News

Court docs: N.H. gun store confirms Nathan Carman purchased .308 rifle

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A gun store in New Hampshire has confirmed Nathan Carman’s purchase of a rifle that matches the caliber used to kill his grandfather, according to court documents filed in a Rhode Island federal court.

The insurance company fighting to prevent payments to Carman for his sunken boat has demanded a deposition and asked the court to order Carman to answer questions about the weapon.

These requests echo similar filings by an attorney for Carman’s aunts who have asked the court to force Carman to answer questions about the weapon they say he used to kill John Chakalos. Carman is accused of killing both his grandfather, John Chakolos, and his mother, Linda Carman, in order to inherit a substantial amount of his grandfather’s estate.

Carman denies any involvement in the death of his grandfather and claims he doesn’t know what became of his mother when his boat sank as the pair was on a fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island in 2016.

Shooters Outpost in Hookset New Hampshire was served with a subpoena and provided attorneys for Carman’s insurance company with documents verifying his purchase.

According to those documents, Carman did indeed purchase a Sig Sauer 716 Patrol rifle for $2,099.99 at the store in Hooksett on November 11, 2013 – just a month before his grandfather was shot and killed with a similar rifle.

Carman has invoked Fifth Amendment privilege in both the Rhode Island federal court case and the case brought by his family to avoid answering questions about his rifle.

A Shooters Outpost employee filed an affidavit saying he remembers when Carman came into the store. Jed Warner, the employee, testified that Carman asked for “something like a .308.,” and Carman told him he had researched Sig Sauer rifles.

Warner says he offered to show Carman a “more economical” option, but that Carman had researched the 716 Patrol and was set on purchasing it.

A deposition date has been set for the case brought by Carman’s family, in which a judge will preside over the questions and advise Carman what questions he must answer.

New England's Unsolved Podcast: John Chakolos

MORE: 

MORE FROM WFSB: