Luxury swimwear founder, Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra was found dead on the vessel Ripple, docked at the swanky Long Island marina on August 5 – but questions have been raised over what happened
The sudden death of an Irish fashion designer on a yacht in the Hamptons continues to send shockwaves throughout the area’s high society and further afield.
Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, 33, from Carlow in the Republic of Ireland, was found unconscious on the vessel Ripple, docked at the swanky Long Island marina, around midnight on Tuesday, August 5.
Passers-by frantically tried CPR after reportedly hearing screams, but East Hampton Town Police pronounced her dead at the scene.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s autopsy showed no signs of violence and say toxicology results could take months, but unidentified sources have pointed to an accidental overdose while talking to the Mail..
Recent claims have also been made to US detectives that she was battling brain cancer – however her family are said to have been left “stunned” by the revealations saying she was “perfectly healthy.”
Martha, founder of the trendy swimwear brand East x East, lived a life straight out of a Hollywood film, proudly displaying her jet-setting antics on TikTok.
Just weeks ago, she was all smiles at the grand opening of her East x East pop-up shop at Gurney’s Montauk Resort, posting “Goals Achieved” as she modelled her bikinis.
Here we take a look at the details that have emerged since the tragedy:
The night of her death
According to the Daily Mail, Martha headed to the ritzy Montauk Yacht Club on the evening of August 4 to speak with insurance mogul, Christopher Durnan, 60.
Durnan – a guitar-playing widower linked to several boats named after Grateful Dead songs – is believed to have invested more than $200,000 in the Irish beauty’s bikini boutique.
But their meeting ended in horror when he allegedly dashed down the dock naked around midnight screaming for help claiming to be her boyfriend and indicating that Martha had passed out.
Photographs taken the next morning revealed a dusting of mysterious white powder across a seat on the 50ft cabin-cruiser.
Martha’s boyfriend, Nicholas DiRubio, was out of town when the tragedy unfolded. She had reportedly spoken to him just hours before she died, assuring him she was going to book an Uber and would be home at around 1am.
The yacht
Within days of the incident, Ripple was no longer moored at Montauk Yacht Club, a 16-acre Star Island resort that boasts slips for 200 boats and hotel-style amenities including a tennis court and two pools.
According to local sources, a crew arrived at dawn last Friday to sail it away, the Mail reports.
A second vessel said to belong to Durnan – named Hell In a Bucket – departed the club the previous night, the source added.
The dad-of-two is believed to split his time between a five-bed, $6million mansion in Long Beach, New York, and an equally plush residence in Lantana, near Palm Beach, Florida.
Durnan lost his wife Marie unexepectedly in 2018 when she was just 49.
He was once sued for allegedly biting a retired FDNY firefighter on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 at a Manhattan concert in 2021, the Daily Mail reports.
Martha’s life
Martha grew up in small-town Carlow, 55 miles from Dublin, although did leave home at 16 for a top private school.
She studied business and digital marketing at University College Dublin before landing in New York in 2015, where she worked at a fintech start-up and later launched her own ventures, including East x East and Brand Growth Consultants.
Property records show she lived in a modest £1,500-a-month Yorkville studio, not the ritzy Upper East Side she claimed to love.
But the petite designer was involved in a legal dispute when a former employer claimed in a 2022 lawsuit that she stole $34,000 from a company bank account.
Martha denied the accusations and the case ended in a confidential settlement.
More recently, she launched a pop-up store showing off her wares at Gurney’s Montauk Resort and Seawater Spa, one of the more exclusive spots in the Hamptons.
Martha finalized her uncontested divorce from ex-husband Sam Ryan in April, according to court documents filed in New York Supreme Court.
She was already planning to marry her new boyfriend, according to The Irish Independent.
The investigation
Sussex County PD said in a statement: “An autopsy conducted on Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, the woman found dead on a boat in Montauk on August 5, did not show evidence of violence.
“Her final cause of death is pending further examination.”
Suffolk County police have not filed charges or identified any suspects in Nolan-O’Slatarra’s death.
A spokesperson for the Montauk Yacht Club said: “We are saddened to learn of the tragic incident that took place.
“Our team is cooperating with law enforcement in their ongoing investigation and remains committed to the safety and well-being of our guests and staff.”
Ms Nolan O’Slatarra’s mother, Elma, and sister Jacqui, from Co Carlow, as well as several other family members, have travelled to the US to begin the repatriation process.
It is understood they are seeking a second postmortem examination to establish a cause of death.
It is also understood that her mother was asked by detectives about claims that her daughter had brain cancer.
“She (Elma) told them there was nothing of the sort [affecting her],” a source said.
The Daily Star has attempted to contact Mr Durnan and Martha’s family lawyers.
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