Additional Coverage:
- Friends’ eerie text messages to Irish fashion designer before she was found dead on yacht (irishstar.com)
Montauk, NY – The sudden death of Irish fashion designer Martha Nolan-O’Slattara aboard a private yacht in the Hamptons has taken a series of bizarre turns, with newly revealed text messages showing friends making an unsettling joke about her demise just hours before she was found unresponsive.
Nolan-O’Slattara, 33, originally from Co Carlow, was discovered deceased on a yacht docked at the Montauk Yacht Club in the early hours of August 5. She had been at the club to meet with insurance executive Christopher Durnan, with whom she planned to discuss funding for her swimwear label, East x East. Durnan, a notable figure in the Hamptons following the tragic loss of his wife to suicide in 2018, had reportedly offered to help with her financial needs.
On the evening of her death, Nolan-O’Slattara and Durnan departed the dock to enjoy champagne and watch the sunset. As the hours passed, her friends grew concerned.
Nolan-O’Slattara had informed her boyfriend, Nick DiRubio, that she intended to take an Uber home by 1 AM, but she stopped responding to messages in a group chat with friends. Using the “Find My” app, her friends located her somewhere in the Atlantic.
At 9:20 PM, one friend sent a chilling message in the group chat: “Lmao. I’m sure her phone died.
Or maybe she’s dead.” Ten minutes later, Nolan-O’Slattara responded, “Lol I’m at the yacht club now, my phone is on.”
What transpired in the hour or so that followed remains under investigation by the Suffolk County Police.
Just a short time after her last message, Nolan-O’Slattara was found slumped and unresponsive on Durnan’s boat. Simultaneously, witnesses reported seeing Durnan running naked along the dock, shouting for help and throwing sunscreen at a nearby vessel.
Friends of the fashion designer have voiced their suspicions regarding the unusual circumstances. One friend questioned Durnan’s behavior, stating, “I think for me it’s like, ‘Why is the man naked, right?’ That’s the part where I’m like: ‘Did something happen to this girl?’”
Durnan’s lawyer, Robert Holdman, stated that his client removed his clothes because they had become “soaked” in Nolan-O’Slattara’s vomit. Durnan informed police that she collapsed between 10:30 PM and 11:00 PM, and he believed she was suffering a heart attack.
Holdman claims Durnan attempted CPR, but stated Nolan-O’Slattara “was gone almost immediately. She was nonresponsive.”
However, Durnan did not call 911.
The emergency call was made by a bystander around midnight. Holdman vehemently denied any delay in seeking assistance, asserting, “It all happened immediately.
She passed away and everything went down from there. He went running to go look for help.
He tried CPR, like it all happened one right after another. There was no pause.”
Holdman also mentioned that Durnan “doesn’t remember how long he did CPR” and confirmed his full cooperation with the police. He suggested that Nolan-O’Slattara’s two trips to the bathroom during the evening “could be an indication of someone going to the bathroom, it could be an indication of someone doing drugs, or it could be both.” Holdman clarified that white powder visible in photographs from the deck was residue from police fingerprinting and that Durnan is “distraught” over Nolan-O’Slattara’s death.
Nolan-O’Slattara had a strong academic background, studying commerce at University College Dublin and earning a master’s in digital marketing from the Smurfit Graduate School of Business. She moved to the US in 2015, where she successfully launched several fashion brands.
East Hampton Town Police initially reported “no evidence of violence” related to the incident. Authorities are now reportedly exploring the possibility of drug involvement. The official cause of death is pending toxicology, histology, and further tests, which could take several months to finalize.