point, his dad also moved across the country to California. So because
of this, Nathan never really saw him. And I can only imagine being a child with Asperger's,
then you layer in the divorce on top of that, then the separation from his dad, it was probably a lot for Nathan to cope with.
And pretty early on, it just became him and his mom, Linda.
Now, I mentioned earlier that his mom, Linda, worked as a nanny, but she also had a couple of other side jobs.
But here's the thing. She was also a trust fund kid.
So things finance-wise, post-divorce, weren't very difficult for her and Nathan.
She had a lot of money.
It turns out that Linda's dad, John, had been a very prominent real estate.
estate developer back in his day. And he was more than well off and loaded from that. He was worth
tens of millions of dollars. So John really played a big role in keeping the family afloat. More than that,
though, he really stepped in as far as father figures go for Nathan. And it all sounds pretty great,
doesn't it? I mean, well, I guess that depends on who you ask, if I'm being honest, because family
support can, yes, be a very amazing thing, but it can also turn very quickly into a very complex
situation and sticky situation, and that's what you'll actually see here as Nathan progressed
throughout his teenage years. Because to put it bluntly, Nathan and Linda's relationship started
to get very, very rocky. As he got into his teenage years, Nathan began throwing what
sources claim were tantrums. And I'm not sure if these were directly related to his Asperger's
diagnosis or if they were something unrelated, but there was definitely a rift that was becoming
a very big point of contention between Nathan and his mom.
Now, at first, things started off small.
Nathan was quick to get angry with Linda when he was overstimulated
or whenever things weren't going exactly the way that he had planned
or the way that he wanted.
That often caused them to get into these,
what would be a minor argument,
but that would very quickly turn very loud and very dragged out.
But then, things started to escalate even more,
and they started to get violent.
According to one of Nathan's more distant family members,
He once held another kid at school at knife point.
Although I have to say, I only saw this information as being reported from a family member.
So I have no idea if there are actual incident reports out there about this,
which I would think that would be the case for something this violent,
but this was coming directly from a family member.
Now, another time, Nathan allegedly threw an entire batch of cookies at his mom, Linda,
along with the plate that these cookies were on.
This was after she had accidentally burned the cookies a little bit.
So it was almost like the older that he became, the angrier that he got with her.
He felt like she coddled him too much and essentially gave him no freedom.
Yet she felt like she was just trying to take care of him and do the right thing.
And this was apparently an argument that they got into on more than one occasion.
So then finally, when he was 17 years old, Nathan decided to take things into his own hands and he chose to run away from home.
Now this didn't last very long at all.
Despite his best efforts, he actually made it pretty far and he was all the way in Virginia.
when he was found, but it was abruptly over. Now, at this time in Nathan's life, it's when it really
took a notable turning point, because once he was found, Linda kind of assumed that things
would just go back to normal. Yet Nathan, on the other hand, he was fed up because in his mind,
he wasn't going back to this life of just being constantly hovered over. So what did he do?
Well, he called in some backup. Now, like I mentioned earlier, he had a very close relationship with
his mom's dad, so his grandfather, John. This guy was basically like the patriarch of the entire family.
Now, John himself had four daughters, and they all had their own kids. So it wasn't like Nathan
was the only grandchild or the only person he could focus on or anything like that. But there was
definitely a soft spot in his heart for Nathan. Between his dad pretty much abandoning him
and also knowing that Nathan had been bullied almost his entire life, plus the fact that he was
the first male grandchild, their bond was just a little bit different. And everybody,
knew it. So when Nathan talked to John, pleading his case and begging for help, John agreed against
Linda's wishes. And specifically what he did was he bought Nathan an RV. Then, this RV was just parked
right outside of Linda's house. And he did this so that Nathan could feel like he had some sort of
freedom, like he lived alone, even though he was technically still on his mom's property. And eventually,
his mom, Linda, came around to the idea, but Nathan's behavior only continued to get worse. Now, keep in mind,
he was still in high school at this point, which what exactly was going on at school is sort of up in the air.
One source stated that, quote, while Nathan's issues were initially deemed to be owing to his autism, his behavior in school didn't match any of his symptoms.
So I don't know.
I'm assuming that he definitely was acting out, but that it couldn't totally be attributed to his diagnosis.
But whatever was going on got so bad that he was actually taken out of school.
And he ended up being put into Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital,
specifically to focus on his mental health.
And instead of Nathan really leaning on his mom
during these rough times and trying to get through it,
their relationship only got worse.
Basically, he blamed her for what had happened to him.
He felt like she had purposefully put him in the hospital
all so that he wouldn't be able to live in this RV
just free and on his own and independently.
He didn't want her to call.
He didn't want her to come visit him.
But whenever his grandpa John came,
he was more than happy to have these visits.
So eventually this caused a pretty big rift between John and Linda. Understandably so too.
And sure enough, once Nathan was discharged from the hospital and sent back to his mom's house,
his grandpa John only began intruding more. This time, he rented Nathan in apartment.
He also gave him access to a bank account that had originally had Linda's name on it. And this account
had $400,000 in it. He also bought him a truck. He set him up a college fund with $150,000 in it.
And basically, it was like, whatever.
Whatever Nathan wanted, he got. And Linda felt like her dad John had been consistently just enabling this bad behavior, and because of that, their family dynamic, it just got worse and worse. That is until five days before Christmas Day in 2013, because that is when John was found dead. He had been shot three times in his own home. And it was clear that someone had targeted John specifically. There was a homicide investigation that took place, but the trail ran pretty cold over time.
And the circumstances surrounding his death were really odd. And everyone, I'm talking the investigators, the family, the people in town, they all felt like there was something way deeper that went into this, something more nefarious, just a more sinister backstory, if you will. And all that to say, this was a huge turning point in Nathan and Linda's personal lives. And I know it's all kind of, you know, a big bomb to drop, but don't worry, I am going to unpack all of that a little bit later on. And I'll get into more of the details of that. Trust.
me, but what you need to know now is that John's death, it was sad, unfortunate, and shocking.
Although, I guess for someone worth millions of dollars, it really wasn't too shocking, because
we know people will do crazy stuff for money. We have seen stuff like this happen time and time
again on this podcast, countless times. We always say, follow the money. It will usually lead
to the truth. But tabling that, after John's death, it was almost like Nathan and Linda just came together
with some sort of trauma bond.
Or maybe it was just because John no longer stood in between them
like he had for so long while he was alive.
But what's crazy is that Nathan and Linda's relationship
was probably the best that it had been in years after John's death.
And being that John was insanely wealthy,
everyone in his family was set to get a pretty good chunk of inheritance money.
Linda, millions of dollars.
Nathan, probably hundreds of thousands.
And I've seen some mixed numbers.
Some sources say that John left behind $42 million.
in assets. Some people say 44 million. But either way, we are talking tens of millions of dollars.
There were millions upon millions just up for grabs, even with them having a bigger family.
