Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra: family of Carlow woman found dead on New York yacht “have a lot of questions”

THE family of Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, who was found dead on a docked boat in Montauk Yacht Club on Tuesday last week, “have a lot of questions they want answered” by local police, their attorney has said.

Ms Nolan O’Slatarra’s mother, Elma, and sister Jacqui, as well as several other family members, have travelled to the US to begin the repatriation process. It is understood they are seeking a second postmortem examination to establish a cause of death.

The 33 year old grew up in Monacurra, Carlow and a past pupil of St Leo’s College, Carlow.

Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra was pronounced dead at the scene in the early hours of August 5th after emergency medical responders and East Hampton police arrived at the exclusive yacht club.

Good Samaritans had attempted to resuscitate her unconscious body.

Suffolk County Police said an autopsy “did not show evidence of violence, and her final cause of death is pending further examination”.

It is understood a final postmortem examination report will take at least three months to prepare. Funeral arrangements are to be published later this week, her RIP.ie death notice indicated.

While the Suffolk County Police Department had initially said homicide detectives were investigating the death, two days later they said there was no evidence to suggest foul play and ruled out that line of investigation.

Arthur Aidala, a New York city-based criminal defence attorney who is representing the deceased’s family, said any discussion of Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra’s cause of death “is irresponsible”, “not accurate” and “just speculation”.

He told local reporters her family “had a sit down with the Suffolk County homicide detectives”, who were conducting “a deep investigation” into the matter.

“People are still being questioned, there are technological analyses that [are] still being done,” he said.

“The family request respect for their privacy” at this time and “want to honour Martha’s legacy,” he added.

Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra (33) was an entrepreneur who established East x East, a luxury designer sunglasses and swimwear brand, after emigrating to the US in 2015.

She earned a degree in commerce from University College Dublin and a master’s in digital marketing from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.