Aunt Says Nathan Carman Was Enraged by Grandfather’s Affair with Much Younger Woman Before 2013 Killing

Nathan Carman has long been linked to two family deaths that resurfaced in a 2022 federal indictment: the death of his mother and the alleged killing of his grandfather, 87-year-old John Chakalos. The indictment alleges Carman murdered Chakalos on Dec. 20, 2013, shooting him while he slept in his Windsor, Connecticut, home.

Authorities and family members have debated motive. Prosecutors suggested a financial incentive tied to Chakalos’s estate, then estimated at about $42 million, and noted that Carman — 19 at the time — received roughly $450,000 soon after the death and had been supported by Chakalos with a paid credit card, truck and apartment.

But some relatives say the motive may have been far more personal. Charlene Gallagher, Carman’s aunt, told investigators she believed Nathan was angry that his grandfather was having an affair with a woman near Nathan’s age. “I think it really was that Nathan was angry at my dad having an affair,” Gallagher said. “Not only was he cheating on his grandmother, which was a sin, he was also cheating with somebody that was around Nathan’s age.”

“I think it really was that Nathan was angry at my dad having an affair,” — Charlene Gallagher, aunt of Nathan Carman.

Defense filings in 2022 pointed to the younger woman as an alternative person of interest, saying Chakalos had recently visited an adult store, and that the prior weekend he had taken the younger employee to a Connecticut casino where they reportedly engaged in a sexual relationship. The filing noted the relationship may have continued at Chakalos’s New Hampshire home and that police had interviewed the woman, but she was never charged or publicly named as a suspect.

The investigation faced significant hurdles. A neighbor reported hearing a gunshot around 2 a.m., and surveillance footage showed Carman at his apartment at that time, making it difficult to place him at the scene. Investigators never recovered the rifle believed to have been used. Family members and police also noted that Carman had recently purchased a semi-automatic rifle that used the same ammunition as the killer, removed the GPS device from his truck and wiped his computer’s hard drive, which complicated evidence collection. There was no sign of forced entry and nothing appeared to have been stolen.

Federal prosecutors ultimately did not bring state-level murder charges in the grandfather’s death because of jurisdictional limits; the 2022 federal indictment instead included accusations tied to the death of Carman’s mother. Roughly a year after that indictment, Carman was found dead in his jail cell of an apparent suicide.

The overlapping deaths, questions about motive — personal anger versus financial gain — and the role of the younger woman named in defense filings continue to draw public attention and debate.