VIDEO: Martha Nolan’s Final Texts Before Suspected Overdose Death While ‘Partying’ With Investor Christopher Durnan Raise New Questions

The mysterious death of 33-year-old Hamptons swimwear designer Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, known professionally as Martha Nolan, is raising new questions after authorities revealed chilling final text messages sent just hours before she was found unresponsive on a docked yacht in Montauk.

Nolan had traveled to the Montauk Yacht Club on August 4 for a business meeting with investor Christopher Durnan, who owns a 13% stake in her fashion brand East x East. The meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. but was delayed for three hours. Eventually, Nolan and Durnan boarded one of his vessels to watch the sunset and drink champagne, according to New York Magazine. Her business partner, Dylan Grace, missed the meeting due to a trip to Greece.

Close friends of Martha Nolan, 33, sent her some chilling text messages the night of August 4, hours before she was found dead on a yacht in the Hamptons

As the evening unfolded, Nolan’s friends and boyfriend, Nicholas DiRubio, grew worried when she stopped responding to messages. They tracked her phone to the Atlantic Ocean and exchanged anxious speculation about her silence.

“lmao. I’m sure her phone died. Or maybe she’s dead,” one friend wrote at 9:20 p.m., investigators said.

Ten minutes later, Nolan finally responded:
“Lol I’m at the yacht club now, my phone is on.”

Investigators now believe she died less than an hour after sending that message.

Residents later reported hearing screams near the marina. When authorities arrived, they found Nolan unconscious aboard Durnan’s vessel Ripple. Durnan, nearly incoherent, was reportedly sprinting around the yacht club naked, throwing sunscreen at nearby boats in an attempt to get attention.

 

She had met up with 60-year-old insurance mogul, Christopher Durnan (pictured), that night to discuss her label East x East

She had settled a divorce from her husband just months before her untimely death and was reportedly considering marrying her boyfriend, Nick DiRubio

One friend later told reporters, “I think for me it’s like, ‘Why is the man naked?’”

Durnan claimed he removed his clothes after Nolan allegedly vomited on him before going into cardiac arrest. Despite the bizarre scene, investigators found no signs of physical trauma on Nolan’s body.

A powdery white substance was found near her, leading investigators to suspect she may have died from an accidental overdose involving so-called designer drugs. However, officials have not yet confirmed whether the substance was heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, or a mixture.

Authorities are still trying to determine:

• Who brought the drugs onto the vessel

• Whether Nolan, Durnan, or someone else purchased or used the substance

• Whether the drugs were sold locally in Montauk

Investigators have been searching for the dealers who may have supplied the substance, with law-enforcement sources suggesting potential manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide charges could follow.

“[These dealers] may or may not have known they were selling poison to this girl, but that doesn’t matter,” a source told the New York Post. “With higher-profile cases like this poor girl in Montauk, you’re going to see more and more of these dealers getting locked up.”

For now, the official cause of death remains undetermined, and the circumstances surrounding Martha Nolan’s final hours continue to cast a troubling shadow over the case — and over Christopher Durnan’s role in the chaotic night that ended with the designer’s sudden death.