Cops reveal latest line of inquiry after designer’s tragic death on Hamptons yacht
New York police are tracking down potential drug dealers as part of their investigation into the tragic death a of designer on a yacht in the Hamptons.
Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, 33, who was originally from Ireland but lived in Manhattan, was discovered unconscious on a vessel at Montauk Yacht Club in the early hours of August 5.
Her body was found near a powdery white substance inside the yacht, police sources told the New York Post.
And now police are searching for the potential drug dealers while they wait for the official toxicology report, insiders told the outlet.
‘[These dealers] may or may not have known [they were selling] poison to this girl, but that doesn’t matter,’ one source said. ‘With higher profile cases like this poor girl in Montauk, you’re going to see more and more of these dealers getting locked up.’
If her toxicology reports comes back positive for drug usage, the dealers could face manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide charges, police sources said. Federal authorities could also become involved.
Legislators have introduced ‘Chelsey’s Law,’ which would give prosecutors the ability to add on drug-induced manslaughter and homicide chargers onto dealers. The bill is currently in a state committee assembly and has not been passed into law.
It is named after Chelsey Murray, a 31-year-old who died after using fentanyl-laced heroin in August 2022 on Long Island. Her dealer, Jaquan Casserly, was sentenced to 10 years for felony drug sale.
Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, 33, who was originally from Ireland but lived in Manhattan, was discovered unconscious on a vessel at Montauk Yacht Club in the early hours of August 5
Her body was found near a powdery white substance inside the yacht, police sources said
Nolan-O’Slatarra’s family is working with police, their lawyer said.
‘At this point, we are all cooperating with the authorities and allowing them to continue their investigation,’ the family’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told Daily Mail.
The night before she died, the self-made entrepreneur is understood to have headed to the luxury Montauk Yacht Club to speak with 60-year-old insurance mogul, Christopher Durnan.
But the evening ended in horro,r when the American businessman dashed down the dock naked around midnight screaming for help and indicating that Martha had passed out.
Bystanders dialed 911 and clambered on board the boat named Ripple to try and perform CPR on the bikini designer, but she was declared dead at the scene by first responders.
US detectives have said an initial post-mortem examination ‘did not show evidence of violence and her final cause of death is pending further investigation’.
The grief-stricken family of the fashion founder travelled from Ireland to the US to demand a second-opinion autopsy into her cause of death.
The final post-mortem report, which will include toxicological, histological and other testing, which will take at least three months to conclude.
Police are searching for the potential drug dealers while they wait for the official toxicology report
The night before she died, the self-made entrepreneur is understood to have headed to the luxury Montauk Yacht Club to speak with 60-year-old insurance mogul, Christopher Durnan
Durnan (pictured) had dashed down the dock naked around midnight screaming for help and indicating that Martha had passed out
Martha had spoken to her boyfriend – who was out of town when the tragedy unfolded – just hours before she died, assuring him she was going to book an Uber and would be home at around 1 am.
It is understood that the designer and 34-year-old sales exec Nicholas DiRubio had been staying in the Montauk area for the summer.
The fashion entrepreneur lived an enviable life in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, posting TikToks of herself sipping champagne, taking private jets and trips on helicopters with her boyfriend, who the Irish Independent said she planned to marry.
She had finalized her uncontested divorce from ex-husband Sam Ryan in April, according to court documents filed in New York Supreme Court.
Ambitious from a young age, she studied commerce at University College Dublin before completing a master’s in digital marketing from the Smurfit Graduate School of Business.
‘Carlow is a small town, I was the small-town girl who needed to get out to achieve her big dreams,’ Martha said in an interview with the Irish Independent last year.
‘I always knew I wanted to be successful, that I was money-driven, business-driven – and that fashion is a tough industry and it would be a slow road.’
She worked in Ireland until 2015 before moving to the US, where she founded several companies, including fashion accessories brand Duper and luxury swimwear label East x East.