Everybody was going to get a large chunk of money. And with that type of money, you can have
all the independence in the world. And even though Nathan hadn't been paid yet, he was spending
the money that he did have from John while he was alive, knowing that it would eventually be reimbursed,
with even more left over after the fact. So he bought a nice three-story farm.
farmhouse in Connecticut for only $70,000, and he made it his own. He even bought a small $50,000
fishing boat that he named chicken pox. Now, given the area that they were in, being out on the water
was pretty second nature for people in Middleton. Linda had always been somebody who enjoyed boating
and fishing, and after Nathan got his own boat, they bonded even more, going on fishing trips,
and really just spending quality time together on the boat, reconnecting. And it almost sounds like a
happy ending, right? As far as Linda and Nathan were concerned. They were all set for life,
they were finally reconnecting, but we know that money cannot buy happiness. But it surely can
solve a lot of problems. And as odd as it may seem, it seemed like it really magically solved
years' worth of issues between Linda and Nathan. But you know, if you're listening to this
episode that we wouldn't be here today if there weren't more to this case. And sure enough,
in September of 2016, something happened that changed the course of Linda and Nathan's lives
forever. It was September 17, 2016, to be exact. Linda and Nathan had been planning a very fun
overnight fishing trip for quite some time, and the plan was to take out Nathan's boat, to meet at
the marina and then be out on the water by midnight. Now, first I know the timing of that might sound
a bit odd. I know it did when I first heard that, but apparently, avid fishermen know that it's
smarter to get out on the water and get a good spot before the sun even comes up. That is, if you
want to catch anything and make the trip worthwhile, apparently. But look, I don't know,
a lot about fishing. I don't find myself on fishing boats very often, so if you are a fisherman,
feel free to correct me. But Linda had texted one of her friends that they were going to fish
just off a place called Block Island, and this was around 12 miles from the shore. But she also
told her friend that they would be back on land by 9 a.m. and to call her by noon if she hadn't
heard from her. And it was kind of a joke, but also kind of serious because voting accidents aren't
super uncommon, so it's good to always keep somebody in the loop of where you're going, the details of
your trip saying, here's my plan to be back, but if something happens or if you don't
hear from me, call the Coast Guard or call somebody. Like, it's not super uncommon. And I also want to
mention that when it comes to fishing, I really don't know a whole lot about the size of Nathan's
boat compared to how far out they were going. Like if it's pretty standard or not, if it's a small
boat and needs to be closer to shore, if it's a bigger boat and it's okay to, like, go way out in
the water. But I would assume that Linda at least felt comfortable with it since she wasn't an
amateur at fishing or that sort of thing. But as it turns out, whether the concern that Linda had
identified to her friend was warranted or not at the time she texted it. The truth was that
Linda had not reached out by noon and her friend was really worried. I mean, 10 minutes late is one
thing, but hours, something wasn't right here. So she got a hold of the Coast Guard and she reported
both Linda and Nathan as missing. Now luckily, everything was taken very seriously. Right away,
the Coast Guard got in contact with Linda's cell phone provider to get a ping on where her phone
last was at. That way, they wouldn't be wasting time looking in all of the wrong directions, right?
and it turns out that her phone pinged one last time around 1 a.m.,
an hour after she and Nathan had taken off from the marina.
But when the search and rescue teams made it to that location,
they couldn't find anything.
They knew that she had been there because we know cell phone pings don't lie,
but if they didn't know any better,
it was almost like Nathan and Linda had never been there at all.
Like they and their boat just vanished.
But that was not the only mystery that they were about to uncover.
Getting started with health care, especially anything weight loss related, can feel extremely overwhelming.
Not because people don't want help, but because the system feels confusing.
What's covered?
What's not?
Where do you even start?
And that is exactly why Roe built their free insurance checker, all to make that first step, simple, clear, pressure-free,
so that people can finally move forward with their goals.
Rowe's insurance checker lets you know if you're covered for GLP-1.
ones for free. So if you want to see if you're covered, you just upload your insurance card and then
Roe handles the rest. No paperwork, no hassle, and definitely no sitting on hold. Roe's insurance
checker sends you a full breakdown of your coverage so that you can make the decision that's right
for you. And if you decide to move forward, Roe can help you understand if GLP ones are right for you
and for your goals and if you qualify. Plus, if you become a Roe member, you'll get support
throughout the entire process, including access to your provider on demand for questions.
More than a million people have already used Roe to check their coverage for free.
So go to row.co slash AE for your free insurance check.
That's RO.com slash AE to see if your insurance covers GLP1s for free.
Go to row.com slash safety for boxed warning and full safety information about GLP1 medications.
Today's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.
The holidays are full of traditions, the ones you grew up with, the ones that you're starting now,
and the ones that you're still, if you're like me, trying to figure out. And as joyful as this season is, it can also become a lot. Between family dynamics, schedules, expectations, and trying to make everything perfect, it's easy to forget how to take care of yourself in the middle of it all. And honestly, creating space for that can really become a tradition of its own. And that's why I love the idea of adding therapy into the mix, especially at this time of year, something steady that actually supports you instead of draining you.
Better help makes that simple. Their therapists are fully licensed. They work to a strict code of ethics. And with over 30,000 therapists, it's one of the largest online therapy platforms in the world. They also handle the matching process for you based on your needs and preferences. And with their 12 plus years of experience, they usually get it right the very first time. But if not, you can switch therapists at any time with no extra cost. With over 5 million people served and a 4.9 out of 5 average rating of,
across more than 1.7 million sessions, it actually works, and it's accessible whenever your
schedule allows, which, let's be honest, it's key during the holiday time, right?
This December, start a new tradition by taking care of you. Our listeners get 10% off at
betterhelp.com slash a.e. That's betterhelp.com slash a.e.
When it came to the search itself, there were search and rescue boats, there was the Coast Guard, there were helicopters, I mean, the whole shebang. Everybody came out for the search and rescue. But despite that, they weren't really having much luck. So the authorities decided that they needed to contact Linda's next of kin. They needed to alert them of the news. Not only to see if they had maybe heard from her or seen her, but to let them know that both of them, Linda and her son were truly missing and that it was not looking good. Now, Linda's next of kin was her sister Val
And the investigators probably thought that the call with Valerie would be a very difficult one.
You would expect that if you're delivering that kind of news to a loved one, it's going to be challenging, right?
They'd have to explain that Linda and Nathan were missing, that they were doing everything they could do to find them, all of that.
And all of that did happen during the call.
But what they didn't expect was that Valerie truly did not act shocked at all.
Instead, she dropped a huge bomb on them.
When the investigator spoke with Valerie, she was, of course, distraught, she was upset, but more than that, she was angry.
She immediately told the detectives that she just knew that her nephew Nathan had done something to Linda.
And she felt absolutely no sadness in her heart about Nathan also being missing.
Truly, she didn't.
Basically, she thought that the whole thing was a load of bull, that he might, yes, be missing, but Valerie was confident that he would end up showing up.
He would turn up one way or another.
And she was also confident that Linda would not.
Now, obviously, the investigators were kind of like, whoa, whoa, whoa, back up.
But you think Nathan is the reason they're missing?
You think he did something to his mom?
It's a very bold claim, right?
Because, again, boating accidents are not uncommon.
And when you're going that far from land, if something malfunctions or if something goes awry,
you only have so much time to respond before you're basically screwed and you're kind of like shit out of luck, right?
And the truth was there was no reason to suspect foul play.
But first, they thought that maybe Valerie had just figured that since Nathan was the one operating the boat, since it was his boat, that she was kind of saying it was his fault and blaming him.
But it turns out there was a lot more.
Because according to Valerie, back in 2013, when their dad and Nathan's grandfather had been brutally murdered in his own home, Nathan was the prime suspect.
Now, not only did she claim that he was the number one suspect, but she also claimed that apparently the estate had just been officially settled.
that week, the same week of Linda and Nathan's fishing trip, the same week that Linda went missing.
Which you might be asking, okay, well, why is that important? What does that mean? It could have just
been a coincidence. Well, Valerie felt like Nathan had likely killed his grandpa John for the inheritance
money, and with his mother Linda set to inherit quite a bit of money, tens of millions of dollars
from her father as well. Why not kill her to get that pay out as well? Which obviously this was a lot
to digest. I mean, the poor Coast Guard just wanted to inform the families that their loved ones were
missing, but instead, they basically were hit with this whole complex drama of the family and money
and murder and all of these things. They hadn't expected all of this other stuff. And we'll get more
into Nathan's potential involvement later on, because trust me, there is a lot more to it,
but I want to stick with the missing boat. So for the time being, we're going to stick with the
boating incident. The search and rescue teams kept looking for both Linda and Nathan, while also
keeping the information that they had learned from Valerie, just in the back of their minds,
and for days, Nathan, Linda, and their boat were nowhere to be found. And one source even said
that they had searched an area of water that was roughly two times the size of the state of
Connecticut. So they had searched almost everywhere. And it was very likely that at this point
the boat had malfunctioned, that maybe it had been taken out to sea, that maybe it capsized
something. And if that had happened, they assumed that more than likely Linda and Nathan
had passed away, and that whatever family drama had been happening in their lives was basically
just kind of boiling to the surface in the midst of all of this chaos. So after five days of
searching, the Coast Guard made the difficult decision to end the search. They had done all that
they could do, but the belief was that both of the people that they were looking for were no
longer alive. Linda and Nathan's family had been through an incredible amount of grief and loss
in so little time, from the head of their family being brutally murdered in his own home to now
their sister and nephew going missing at sea, all in less than three years. That is a lot of
turmoil for a family to take on. And not for nothing, but it's enough to make you believe in all
of the stuff about somebody putting a hex or curse on your family or something, like one bad
thing happening after another. And what's that expression? Like it comes in waves of three,
something like that. So after the family was told the devastating news that the search was off
and that they weren't going to find Linda or Nathan, the family had no other choice but to begin
mourning them, grieving them, and trying to move forward. However, they never got the opportunity to
say goodbye, so it was very likely that they would never receive any type of closure. However, after just
48 hours of getting the news that the search was ending, they received more news that nobody was
expecting. Now, at this point, it had been one whole week since Nathan and Linda went missing. And that's
when a Chinese freighter called the Orient Lucky was on its way to Boston, and someone from the crew
spotted something out in the distance in the ocean, something distinctly bright orange just
floating out there in the distance. And as you can imagine, they are trained for these kinds of
things, and they immediately knew that whatever they were seeing could be somebody who was in need
of help. So they got closer and closer, and they saw that sure enough, it was a small life raft
and someone was inside of it. And I'll be honest, the rescue was something like out of a thriller
movie. It was a young man in this lifeboat, and he was waving his hands in the air, seemingly
begging for help. Once they got close enough, they threw out a life ring. He caught it and they
started bringing him over, bringing him on board, getting whoever this guy was and whatever his story was
to safety to figure out what's going on here. But of course, we know what the people on board of the Orient Lucky
didn't know. This was 22-year-old Nathan Carman. The missing guy that searchers had been looking
for for basically every waking hour since he and his mom went missing. And at first, when the
investigators and really even the public learned about Nathan being found, there was this like utter
shock and happiness that at least one of them had actually been found, especially after a full
week. Things never are looking that optimistic after a week lost at sea. That's unheard of. I mean,
talk about good luck or maybe even some kind of higher power being on your side, but certainly a miracle.
I would just like to thank the public for their prayers and for their concern for both my mother and for
myself. Now, right away, in the back of investigators' minds, was what Linda's sister Valerie
had said, that Nathan would show back up, that Linda wouldn't, and that it would all have been
orchestrated by Nathan. I mean, it's pretty eerie that she was right on the money about how this
situation would end up. She called it, you know, hook, line and sinker, which I guess is kind of
either really good metaphor or bad metaphor, considering we're talking about a boat. I don't know.
But of course, everybody wanted to know what had happened. How had this normal
fishing trip ended in so much chaos and devastation. Well, here's what happened, according to Nathan.
Their usual boating routine was to go to Block Island, which was where Linda had told her friend
they were going to be. And even though it's still pretty far out there from the marina, it's not all
that far when you have a decent fishing boat. But instead, Nathan claimed that they decided to go
deep sea fishing at a place called Block Canyon. And just to give you an idea of how far they went,
the water at Block Island is about 200 feet deep, but the water at Block Canyon can be anywhere from
a thousand feet deep to even deeper. And Nathan said that it took them most of the night to even
get to Block Canyon. And from there, he says it all happened very, very fast. One minute,
everything was fine. Their fishing lines were in the water. They were just enjoying being able
to spend some quality time together. But then the next minute, water randomly started rushing onto
the boat way quicker than they could even react. They hadn't hit anything.
and they hadn't noticed anything with the boat seemed off before that point.
So according to him, it was all just completely unexpected.
Nathan said that he yelled to his mom Linda to start pulling in the fishing lines while he ran to the pilot house of the boat,
which that's the area of the boat where you have all the controls and all the equipment.
And he said that he went in there so that he could grab some emergency gear.
But what happened next is pretty vague.
Nathan said that he went from grabbing the gear to being in the water,
all while Linda was nowhere to be seen, presumably, also.
also already in the water. The only difference being that Nathan had just grabbed all of the emergency equipment, and Linda had absolutely nothing.
I heard a noise. The engine sounded different. I looked in the hatch where the engine was. I observed there was water. Quite a bit of water.
And the belt on the engine was picking up water and kind of spinning it.
What did you think?
I knew that there was a serious problem.
but I didn't think we were sinking.
I thought that I was going to diagnose the problem
and that we were going to go back to shore.
I was walking on the deck.
It was there and then it wasn't.
Any sign of your mother at this point?
No, not at that point.
