Defense: Man charged with killing mother at sea competent

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A public defender for the man charged with killing his mother at sea in a plot to inherit millions of dollars says the defense believes Nathan Carman is competent. A federal judge in Vermont held a status conference to ask lawyers on both sides if a mental health evaluation would be pursued for Carman and the government also said it wasn’t asking for a competency hearing. Carman, of Vernon, Vermont, is charged with murder and fraud in the killing of his mother, Linda Carman, during a 2018 fishing trip that began in Rhode Island. Eight days after he and his mother left port, he was found alone in a life raft near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.