Crime World

At around midnight on August 5 2025, the lifeless body of Irish woman Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra was discovered on a boat docked at a marina in the exclusive Montauk Yacht Club in the US.
Originally from Co Carlow, the 33-year-old entrepreneur had moved to New York ten years previously and was forging a successful career in sunglasses and swimwear design.
Earlier that evening, Martha had arranged to meet with millionaire investor Christopher Durnan to discuss how her business was going.
In an interview last year, Durnan's lawyer claimed that his client told police that Martha suddenly went limp between 10.30pm and 11pm and that he thought she was having a heart attack.
According to witnesses, Durnan was seen at around midnight, running naked through the marina, screaming for help.
On the first anniversary of Martha's tragic death, her family filed a wrongful death proceedings for $50 million against Christopher Durnan.
Their lawyers have stated that the results of an independent postmortem examination commissioned by the Nolan family is at odds with the one carried out by the state of New York and their summons is seeking damages for wrongful death and for the personal injuries and conscious pain and suffering that Martha sustained before her death. Jenny Friel speaks to the Irish Independent's Special Correspondent Catherine Fegan, who has covered this case since the beginning.
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Innocent mechanic Thomas McDonnell had his life turned upside down when two men told him his son owed a €100,000 drug debt.
If he didn’t pay up there would be retribution, he was told. Months later, a gunman shot him repeatedly at his place of work.
His life was only saved when a gun jammed but in the years since, the victim has served his own sentence away from family and his home as he continues to fear for his life.
So what can we learn from the jailing of Jason Dunne and Craig Hayes, who got seven and a half years for conspiring to murder McDonnell?
Should such sentences be reformed to reflect the seriousness of such cases of drug debt intimidation?
Nicola speaks to Eamon Dillon.
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Daniel Kinahan has asked for a copy of the Quran and a prayer mat in Portlaoise Prison where he remains on remand after his extradition to Ireland.
He has also been allowed spend time with his Cartel number two Sean McGovern, who has loaned him a stereo and flip flops.
Nicola talks to Niall Donald about Kinahan and his prison regime.
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A man is stabbed to death in Wheatfield prison, overcrowding in jails means many don’t finish out their sentences and bails of cocaine are stamped with the image of a famous footballer.
These and other stories from our Crime World weekly wrap up.
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Few Irish crime figures sum up the boom and bust of the Celtic Tiger years better than Lee Cullen, who has passed away in the UK following an illness.
The one-time socialite enjoyed a gilded life before his whole world came crashing down - more times than one.
Nicola talks to Jenny Friel about the car salesman who tried desperately to look legitimate but who constantly found himself on the wrong side of the law.

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