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Exclusive | NYC designer found dead on Montauk yacht ‘harassed’ and accused of fraud by boat owner days before death, texts reveal

Nypost · · 701 words · By Shane Galvin
Wrongful Death Allegations Interpersonal Conflict
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What to know about Wrongful Death Allegations

NYC designer found dead on Montauk yacht ‘harassed’ and accused of fraud by boat owner days before death, texts reveal See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 10
Techniques found 2
Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center0%
Right100%

1 source compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

NYC designer found dead on Montauk yacht ‘harassed’ and accused of fraud by boat owner days before death, texts reveal See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on Google Hamptons fashion entrepreneur Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra said she was being “harassed” and accused of fraud by financier Chris Durnan just days before she was found dead on his boat, texts obtained by The Post reveal.

Common ground

The 33-year-old Irish-born swimwear designer had Durnan blocked on her phone on Aug.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Selective Omission: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/nyc-designer-martha-nolan-oslatarra-harass…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Selective Omission 70% confidence
Deliberately leaving out important context or facts that would change interpretation.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing selective omission helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 9
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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Claim 1: “Nolan-O’Slatarra met Durnan on his boat “Hell in a Bucket” at about 7:30 p.m. at the Montauk Yacht Club”
CORROBORATED
Three separate web search results confirm the meeting took place on the boat 'Hell in a Bucket' at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the Montauk Yacht Club on August 4.
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web search NEUTRAL — Nolan-O’Slatarra 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. t…
https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/nyc-designer-martha-no…
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web search NEUTRAL — On August 4, Nolan-O’Slatarra met Durnan aboard his vessel, "Hell in a Bucket," around 7:30 p.m. at the Montauk Yacht Club. The two then embarked on a boat tour, enjoying champagne as they watched the…
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/was-nyc-de…
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web search NEUTRAL — Three days later, on August 4, Martha met Durnan at the Montauk Yacht Club for what was meant to be a business discussion. The pair boarded his boat, Hell in a Bucket, around 7.30pm and took it out fo…
https://evoke.ie/2026/08/18/news/martha-nolan-oslatarra-harr…
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Claim 2: “Hamptons fashion entrepreneur Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra said she was being “harassed” and accused of fraud by financier Chris Durnan just days before she was found dead on his boat”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including the NY Post and other web results, explicitly state that Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra claimed she was being 'harassed' and accused of fraud by Chris Durnan shortly before her death.
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Claim 3: “The 33-year-old Irish-born swimwear designer had Durnan blocked on her phone on Aug. 1, 2025”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm she was an Irish-born founder of swimwear label East x East and that she had blocked Chris Durnan on her phone (though the specific date of Aug 1, 2025, is implied by the timeline of events in August 2025).
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web search NEUTRAL — ered with Parsoid. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Stewart
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web search NEUTRAL — edia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha
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web search NEUTRAL — From tried-and-true recipes and DIY crafts to home decor tips and holiday party planning, let Martha Stewart inspire you every day.
https://www.marthastewart.com/
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Claim 4: “The pair then returned at an unknown time to the yacht club and moved to Durnan’s other boat, “Ripple,””
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that after the initial meeting on 'Hell in a Bucket', the pair moved to Durnan's other boat, 'Ripple'.
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web search NEUTRAL — Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra and Christopher Durnan.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 …
https://www.irishcentral.com/news/martha-nolan-oslatarra-law…
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web search NEUTRAL — The pair boarded his boat, Hell in a Bucket, around 7.30pm and took it out for a sunset cruise, reportedly drinking champagne as the sun went down. They later returned to the marina and moved to Durna…
https://evoke.ie/2026/08/18/news/martha-nolan-oslatarra-harr…
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web search NEUTRAL — That boat belonged to Chris Durnan, 60, who is well-known locally and who owns another boat moored at the same dock, the Hell In A Bucket. Durnan owns and operates an insurance company called the Durn…
https://www.aol.com/news/family-nyc-designer-martha-nolan-02…
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Claim 5: “EMTs who responded to the boat at midnight found Nolan-O’Slattara dead — cold to the touch, covered in blood, and purpling under her nailbeds.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results reference EMT reports describing the body as being found on the yacht 'Ripple' at midnight, noting blood and specific physical conditions.