So once Nathan saw how much water the boat was taking in,
he claimed that he quickly threw an emergency life raft
that self-inflated overboard into the ocean,
then grabbed whatever supplies were closest to him in the boat
and climbed on top of this life raft.
He claimed that while he was doing all of those things,
he was yelling for his mom Linda, telling her, hey, quickly, get in, get in, get in. The only thing
was that by the time he had a chance to look up, once he was inside the life raft, he realized
that Linda was nowhere to be seen. He didn't see her running across the boat, headed toward
the life raft. He didn't see her head bobbing far out in the distance like she had already
maybe fallen into the water. He didn't even hear her calling for help. And then his raft started
floating away from the sinking boat. And the next thing he knew, he was all alone. Which honestly,
it sounds like a very traumatic experience. Yet at the same time, there were these seeds of doubt
in the minds of the investigators. And those seeds were things that were more than valid questions,
in my opinion. For example, inside the pilot house, there are plenty of things that Nathan could
have used in an emergency situation. There's a two-way radio, which could be used to call in a distress call
to the Coast Guard or to 911, things like that.
There's also something called a radio beacon that is used for emergencies.
It basically creates a little ping of your last known location for search and rescue team
so that they have a better idea of where to look rather than wasting time in all the wrong places.
But for whatever reason, Nathan didn't do any of those things.
And nobody knows how they will react in high stress situations.
I will say that.
So it's possible that maybe he was so panicked and in fight or flight that he didn't even
think to do those things. But on the other hand, a lot of people would have automatically known
to do those things, especially if they were experienced on the water, which, remember, they both
were. And more than that, somebody would definitely do those things, or at least one of them,
if they wanted there to be any chance of survival. So needless to say, it was all really
suspicious. But I don't want you to think that the Coast Guard immediately felt like something was up
just because of this family drama that they were made privy to, because there were plenty of people
who interacted with Nathan after he was rescued, who didn't even know what his Aunt Valerie had
said, and it raised questions about how truthful the whole story really was. One of those people
being the emergency room physician who treated Nathan after he was rescued and taken to Boston
General Hospital, because he claimed that Nathan's condition was overall kind of perfect, which was good
for Nathan, but it also doesn't really add up with the idea that he was lost at sea and on this life raft
for seven entire days.
The physician estimated that being in a life raft for that extended period of time,
with significant amounts of ocean water inside of it,
that Nathan would have had, quote,
severe defects in his gross motor skills and would have been in dire need of medical attention.
But he didn't even have so much as chapped lips.
He wasn't dehydrated at all.
He was completely coherent.
And those were just the initial odd findings in this case.
I mean, there would be plenty more as the investigation grew.
and it was growing by the minute.
Meanwhile, Nathan wasn't really helping out with his case.
Pretty soon after the whole incident happened,
he filed an insurance claim for his boat totaling to $85,000.
And at the same time, Valerie and his other aunts
were filing petitions with the court
to block him from receiving any inheritance
from not only his grandpa John, but also his mom, Linda.
They were more than confident than ever
that he had killed both of them,
all with the goal of just cashing in on a huge check.
So let's rewind for a minute and go over John's murder because I've brought it up a little bit.
I've mentioned it here and there, but the whole thing is pretty suspicious.
John was found on December 20th, 2013.
His oldest daughter, Elaine, had stopped by his house, which wasn't uncommon.
She was a nurse, and she liked to check in on him pretty often to make sure that he was okay and good health and taking his heart medications.
John was getting up there in age.
He was 87, to be exact.
He also couldn't drive himself anymore, and he was on a slew of different medications.
but he never stopped working.
He was always up by sunrise, he would always be working from home on his latest real estate
project, just very together and very with it.
So when Elaine got to his house around 8.30 that morning, she immediately knew that something
was wrong.
The house was very quiet.
He also wasn't in his office, and it was clear that he hadn't been in there that morning,
which just was not typical for him.
And from the way that Elaine recalls it, her stomach just dropped, and she prepared herself
for what she thought might be the worst.
She assumed that he had more than likely died overnight in his sleep because of his age.
So she slowly walked to his bedroom, preparing herself mentally and physically.
But when she opened the door, it was so much worse than what she had ever imagined.
John was, yes, in bed, but he had a pool of blood surrounding his body.
Now remember, Elaine was a nurse, and she wasn't naive.
She knew right away that John had been killed.
This man, this 87-year-old man, had been shot once in the stomach and twice in the head.
head. The investigators noted that the shots to his head had also been done at very close range,
so much so that nearly half of his skull was gone. The theory that developed very quickly was that
someone had come into his home, stood right next to his bed while he was peacefully asleep,
and murdered him. They were even able to come up with a potential murder weapon, which is what they
believed to be a sig-sour rifle. So a big question being, who would have wanted this man worth more
than $40 million dead. Well, I'm sure a lot of people. I don't know anyone that wealthy that
hasn't made at least a couple enemies throughout the years, but was it that? Was it just some
random enemy, some work colleagues, some business deal gone wrong? Or was this like Valerie
suspected and something much closer to home?
You know how easy it is to sacrifice quality nutrition? You know how easy it is to sacrifice quality nutrition?
just because you're busy. I mean, we've all been there. I am there all the time.
Grabbing whatever is quickest, especially on the days when the drive-thru starts looking a little too
tempting or a door dash is just so easy on my phone. But that is where Kachaba has totally
changed things and, like my sanity, if I'm being honest, at home for me. It's become the one
thing that I can count on to actually make me feel better instead of sluggish and regretful,
like, you know, my love-hate relationship with Chick-fil-A. I love it, but I always feel gross after.
I've been drinking kachava for a few months now, and the biggest difference I've noticed is how steady my energy is throughout the day.
It keeps me going with vitamins and minerals, probiotics, adaptogens, literally everything.
My digestion, also TMI, it feels way smoother.
I stay full longer, and it's honestly made my whole morning routine way easier.
It feels like I'm actually fueling my body instead of just filling it up.
And I have to tell you, especially this time of year, their chai flavor has been my obsession.
I put a little nut milk in mine, some ice. I even tried recently a frozen banana, and it just
tastes like, you know, a little fall cozy treat. I love it. And they have five delicious flavors.
Chocolate, vanilla, chai, macha, coconut, assay, and strawberry, which you can't go wrong with any of them,
but I will say Emmy loves the strawberry one. Because Emmy is a picky eater. She loves her dino nuggets,
but she's picky. And sometimes I stress out that she's not getting all of the things that she needs,
all the superfoods, the vitamins, the minerals. And so I'll make her a Cachava strawberry.
shake, and she thinks it's a milkshake, and she drinks it, and I feel good knowing that she's
actually getting good nutrition. Plus, the nutrition is stacked, 25 grams of plant-based
protein, over 85 superfoods, no artificial flavors, no gluten, no soy, no nonsense. If you want something
that supports your whole body, digestion, immunity, strength, mood, skin, and that actually
fits into your day, Kachava is it. So it's your turn. Make Kachava your ritual. Go to kachava.com
and use code A.E for 15% off your order.
A-A-C-H-A-V-A-com code A-E for 15% off. The holidays always sneak up. And they sneak up so fast.
I mean, the hosting, the gifting, the what do I make for everyone, all the panic that sets in.
And I also feel like everybody is always searching for that perfect, cozy, crowd-pleasing food
that actually makes your life easier, not harder. And that's why Omaha Steaks is such a go-to this
time of year. Whether you're sending an unforgettable gift or treating yourself to some holiday
comfort meals, Omaha Steaks delivers the world's best steak experience. We've ordered from them
personally. First and foremost, I should say this. I ordered Omaha Steaks for a Christmas gift
for my husband last year. He was obsessed with them. I was like the wife of the year because he's like
a huge steak guy. But since then, we've ordered their filet mignons and their burgers and the
quality is unreal. Super tender, great flavor, just consistently good every single time. And it's one of
those gifts that people actually get excited about because you're not just sending food,
you're sending like this entire experience from the moment that it arrives to the moment that
they cook it. And right now, during their cyber sale, you can get 50% off site wide and an
extra 20% off select favorites at Omaha steaks.com. They have exclusive limited time deals,
cozy comfort meals, incredible steaks, pork, seafood desserts, and every bite is backed by their
100% guarantee. They've been America's original butcher since.
1917 with five generations of expertise. So they really know what they're doing. Save big on
unforgettable gifts with Omaha Stakes. Visit Omaha Stakes.com for 50% off site wide and an extra
20% off select favorites during their cyber sale. And for an extra $35 off, use promo code
A.E at checkout. That's Omaha Stakes.com promo code A.E at checkout. Terms apply C-Sight for
details.
The first theory that comes to mind in John's death is a robbery, which I'm sure that he would
have had plenty of things of value in his home, but the thing was there were no signs of forced
entry and no signs of any kind of robbery. John's murder seemed like it had been more
personal, more targeted. And John did have some secrets that he had been hiding that ended up
coming to light after his death. Multiple sources came out saying that he had been having an affair
with a woman who is referred to in the media as Mistress Y.
She was one of the last people to speak with him before he was killed.
And it's important to mention that John's wife had died from cancer a month before his death.
So I'm not sure if the affair that he was having with Mistress Y
began way before his wife's death or after making it, you know, not really an affair then.
But either way, he did have a woman who he was seeing and was keeping a secret from his family.
And this woman was technically the last person to have spoken with John, though
it wasn't in person just over the phone. Apparently, it was discovered that the weekend before
John's murder, the two of them had gone on a private little getaway to the Mohegan Sun Casino.
He gave her a little bit of cash to blow at the casino or just play around with and have almost
like a sugar daddy situation. And I'm sure a lot of the money was simply just for spending time
with him. I'm just going to call it what it was. Maybe even to in exchange for companionship or
whatever else, you know, rolls into that equation. But Nathan's lawyer,
would later argue that Mistress Y knew that John was loaded and that he would constantly just
hand over money to her, which gave her plenty of motive to kill him, which sort of makes sense,
but also sort of doesn't. If she thinks that he's getting older and she's going to be in the will
and she's going to get this huge inheritance, I get where that makes sense. But then if she's not in
the will, you basically would be killing off your sugar daddy and all of your money privileges,
which that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. So I'm not sure where.
the motive is and how real that is, if I'm being honest. And a lot of people were confused about
it, but personal opinions aside, the investigators cleared her pretty quickly. I'm not even sure,
to be honest, what her alibi was. That's how little it's even talked about in the media.
So then with that, the investigators had to go back to the basics, back to square one. Who had
John Benwith last? Who would benefit the most from his death? Who would have had easy entry into
his home? To be fair, a lot of people would have benefited from his death.
He had multiple kids, multiple grandkids, and he had a lot of money.
As I said earlier, his trust for his children and grandchildren was valued to be around $42 million.
But as it turns out, the last person to have ever seen John alive was none other than Nathan,
who was just 19 years old at the time.
Now, here's why that's a huge problem.
Nathan likely assumed that he was set to inherit money whenever John died, whether it be by natural causes or something more sinister,
but that he would inherit a big chunk of money.
And we all know he enjoyed getting that allowance, the paycheck, whatever you want to call it,
that John would give him.
And it was literally the only thing that ever gave him any sort of independence in his life.
He had gotten him the RV, then the apartment, the bank account with 400 grand in it.
His grandpa John was his meal ticket, more or less.
Nathan also was able to get into the house.
So no forced entry would have been needed.
So the investigators needed to check with Nathan's alibi.
What was he doing that night?
Did he see John? What was it like? What were their interactions? When did he leave him? All of the different things so that they could really rule him out as a suspect or name him as a suspect. And according to Nathan, he and John had gone out to dinner that night. But that's literally where his story in. So if you were expecting more, sorry to let you down, but that was it. That was his story. So of course, the detectives were kind of like, okay, well, we're going to need a little bit more than that, pal. Like, give us times, give us things, give us information. He eventually did add some details to the story. He said that,
they went out to eat and they made it back to John's house by 8.30 p.m. Nathan said that instead of just
dropping him off, they both went inside. Then they chatted for a few minutes. John got a phone call. He
had to take that phone call, so Nathan left. They had already spent the evening together, so there was
no point in staying around any longer. And according to him, that was the last time that he saw his
grandfather. He even claimed he had an alibi, although, you know, that alibi is a little rocky at best.
Apparently, Nathan then had met up with his mom Linda that morning to go on a fishing trip. But he had
gotten lost for about an hour. So there is an hour that is unaccounted for, which really doesn't
leave you with a strong alibi. Now, the blood on John's betting was still pretty fresh. So when you look
at everything, it's not too far out there to believe that Nathan could have killed John, then went
fishing with his mom in an attempt to make it seem like he was away from the scene of the crime
and build an alibi. But regardless of his alibi, when the investigation into John's murder was
going on, neither of his aunts or the investigators believed him. And I'm also not really sure how
his mom Linda felt.
I have no idea who killed my grandfather.
I know that I did not.
From day one, Nathan was locked in as the prime suspect.
In fact, at John's funeral, Nathan's Aunt Valerie was going around to all of the attendants
saying that she knew that Nathan had murdered him, all while Nathan was also in attendance
at this funeral.
She just didn't care.
She was telling anybody who would listen.
And you know what?
I kind of respect that.
Like, you know, stand on ten toes.
I feel I like that.
Now, one of John's trusted employees who had been a caretaker for what?
one of his many properties, claimed that Valerie had come up to her at the funeral with this
murder theory. And when the caretaker asked Valerie why Nathan was with them at this funeral
then, instead of sitting in a jail cell, Valerie's response was that he was never going to be
prosecuted for it, that he would just be sent to a mental institution for the rest of his life.
So like I said, all eyes were on Nathan literally from day one. Now, not everybody felt like
Nathan being John's killer made sense. John gave Nathan literally anything and everything that he
ever wanted. Money was never an issue.
