Nathan Carman Dies by Suicide Before Murder Trial

In September 2016, Nathan Carman, then 22, and his mother, Linda Carman, 54, embarked on an overnight fishing trip from Ram Point Marina in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, aboard Nathan's 31-foot boat, the Chicken Pox. The pair, who often fished together, departed around 11 p.m. on September 17. When Linda failed to contact a friend the following day, authorities were alerted, and the U.S. Coast Guard launched an extensive search covering about 62,000 square nautical miles. The effort ended on September 24 with no sign of the boat or its occupants, presuming them lost at sea.

One day later, on September 25, a passing Chinese freighter spotted Nathan adrift on a life raft approximately 100 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. Rescued in a dehydrated but otherwise stable condition, he was taken to a hospital in Boston. Nathan recounted a sudden mechanical failure: the boat took on water, sank bow-first, and he grabbed a safety bag before calling out for his mother, whom he never saw again. Her body was never recovered, and the vessel remains missing.

Initial accounts portrayed the incident as a tragic accident, but investigators soon uncovered inconsistencies. Nathan had skipped...