Vt. Man Linked to Relatives’ Deaths Wants Aunt Out as Executor

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The Vermont man accused by relatives of killing his millionaire grandfather and his mother to collect inheritance money went to court on Thursday to ask a Connecticut probate judge to remove his aunt as executor of a trust established for him by his grandfather.

Nathan Carman is seeking up to $150,000 transferred to him from that trust. He has said he needs the money to hire a lawyer for suits in New Hampshire related to his inheritance and the sinking of his boat during a trip where his mother was lost at sea.

Carman told a judge the money is being withheld because his aunt, Valerie Santilli, wants to punish him for his grandfather’s death.

He argued that because his aunt believes he is guilty of murder, she is not fulfilling her duty as a trustee to act in his best interest.

Carman has not been charged in either case.

“She owes me a duty of undivided loyalty,” Carman said. “She has to be acting in what she believes to be my best interests by not trying to punish me for something she thinks I did, that police have not found probable cause to believe I did and that, as a matter of fact, I did not do.”

Santilli’s lawyer said that under the terms of the trust, Carman’s aunt has discretion as to whether to disburse funds.

Carman questioned his aunt about whether she believed her sister was alive. She said she could not answer that question.

Carman’s grandfather was fatally shot in his Windsor, Conn., home in 2013. Carman’s mother disappeared in 2016 during a fishing trip.

The probate judge did not indicate when he would make his decision.