Thousands of dollars was like pocket change to John.
So why would Nathan kill his main source of money, his meal ticket?
Nathan himself even argued this, and argued that his family members who were fighting so
hard to block him from inheriting the money that they had more to gain than he ever did.
And who did have motive to kill my grandfut.
And I'll say that some of the petitioners had awfully substantial loan.
and I had very, very little.
Others, though, felt that it made perfect sense,
that even though Nathan had never been told no by John,
what if one day he was told no?
What if the money stream went dry?
Why not just cut straight to the source
and just have his own huge bucket of inheritance money
so that he would never have to rely on anybody else ever again?
Remember, he was huge on independence and huge on feeling free.
That was the whole reason that he and his mom, Linda, had fought for years.
But all of that, all it was was theories and suspicions,
The investigators needed way more than that to actually arrest Nathan.
So they drafted up a search warrant for Nathan's house and truck, and eventually, months later,
it was finalized and it went through.
Now, as we probably already know, search warrants can't just be done for the hell of it.
There has to be very strong persuasive reasons for a judge to allow it and accept it.
So I want to go over some of the reasons that were listed on the warrant.
For one, the investigators discovered that after John's murder, Nathan got rid of
both the hard drive on his computer and the GPS unit from his truck that was used on December 20th.
No other day, just the day that John was murdered, which, coincidence, probably not.
But Nathan had what he felt like was a perfectly valid excuse for it.
If they had asked me, Nathan, can we look at your hard drive?
Or Nathan, can we have your GPS? At that time, when I had, when they were in my apartment,
my answer would have been, sure, gladly, you can take it. But they didn't.
Now, that wasn't even the only damning evidence that they had against him.
They also found that in November of 2013, just one month before the murder, Nathan had purchased a $2,000
rifle, and not just any rifle, the exact same rifle that the investigators believe was used to kill John.
So now all that they needed was the proof to put it all together.
When they got inside of Nathan's house, they found a few different things that were interesting, to say the least.
More specifically, they found a shotgun and plenty of ammunition, which Nathan explained that
this was not out of the ordinary. He had apparently always been interested in guns, and he
frequently went to the local shooting ranges. When it came to his shotgun, he was more
than happy to answer any questions that they had for him. But then, when the investigators
started asking him about the rifle, the one that they couldn't find anywhere, by the way,
he was very, very quiet. He didn't really have much that he wanted to say, and I'm assuming
it's because he knew that it was too incriminating. But by the end of the search, they still
hadn't found that rifle anywhere. All they had was the shotgun. But they knew, based on John's
injuries, that that was not the murder weapon. And sure, they had proof that Nathan had bought that
exact same rifle a month earlier, but it was all just too circumstantial. Still, though, the detectives
they kept working, and eventually they brought an arrest warrant to a judge, feeling like they were
ready to arrest and prosecute Nathan. But things did not go exactly as planned, because the judge felt
like there just wasn't enough evidence. He wanted to see more before he signed off on anything. So because
of that, Nathan was never arrested and years passed. Had he gotten away with murder? Would he have
gotten away with it? Maybe if the whole boating accident hadn't brought the investigation right back to
the surface and back to light, now you'd think that being the prime suspect and two potential
murders that you'd probably want to lay low a little bit, right? Like, let me just kind of like kick
back, fade into black and like let things, you know, ride out and run its course. But Nathan wasn't doing that.
I mentioned that he filed a pretty hefty insurance claim, but it's not like he made that claim and then went into hiding.
He was fighting for it and fighting hard, which, again, this was only proving people's theories about his motive.
And the truth was he did have to fight for it because the insurance company got a whiff of this case and said,
no, we're absolutely not paying that.
And the insurance company not only denied Nathan's claim, but they ended up filing a lawsuit against him,
kind of being like pissed that this kid had the audacity to even file this bogus claim.
And even though the insurance case and the missing persons case were technically two separate
things, the lawyer for the insurance company was putting in overtime trying to figure this out.
And it actually really helped out Linda's missing person's case as well, which let me explain
that a little bit.
You see, the bottom line was that the insurance company did not want to pay the $85,000 for Nathan's
boat, which what insurance companies do want to pay out, right?
but in order to deny a claim, and especially to file a lawsuit against Nathan,
they were going to need some very strong evidence to back up their claims.
So their lawyer got to work.
First, he began by hiring a renowned oceanographer and oceans forensic expert in the area.
And this expert's name was Richard Limeburner.
And at the time, Richard was retired.
But like I said, he was like renowned, sought after, and an expert in this field.
He was most well known for finding the wreckage and remains of Air France Flight 447,
which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean back in 2009,
killing all 228 people on board.
So surely this guy could definitely come up with something of use
for a 22-year-old claiming to be in this life raft for a week
and yet doesn't have a single injury on him.
And sure enough, he definitely found out some key information.
In fact, there were three more major twists to come.
Okay, so Chime is seriously changing the way that people bank. And honestly, it feels like for the first time a bank has actually been built for real people. Not the 1%. Not the traditional, you know, we're charging you fees for even breathing type of banks. But for everyday people who want something smarter and easier. Chime isn't just another banking app either. They unlock smarter banking for everyday people with products like MyPay, which gives you access to up to $500 of your paycheck anytime and even lets you get
paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Old school banks definitely don't do that.
They also wipe out the fees, no overdraft fees, no minimum balance fees, no monthly fees,
and CHIME turns your spending habits into real rewards and real progress. They help you build
fee-free credit, protect your money, and make everyday spending work harder, not scarier.
And their new CHIME card gives you credit building and cash back together on the same card,
which, imagine that, building credit with your own money, while earning.
rewards for everyday purchases. No annual fees, no interest, and no strings. I have tried this
and you should too. I watched the setup process once and it was literally the easiest move I've
ever even tried to do. And it just makes you feel more in control of your paycheck. So Chime
is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are
already banking free today. It just takes a few minutes to sign up. Head to chime.com slash
seriolously. Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services.
secured Chime Visa credit card and my pay line of credit provided by the Bank
N.A or Stride Bank N.A.
My pay eligibility requirements apply and credit limit ranges $20 to $500.
Option. Optional services and products may have fees or charges.
See chime.com slash fees info.
Advertised annual percent and yield with Chime Plus status only.
Otherwise, 1.000% APY applies.
No min balance required.
Chime card on time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score.
Results may vary.
See Chime.com for details and applicable terms.
