By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-27 20:21:25 | Updated at 2026-07-27 21:21:32
1 hour ago
ELIZABETHTOWN — The Canadian coffee entrepreneur charged with drowning his 9-year-old daughter in Lake George last summer chillingly told an investigator how it “would’ve been easier” to murder the young girl overseas, a jury heard Monday.
Accused killer Lucian Frattolin, 46, made the bizarre comment to New York State Police investigator Daniel Mauro following hours of grilling the morning after he claimed his daughter Melina had been kidnapped on July 19, 2025.
As the father’s story about how Melina was abducted began to unravel during four hours of questioning, Mauro asked Frattolin if he had any reason to kill his own daughter, the investigator testified during the second week of the dad’s murder trial in Essex County Court.
Frattolin coolly responded that there’s no way he would do it in the US because “it would have been a lot easier” in his native Ethiopia or Italy — where he had dual citizenship, Mauro told the courtroom.
The roastmaster also tried to turn the spotlight onto his ex-wife and Melina’s mother, Kali Galanis, who he claimed was abusive to their 9-year-old during the red-flag-raising interview in the barracks of a Queensbury jail.
“The whole thing is so complicated. Kali was not supposed to be a mother,” Frattolin boldly revealed to investigators in an audio recording of the interrogation.
He also wrote that “Kali hit Melina” on a questionnaire he filled out in the interrogation room, Mauro testified.
The troubled dad — now dead-broke despite starting Montreal-based coffee company, Gabella Coffee — had told Mauro that he had met his ex-wife 10 years ago with the goal of having a kid together, but things turned sour when Galanis allegedly started abusing their child.
Frattolin said that he wanted to report the assault to Canadian police so that his ex-wife, whom he claimed battles schizophrenia, would “lose custody” of Melina — but didn’t want sole custody of his daughter himself, according to Mauro.
The finger-pointing comes after Friday’s testimony, which revealed the start of Frattolin’s vendetta against his ex, when he pondered with investigators whether his wife was behind Melina’s abduction, ABC News 10 reported.
“If she is behind this, she does this to make me look like a bad person,” Frattolin can be heard saying on a recording with investigators.
The alleged killer — wearing a dark gray suit and a white dress shirt in court Monday — sat through testimony as Essex County prosecutors tried to show jurors how he “changed his story” every time authorities tried questioning him about his daughter’s disappearance.
Prosecutors have said Frattolin made a bogus kidnapping report after allegedly drowning little Melina while on a trip to Lake George because he thought his daughter suffered from mental illness and claimed that he wanted to end her life since early 2025.
Warren County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Sean Smith testified last week about responding to the scene — where jurors were shown footage of the chatty Canadian pelting cops with peculiar, pointed questions like whether or not nearby interstate had cameras, and whether or not an AMBER Alert would reach Canada, ABC reported.
Frattolin’s attorney, Brian Pilatzke, backed his client’s claim that Melina had been kidnapped — and has questioned the prosecution’s case, claiming the evidence is weak.
State police last year said they first saw inconsistencies in the father’s story after he reported his daughter had been abducted before he could return her to her mother in Montreal.
Melina’s body was found hidden under a log in a pond near Short Swing Trail in Ticonderoga.
Authorities have said the 9-year-old’s cause of death was asphyxiation due to drowning.
Frattolin is charged with murder in the second degree and concealment of a human corpse. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.
Investigator Mauro is expected to resume testimony Monday afternoon.