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web search NEUTRAL — Hamptons fashion entrepreneur Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra said she was being “harassed” and accused of fraud by financier Chris Durnan just days before she was found dead on his boat, texts obtained by Th…
https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/nyc-designer-martha-no…
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web search NEUTRAL — sub-Martha-Nolan-fb-1. The report also mentions an unidentified man who told EMTs he'd been in bed with Martha and called 911 when he couldn't wake her. Boat owner Christopher Durnan is the only perso…
https://www.tmz.com/2026/08/08/nyc-fashion-designer-found-de…
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web search NEUTRAL — Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra, 33, was found dead on a yacht in the Hamptons in August 2025. A newly released EMT report documented the disturbing way her body was found on a yacht named Ripple that is owne…
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16039013/martha-nolan…
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Claim 6: “Nolan-O’Slatarra’s family filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Durnan in Manhattan Supreme Court.”
CORROBORATED
While the 'Evidence for claim 8' section was empty, the 'Evidence for claim 7' section contains a search result titled 'Montauk Mystery: New $50 million lawsuit raises...' which explicitly mentions the family is suing Christopher Durnan for fifty million dollars.
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Claim 7: “She was completely clothed on a bed on the boat, while Durnan was stark naked on the dock”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources report that Durnan was seen naked on the dock, and other reports place the victim on the boat.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Ripple, the boat where Nolan-O’Slatarra was found dead, seen docked at the Montauk Yacht Club on Thursday, August 7, 2025. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post. A photo obtained by The Post showed the pair…
https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/nyc-designer-martha-no…
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web search NEUTRAL — 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 midni…
https://www.ladbible.com/news/us-news/martha-nolan-fashion-d…
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web search NEUTRAL — 'Durnan was found naked on the dock and claimed he had stripped because Martha had vomited on him, but no soiled clothes or signs of vomit were found at the scene or in the autopsy,' Bowe told the Dai…
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16030479/martha-nolan…
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Claim 8: “Durnan has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with her death”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources explicitly state that Durnan has not been officially accused of wrongdoing or charged in connection with the death.
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web search NEUTRAL — To be clear, Durnan has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Nolan’s death, and her cause of death is not yet clear.Nolan-O’Slatarra was found dead Aug. 5 “on the Ripple, a 32-foot pleasu…
https://www.mensjournal.com/news/christopher-durnan-is-the-b…
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web search NEUTRAL — Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra’s family is suing Christopher Durnan for fifty million dollars. The family alleges reckless conduct led to her death last year. Emergency responders found blood and noted unusu…
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/glob…
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web search NEUTRAL — Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra and Chris Durnan are seen together on Nov. 22, 2022 around the time he first invested in her company East x East.Durnan has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection wit…
https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/nyc-designer-martha-no…
help
Claim 9: “The estate of Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra opened up a tip line on Thursday seeking information that may help the investigation into her death.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the opening of a specific tip line by the estate on a Thursday.
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Claim 10: “Durnan — who had bought roughly 13% of their company in 2022 for $250,000”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources confirm that Chris Durnan invested $250,000 for approximately a 13% stake in the company East x East in 2022.
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web search NEUTRAL — Nolan-O’Slattara promised Grace she would meet with Durnan — who had bought roughly 13% of their company in 2022 for $250,000 — to address the claims of financial misbehavior. Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra …
https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/nyc-designer-martha-no…
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web search NEUTRAL — Martha Nolan O’Slatarra and Dylan Grace.Martha, who had built a successful career in New York’s fashion scene, first met Durnan in 2022 when he invested $250,000 for a 13 per cent stake in East x East…
https://evoke.ie/2026/08/18/news/martha-nolan-oslatarra-harr…
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web search NEUTRAL — Nolan-O'Slatarra, the Irish-born founder of swimwear label East x East, had blocked financier Chris Durnan months earlier. She unblocked him only after her business partner Dylan Grace asked her to — …
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/dylan-grace-nyc-montauk-murd…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.