PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Nathan Carman didn’t know his boat was unseaworthy and the sinking was completely accidental, according to a new court filing by his attorneys.
In Rhode Island Federal Court, Carman’s insurance company is fighting to keep its $85,000 policy payout on the Chicken Pox.
The Chicken Pox was Carman’s sport fishing boat that he says sank, likely with his mother aboard, in September 2016.
Carman and his mother, Linda, went out for a fishing trip in Block Canyon and were missing for more than a week when Nathan was found floating in a life raft by a Chinese shipping vessel.
“Defendant will prove at trial that the sinking of his boat was unintentional, unexpected and entirely accidental,” his attorney, David Anderson, wrote in a court filing.
MORE: New England's Unsolved Podcast: John Chakalos
National Liability and Fire Insurance Co. claims Nathan made alterations to his boat that made it unseaworthy and attorneys for the plaintiffs say Nathan intentionally sank the boat with his mother aboard.
This is the second lawsuit brought against Nathan that claims he killed members of his family.
Nathan’s aunts have filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire looking to bar him from his grandfather’s inheritance by asking a judge to declare Nathan as the person who killed John Chakalos.
Chakalos was found shot to death in his bed in December 2013 and his aunts’ attorneys maintain Nathan was the one who shot him to hasten his inheritance.
It has also been alleged that Nathan killed his mother when the Chicken Pox sank to obtain her inheritance.
In Monday's filing, Carman's attorneys assert the plaintiffs will not be able to prove he intentionally sank his boat or made alterations to it that caused it to sink.
In previous filings, the insurance company says witnesses saw Nathan removing trim tabs from the back of the boat, leaving large holes in the hull.
MORE: Carman, aunts square off in Connecticut court over trust money
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