The petition filed with the court by Carman’s aunts is known legally as a “slayer action,” which seeks to block inheritors from receiving money from their alleged victims, and asks that the court “declare that the murderer was Nathan Carman.” In the suit, Linda Carman’s three sisters – Valerie Santilli, Elaine Chakalos, and Charlene Gallagher – pledge to put Carman’s share of his inheritance towards investigating Chakalos’ murder and Linda Carman’s disappearance at sea. Their attorney Dan Small told reporters that they “cannot stand idle while their father’s killer, and perhaps their sister’s killer also, profits from his actions,” and that the suit “is not about money, it is about justice.” The lawsuit accuses Carman of shooting his grandfather, and of abandoning his mother after their boat ran into trouble during a fishing voyage in September of last year. The lawsuit does not specify how much Carman stands to inherit from his grandfather and mother, but Small has said that it can be counted in millions of dollars. Chakalos’ murder happened at his home in Windsor, Connecticut, where authorities maintain Carman is still a “person of interest” in the open investigation.