Now for someone who isn't super educated in wind currents and boating and pretty much
everything that Richard was an expert in and looked into. This all might sound a little bit
confusing, so I'm going to try and explain it the best that I can. Nathan had been pretty clear
with the investigators of where his boat went down and where his life raft had gone for those
seven days. So Richard figured, if he was telling the truth, let's just check the buoy that would
have been in the location that Nathan described. Because these buoys aren't just like little
bobbing pieces of plastic in the water, they also have pretty extensive technology that's embedded
within them. They have weather sensors for above water, weather sensors for below water that
measure things like wind speed and currents, things like that, which is key, particularly for the
days that Nathan claimed to have been out at sea. So Richard studied the week that Nathan and Linda
were missing. And his findings were pretty interesting to say the least. First, Nathan's recollection
of the current and the winds, it was all wrong, which you might be thinking, okay, that's not that
weird. Maybe he was confused. Maybe he doesn't know anything about currents or winds or things.
things like that. And that very well could be the case, though it does have to be said that he wasn't
a beginner when it came to being out on the water and being a boater and a fisher. He knew his way around
pretty well. But Richard also found that based on where Nathan claimed he and his mom were at when the
boat went under and went down combined with the currents and the winds, his life raft should have
gone north for a while, then west until he reached New York. But instead, his raft somehow went north,
then it went east and it hit Boston, which is where he ultimately was rescued by that cargo ship.
And based on Richard's expertise, there is literally no reasonable explanation as to how Nathan's raft could have ended up there,
unless, of course, he really wasn't out at sea for seven days, which that in and of itself was a pretty huge finding.
But the insurance company lawyer wanted to be sure that when they took the case to court, they were going to win.
They had already found enough to prove that Nathan's story was highly unlikely and also not trustworthy,
but they wanted to prove more.
They wanted to prove that he had done something to his boat, which, remember, his boat was still missing and would likely never be recovered.
The investigators on the case believed that it was highly likely that the boat had sunk and killed Linda.
The problem was there was just no boat, so no proof that Nathan had tampered with it or caused it to sink.
That is until the lawyers uncovered that there were witnesses who potentially held,
all the proof that Nathan had tampered with the boat.
The witness was a guy named Michael Lazy,
and Michael was a concrete cutter from Rhode Island
who was at the same marina on September 17th,
just hours before Nathan and Linda went on their fishing trip
that would later turn deadly.
And this guy was someone who was at the marina often.
He had his regular buddies who would hang out there,
so he was just chilling, having a normal Sunday with friends,
drinking some beers, you know, the whole thing.
And as one does, when they're in a public space,
Michael was doing a bit of people watching. And one of the people that he was watching was Nathan. Nathan was at the marina and he was getting the boat ready for the trip, which nothing too weird. However, Nathan wasn't just packing their stuff ahead of time or making sure that they had all of their fishing gear ready to go. He was apparently making some pretty heavy modifications to the boat, which is obviously not something that you want to do just hours before going on a fishing trip. Seems like a huge safety hazard. And when I say modifications, I don't mean that he was doing the typical maintenance or,
or installing something new.
I'm not, like, nothing minor.
Michael claimed that he saw Nathan inside of his boat
leaning over the side
and drilling holes into the side of his boat
with a hole saw.
Definitely not the kind of thing that you would want to do
when you're depending on the boat
to not have holes in it and to keep you afloat, right?
And I'm not even sure if Michael knew Nathan that well
or if just anybody and everybody at the marina
is an acquaintance or a friend,
but he ended up going up to Nathan
and asking him like,
hey, what the heck are you doing? Maybe it was the alcohol giving him liquid courage. Maybe he was just trying to be friendly. Who really knows? But Nathan apparently had a perfectly good explanation. He claimed that he was replacing the trim tabs, which are pretty essential, especially on a boat that's going out into the ocean. The tabs are apparently used to make sure that the boat's nose stays down so that it can get through bigger waves. But Michael wasn't stupid. And he claimed that to him, it didn't look like a replacement job. It looked like Nathan was purposefully damaging the tabs and taking them off the boat.
if anything else. Michael had always been around the water, and he claimed that he knew that Nathan's
so-called repair was going to end up being trouble. So it wasn't a situation of, okay, well,
maybe this will happen due to his modifications. Michael knew, without a doubt, that the minute that
the boat went into the water, it was going to start sinking. But what Michael hadn't realized
that day was that he saw Nathan premeditating his own mom's murder. Which that's a very heavy
weight to hold when you look back in hindsight. Now, the insurance case went to trial in 2000.
and everyone was tuning in to what was happening.
Everyone felt like Nathan was guilty,
similarly to his grandpa's death years before,
and everyone was shocked that he somehow was still a free man.
And that is, firstly, we don't know what caused the boat to sink.
Secondly, this isn't about money.
It's an $85,000 claim.
It's a contingency fee.
I get a fraction of that.
I've put lots of time effort.
and frankly, a lot of misery into this.
It's about,
I almost feel like I have a responsibility to my mom
to make sure that the truth comes out.
And Mr. Farrell and the insurers,
both U.S., Berkshire Hathaway,
National Fire, liability have made claims against me
that are so tremendous,
I don't feel like I can walk away.
That's why I'm here.
I'm not here about the money,
and I just wanted to clarify that.
That's all I have to say.
Now this trial was pretty bizarre because even though the insurance company's legal team was arguing that Nathan had purposefully caused damage to the boat and therefore didn't deserve a payout, they were also kind of saying that he had premeditated his mother's murder.
They were saying it without outright saying it.
It was just all very, very odd.
During this trial, Nathan even admitted that he had made the modifications to the boat that day and that Michael had in fact asked him what he was doing and tried to tell him that it was a bad idea, which is crazy because, again,
he's pretty much confessing right then to tampering with the boat, yet somehow he still was not
arrested for murder. He acted like he was just clueless as to how serious these modifications to the
boat really were. He claimed that his one and only goal was to make sure that the boat didn't
drag and use up more fuel than necessary. He also claimed that he didn't know latitude from
longitude, which is why his descriptions of where the boat was were so inconsistent with what the
experts had revealed. And I don't know about all of you. Again, I'm not a boat expert. I'm not an ocean
expert, no, not at all, but I find it pretty hard to believe that somebody who owns a boat
and has gone on that many fishing trips throughout his life doesn't know coordinates or
latitude from longitude. I don't know. And there was one really big question that he was asked,
which was, of course, why didn't you call for help? Because he knew how to do it. In fact,
he had called 911 in the Coast Guard once before when his engine had overheated causing him to get
stuck. But for this, his only explanation was that he never called for help because his mom Linda
herself had taught him to not ask for help, not, quote, unless your life or your limb is in imminent
jeopardy, which basically, I mean, he sounded full of crap. An overheated engine isn't exactly a limb
missing or a life taken, but a sinking boat, that's pretty deadly, right? So in the end, the judge
sided with the insurance company, and he said that the company owed Nathan nothing. Now, the funny thing was,
you could tell that the judge wanted absolutely nothing to do with the other allegations that
were stacked against Nathan. In fact, he specifically stated in the official decision documents,
quote, to be clear, the court is making no determination of whether Mr. Carmen intended to sink his boat
or to harm his mother. Now, the good news was that the civil case pretty much paved the way.
They pointed out every little thing that the investigators could look into as far as an arrest goes.
They just had to spend a little time now doing their own findings and building a case against Nathan.
