Chilling text messages sent to fashion designer before she was found dead on businessman's yacht
The chilling final texts sent to a woman before she mysteriously died while onboard a luxury yacht in the Hamptons have been revealed.
Back in August, fashion designer Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra had met with insurance mogul Christopher Durnan in wealthy tourist hotspot Montauk to discuss growing her beachwear brand East x East.
The pair soon set out on Durnan's fishing boat, departing from the Montauk Yacht Club at around 7.30pm on 4 August and planned to drink champagne while watching the sun set.
Come midnight and Nolan would be deceased on Dunran's boat while he frantically ran down the dock naked and called for help.
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Nolan, a 33-year-old immigrant from Carlow, Ireland was pronounced dead that night.
What happened to Martha Nolan?
Nolan's cause of death has not yet been determined, with Suffolk County police stating that an initial post-mortem examination of her body 'did not show evidence of violence'. A final cause of death is still under investigation.
"I don't know what happened to my daughter," Nolan's mother Elma told The Irish Independent.
According to MailOnline, Nolan's family have travelled to New York to request a second autopsy be conducted, with toxicological, histological and other testing expected to take several months to conclude.
Meanwhile Durnan's lawyer Robert Holdman alleged in an investigation conducted by New York Magazine that Nolan had excused herself to visit the bathroom several times that night.
"It could be an indication of someone going to the bathroom, it could be an indication of someone doing drugs, or it could be both," he said.
Chilling final text messages sent by Martha Nolan's friends
The New York Magazine investigation also revealed the ominous messages the designer's friends sent in the hours leading up to her death.
Nolan's friends became worried about her wellbeing after she stopped responding to messages in her group chat and checked her location on the 'Find My' app. After seeing that her location appeared to be in the Atlantic Ocean, the group began to speculate.
“Lmao. I’m sure her phone died. Or maybe she’s dead," read one message sent at 9.20pm, with Nolan writing 10 minutes later: "Lol i’m at the yacht club now, my phone is on."
No one in the group could foresee the unimaginable tragedy unfolding around an hour later.
Why was Christopher Durnan naked when Martha Nolan died?
According to witnesses on the scene, Durnan was seen running naked along the dock, shouting for help and throwing suncream at a nearby boat. Emergency services were called to the scene at around midnight.
A statement given on behalf of Durnan by his lawyer has since said the business owner had removed his clothes after Nolan had vomited onto them and rejected any other suggestion.
He added that Durnan and Nolan had been discussing business onboard the yacht when she suddenly collapsed, claiming his client had attempted to perform CPR before another witness phoned for help.
"It all happened immediately," he said of the evening's events, adding that Durnan is fully cooperating with the police.
"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."
Topics: US News, World News
Brenna Cooper