Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra: NYC Designer Had Finalized Her Divorce Just Months Before She Was Found Dead on Boat at Montauk Yacht Club

New York City designer Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra was found dead on a boat in Montauk, only months after finalizing her divorce from her husband, according to court records. The 33-year-old Irish-born designer was in the middle of uncontested divorce proceedings with her husband, Sam Ryan, as recently as April, according to New York County Supreme Court records.

The documents show their marriage ended only months before Nolan-O’Slatarra was found dead on a boat docked at the exclusive Montauk Yacht Club around midnight last Tuesday — with a naked man reportedly shouting frantically at bystanders to help her. Police have launched an investigation but have said that they have not found anything suspicious.

New Revelations

In another recent legal bout, Nolan and her East x East swimwear co-owner, Dylan Grace, were sued in 2022 by Out East Accessories, a high-end eyewear store in Manhattan, according to a lawsuit.

The complaint claimed that the two were accused of stealing $34,000 from a company bank account along with the store’s entire stock of eyewear. The lawsuit further alleged that the pair blocked the owners from accessing their bank account, emails, and social media by changing the passwords.

Court records show the case was settled in July 2022.

Police said that no signs of violence or physical harm were found on Nolan-O’Slatarra’s body, but they have not ruled out foul play and have not released details of the ongoing investigation.

The incident took place around midnight, when two witnesses were awakened by shouting and saw the man believed to own the Ripple boat running down the dock in a state of panic.

“We were sound asleep,” the eyewitness, who asked not to be identified, told The 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 said. “He was running up and down, naked, screaming, ‘Do something!'”

Investigators Still Unsure

Suffolk County police said the bystanders attempted to revive the well-known designer before emergency crews arrived, but their efforts were unsuccessful, and Nolan-O’Slatarra was declared dead.

The man who called 911 and his friend, both frequent visitors to the yacht club, said they did not know who she was.

In an interview with the Irish Independent last year, the blue-eyed designer shared that she was originally from Carlow, a small town located just over 50 miles from Dublin.

Hardworking and ambitious, Nolan-O’Slatarra completed a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management at University College Dublin, then went on to earn a master’s in digital marketing from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in 2014.

“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 told the Independent.

At just 26, she became vice president of client experiences at an Ireland-based retail marketing firm — but admitted to the outlet that she felt unfulfilled in her career.

In 2021, she went on to launch the swimwear brand East x East along with a fashion accessories label, Duper.