Mother of Carlow woman found dead in New York launches $50 million wrongful death lawsuit

Elma Geraldine Nolan, the Co Carlow-based mother of Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra, has filed the summons for a wrongful death lawsuit against Christopher Durnan.

Durnan is the reported owner of the yacht where Nolan-O'Slatarra was pronounced dead last year, as well as the sole outsider investor in her beachwear brand East x East.

The summons, filed in the New York County Supreme Court on Tuesday, August 4, seeks to recover damages from Durnan for the wrongful death of Nolan-O'Slatarra, as well as the "personal injuries and conscious pain and suffering sustained by Martha Nolan O’Slatarra prior to her death."

The summons accuses Durnan of wrongful conduct, including "intentionally and wrongfully" assaulting Nolan-O'Slatarra as well as "gross negligence" and "reckless and wanton conduct," resulting in the Irish woman's "injury and death."

The wrongful conduct, the summons alleges, occurred on or about August 4 and 5, 2025, aboard a vessel at the Star Island Yacht Club, located at 32 Star Island Road in Montauk, New York.

Durnan must serve notice of appearance within 20 days after the service of the summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within 30 days after service is complete if the summons is not personally delivered to him within the State of New York. 

The summons states: "Should Defendant fail to appear herein, judgment will be entered by default in a sum of $50,000,000, together with interest, plus attorney’s fees, costs, and disbursements of this action, or an amount to be later determined at inquest."

Nolan-O'Slatarra's mother is named as the temporary administrator of her daughter's estate, along with Marcello de Peralta, in the summons.

The death of Martha Nolan-O'Slattara

Originally from the Monacurra area of Carlow town, Nolan-O'Slatarra was a graduate of University College Dublin and emigrated to New York City in 2015.

The successful businesswoman founded the fashion and accessories brand Duper as well as the swimwear and eyewear brand East x East. She also launched the marketing agency Brand Growth Consultants and was the Director of Operations at K4 Capital Management.

On August 5 last year, the Suffolk County Police Department announced that its Homicide Squad detectives were investigating after Nolan-O'Slatarra was found dead earlier that morning on a boat docked in Montauk.

Suffolk County PD said that East Hampton Town Police responded to a 911 call from a man reporting a woman unconscious on a boat docked at the Montauk Yacht Club, on Star Island Road, at approximately 12 am.

Good Samaritans attempted to perform CPR on the woman, the police department noted, but the Irish woman was pronounced dead on the boat by first responders.

While a preliminary investigation and exam were inconclusive regarding the cause of death, an autopsy "did not show evidence of violence and her final cause of death is pending further examination," the police department said in an update last August.

A requiem mass and burial for the Irish woman was held in her native Co Carlow later that month. 

Nolan-O'Slatarra's family commissioned their own independent autopsy, which, according to the Daily Mail in November, showed “there was no indication of drugs in her system that would have killed her."

“There were only trace amounts of cocaine," a source told the Daily Mail, "And it could have been in her system for days."

Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra.

Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra and Christopher Durnan

New York Magazine reported last year that Durnan had put $250k into Nolan-O'Slatarra's East x East brand, which she operated with her business partner and fellow Irish emigrant Dylan Grace.

Durnan "really liked Martha and he wanted to help her succeed," Durnan's lawyer Robert Holdman told the magazine last September.

On the evening of August 4 last year, Durnan and Nolan-O'Slatarra met for a business meeting on Durnan's fishing vessel, Hell in a Bucket, before moving to his other boat, Ripple.

Holdman told New York Magazine last year that his client told the police that around 10:30 or 11 pm, Nolan-O'Slatarra suddenly went limp, and he thought she was having a heart attack and that he tried to perform CPR.

“She was gone almost immediately," Holdman said, "She was nonresponsive."

Durnan never called 911; instead, police received a call from a bystander around midnight.

A witness separately told the New York Post: “We heard someone shouting, stuff bouncing off the side of the boat. He threw sunscreen at our boat trying to wake us up. He was running up and down, naked, screaming, 'Do something!'"

The witness phoned 911, boarded the Ripple, and tried to resuscitate Nolan-O'Slatarra, but it was too late.

Holdman claims Durnan had to strip because his clothes were "soaked" with Nolan-O'Slatarra's vomit.

He said: “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."

Durnan, he added, “doesn’t remember how long he did CPR.”

“Chris is distraught,” Holdman told New York Magazine last year, adding at the time that his client cooperated with police. “He watched his friend die in trauma. He’s absolutely destroyed.” 

Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra.

Evidence "uncovered"

After the summons was filed this week, local outlet The Patch reported that police and Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney have not previously reported that Durnan was arrested or charged with any crimes in relation to Nolan-O'Slattara's death.

"There have been no assault charges connected to her death," Suffolk police told The Patch on Wednesday.

The summons was filed by Michael Bowe, Lauren Tabaksblat, and Jaime Freilich-Fried of New York City-based Brithem LLP.

Bowe explained to The Patch on Wednesday that the notice of the summons is the first step in the judicial process.

"We will serve the summons, then a complaint, and then take discovery to secure all the relevant evidence before presenting it in court," Bowe said.

Bowe clarified that Durnan "has not been criminally charged," adding that "the standard in a criminal case is beyond a reasonable doubt and the prosecutors apparently do not think they can currently meet that burden. The standard in our civil case is a preponderance of the evidence; that is, what most likely happened."

Bowe said Nolan-O'Slatarra's family "family remains in the same painful place it was a year ago."

He said: "Their expert medical examiner who conducted an independent autopsy does not agree Martha was killed by intoxicants, given her youth and health, and the evidence we have uncovered includes that EMTs found blood in her mouth, on her chest and head and possibly behind her head.

"Law enforcement informed the family they believed the scene had been cleaned before responders arrived; Durnan was found naked on the dock and claimed he stripped because Martha vomited on him, but there is no evidence of that at the scene or in the autopsy."

The Patch notes that police and the District Attorney have not confirmed that there was blood found at the scene and have said there was "no evidence of violence."

Bowe added: "He [Durnan] also declined to talk to the police after that night and has claimed publicly to have been in contact with the family when he has not and, in fact, has failed to respond to repeated calls and text messages from them.

"We will present additional evidence as the case unfolds."