It took some time, but finally, in May of 2022, Nathan was arrested and charged with fraud and first-degree murder for the death of his mother.
He pleaded not guilty, and his trial was set for October of 2023.
Now, the entire theory for Nathan killing his mom, Linda, was to get her insurance money, right?
Or the inheritance money and all of that.
Well, get this.
After Nathan was arrested, and while they were actively working on building a solid case for his upcoming trial, the detectives found something pretty wild.
Despite Nathan being Linda's only child and despite her not having a spouse, Nathan would never have been getting that pay out from Linda's estate.
Which, why, you might ask? He's her next of kin, right? Well, apparently, it's because he was not in her will, not at all.
It turns out that three months before John was murdered back in 2013, Linda had taken Nathan out of her will, all without any explanation.
To this day, nobody exactly knows why she did it, though I'd assume it was because their relationship was so bad at this.
time. But in her will, she left her house to her best friend and the rest of her assets to her
multiple sisters. In fact, her will had an exact quote, which read, I have intentionally omitted
Nathan and all of his descendants as beneficiaries under my will. So if Nathan really had killed
his mom for her money, it had all been for nothing. And that leads me into this next thing.
Before Nathan's trial could even begin, something huge happened, something that would change the
future of this case forever because Nathan was found unresponsive in his jail cell awaiting trial.
He had taken his own life. He had left behind a note for one of his attorneys who claimed to this day that
it was not a goodbye note, but a note to inform him of things that they had discussed about the case,
which very vague. Maybe he confessed to killing John. Maybe he confessed to killing Linda. Who knows?
I just can't think of anything else that would be important if he knew that he was going to be taking
his own life, but I don't know, maybe that's just me reaching. I don't know. What do you all think? But it kind of feels to me like a confession note. I don't know. And his attorneys more than likely assumed that that would be everyone's first thought as well. Because in the interviews that he did after Nathan's death, he was sure to still defend him. And without saying it, he reassured everyone that he didn't take his own life because he thought that he was going to be found guilty. Or at least, that's my interpretation, but take a listen. I spoke with him last night for an hour. He was in fine spirits. We were very encouraged. We had action items.
that we were going to address today.
This is an individual that I've been dealing with on a daily basis.
For the last year, we prepared a vigorous offense,
and it's just a tragic situation.
Maybe he realized that jail or no jail he wasn't getting his mom's money.
Maybe that was the deciding factor in ending his life.
I don't know. We never really will know.
Interestingly enough, though,
Nathan must have made some sort of impact on his attorneys,
because after his death, they were the ones who not only set up his funeral and burial,
but they paid for it too.
But I will say, none of his family members attended his funeral, and his dad was the only one to go to the burial.
He didn't even go to the funeral.
Now, because of his death, his charges were dismissed, which I honestly wish that this case had a better ending,
because Linda never received any justice.
Her family members have never received any real answers as to what happened that day, though
they all have a pretty solid idea, of course.
And as for John's murder, it's technically still unsolved to this day, though most people do believe
that Nathan was responsible, which is totally understandable as well.
But legally, he was never even charged for it.
Maybe that would have come next after Linda's trial.
I don't really know.
But it seems like money is the root of all evil here, right?
And that he was after it.
I don't know.
I'm just taking a stab in the dark here.
But I'm curious to know what you think.
Do you think that Nathan did kill his grandpa and his mom
and that it was all as a means to get money
because he was spoiled, entitled,
wanted his independence, wanted freedom?
And even though he was getting money passed out to him, he wanted more.
It was never enough.
Or do you think that it was a random intruder who shot and killed his grandpa and that his
boat really did go on the fritz that day and sink?
And he tried to help his mom but was unable to.
What do you make of it?
What do you think?
Let me know either in the comment section over on YouTube or in the Q&A section on Spotify.
And as a reminder for all of you guys listening, we have officially launched my second
true crime series, 10 to Life, as a podcast.
So it's different from serialously.
It's a totally different show, but it's also true crime.
And new episodes of that come out every single Tuesday.
You can listen anywhere you get your podcasts or over on YouTube.
So if you're listening to this episode right now on your podcast app,
take a quick second and just search 10 to Life, the number 10, to Life, and press follow
so that you don't miss any of those episodes.
And if you're on YouTube, everything is housed under my main YouTube channel, Annie Elis.
So for those of you who are listening to the audio podcast,
of these episodes. You can always find the video versions over on YouTube as well. But between both
seriolessly and 10 to Life, we have new episodes coming out every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday,
and bonus episodes Friday. So keeping you fully up to date on everything true crime. Our Thursday
episodes are here on serialously and they're called headline highlights where we go through everything
happening this week or whatever week we're in in true crime. So make sure you're following both
podcast on your podcast apps so that you don't miss those. Also really quick, I just wanted to let you guys
know, we have decided to do an amazing Black Friday sale where not only are we slashing all the
prices of merch and you can pick that up for yourself, for the holiday gifts, for whatever you want to do,
but we also are offering the lowest membership rate ever for Patreon. So if you've been going back
and forth on the fence about if you should join Patreon, now would be the time because it is the lowest rate
the year, not only offering introductory rates that are super, super low, but also a huge
discount on the annual membership. And as a reminder for what you get in Patreon, you not only get
access to every single episode ad-free, but you get access to our 24-7 group chat, where we
are talking about every case all day long. You get access to exclusive giveaways, bonus videos,
bonus episodes, behind-the-scenes content,
all sorts of different, like, perks and promos. Also, there's a tier where you can talk directly
with me, asking me any questions you have, asking me for a personalized video, whether it's a
shoutout, a piece of dice, whatever it may be. So go to patreon.com slash Annie Elise to sign up for that.
The sale is going to be active from November 24th to December 1st. And we also are going to have all
of our merch on sale for that same window. And you can get that at Annieelise.com. So again, November 24th to
December 1st, then everything goes back to regular pricing. So this is the time to act fast.
All right, guys, thanks so much. Let me know what you think in this case. Like I said,
kind of controversial because there are a lot of people out there who think that he's innocent,
that you can't prove it, that he never was fully charged for some of it and certainly not
convicted of his mom's death while others are saying, uh, hi, no, it's the writings on the wall.
Like, what are you even talking about? And now that this documentary has come out on Netflix,
I'm curious to know too.
Do you feel the same way if you've watched that?
And now you've heard this episode.
Just what are your thoughts on the case?
Let me know.
All right, guys, until the next one, be nice, don't kill people.
Maybe stay off of the open seas for a while.
Don't be greedy.
And just be a good human.
All right, take care.
Bye.
Stepping into the Kia K4 or K5 isn't just getting behind the wheel of any average sedan.
It's stepping into what's next.
With a K4, it's stepping into a world that's exciting.
With a K5, it's one that's bold.
The Kia K4 and K5, the next movement for sedans.
See your local Kia dealer or visit kia.com to learn more.
Kia, movement that inspires.
Call 800-333-4 Kia for details.
Always jive safely.
Thank you.
