Text messages reveal Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra was being “harassed” by boat owner Chris Durnan days before she died on his Montauk yacht.
The 33-year-old Irish-born swimwear designer had blocked Durnan, 61, on her phone for months before the final exchange, according to screenshots provided to The Post. On Aug. 1, Durnan unleashed fiery text messages at her East x East business partner Dylan Grace accusing both Nolan-O’Slatarra and Grace of fraud. Durnan had bought roughly 13% of their company in 2022 for $250,000.
“Oh god… I’ll meet him Monday,” Nolan-O’Slatarra assured Grace in the text exchange, according to the screenshots.
“Can you unblock him for the weekend,” Grace requested. Martha replied, “Did it.”
The next day, Nolan-O’Slatarra complained that Durnan was aggressively messaging her after she unblocked him at her partner’s request. “I’m getting harassed,” Nolan-O’Slatarra wrote to Grace on Aug. 2. “He won’t stop texting me like 10 times.”
The Irish-born designer wrote that Durnan was saying “shite like you ghosting me” and that Durnan was “looking for attention such a kid.”
Two days later, on Aug. 4, Nolan-O’Slatarra met Durnan for a business meeting that would end in her death. She met Durnan on his boat “Hell in a Bucket” at about 7:30 p.m. At the Montauk Yacht Club, and the two took the boat out for a tour and drank champagne at sunset, which was at 8:08 p.m. That night, according to a New York Magazine report.
The pair then returned at an unknown time to the yacht club and moved to Durnan’s other boat, “Ripple,” the magazine reported.
EMTs who responded to the boat at midnight found Nolan-O’Slatarra dead — cold to the touch, covered in blood, and purpling under her nailbeds. She was completely clothed on a bed on the boat, while Durnan was stark naked on the dock, where he had hailed another man, who called 911 and performed CPR, according to an EMT report obtained by The Post.
Durnan has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with her death and has denied any involvement. His lawyer claimed to New York Magazine that Durnan ditched his clothes because they were covered in Nolan-O’Slatarra’s vomit, but the EMT report made no mention of vomit. His clothes were never recovered.
A photo obtained by The Post showed the pair on apparently good terms on Nov. 11, 2022. In the image, snapped at roughly the time when he was investing, Nolan-O’Slatarra and Durnan sit smiling at a table covered in drinks, including champagne flutes and empty glasses of Guinness.
Nolan-O’Slatarra’s family filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Durnan in Manhattan Supreme Court. “For months prior to that meeting, Martha had him blocked from messaging and only unblocked him at the request of her business partner to try to assuage Durnan’s complaints about the business,” said Mike Bowe, lawyer for Brithem LLP, which is representing Nolan-O’Slatarra’s family in their suit against Durnan.
“She agreed to meet him. She died at that meeting.”
The estate of Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra opened up a tip line on Thursday seeking information that may help the investigation into her death.
In the viral moment that first drew national attention, Nolan-O’Slatarra’s death on Durnan’s yacht became a flashpoint for questions about what happened during that final meeting. Police have not ruled on a cause of death, and the preliminary investigation and medical exam were “inconclusive,” according to authorities. A white powdery substance was found near her body, and no signs of violence were initially reported, though the EMT report described her as covered in blood with discoloration under her nailbeds.
The case has drawn particular scrutiny because of Durnan’s conduct that night and his explanation for being found naked. The lawsuit accuses Durnan of wrongful conduct, including “intentionally and wrongfully” assaulting Nolan-O’Slatarra as well as “gross negligence,” according to IrishCentral.
Dylan Grace did not respond to requests for comment. Durnan and his attorney, Robert Holdman, also did not respond to requests for comment.
The tip line opened by Nolan-O’Slatarra’s estate remains active as the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office continues its work on an official ruling.