By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-23 18:30:51 | Updated at 2026-07-23 19:34:09
1 hour ago
The trial of a Canadian coffee entrepreneur accused of drowning his 9-year-old daughter in an upstate New York pond kicked off Thursday with opening statements.
Luciano Frattolin, 46, of Montreal is accused of filing a bogus kidnapping report after allegedly killing the little girl, Melina, while on a trip to the Lake George area last July.
A jury for the murder case was chosen and attorneys gave opening statements at Essex County criminal court in Elizabethtown Thursday morning, according to cbc.ca.
State police last year said they found inconsistencies in the father’s story after he reported his daughter had been abducted before returning her to her mother in Montreal.
They later found her body hidden under a log in a remote pond near Ticonderoga. Her cause of death was asphyxiation by drowning.
Frattolin was charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse, and has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Before her death, Frattolin had reportedly struggled to pay child support, and made bizarre posts about how his daughter had disrupted his life.
The girl’s mother is expected to testify during the trial, according to cbc.com.
Frattolin with daughter Melina. Instagram/Luciano Frattolin
Frattolin, who was born in Ethiopia, previously claimed to have a high-flying lifestyle as a coffee company owner but told a judge last summer he was broke and couldn’t afford a lawyer.
Frattolin had previously gushed about Melina on his corporate bio page for his Montreal-based java company, Gabella Coffee, calling her “beautiful” and “the light of his life.’’
Defense lawyers plan to argue police ignored evidence after Frattolin reported that his daughter had been kidnapped.
The content of opening statements wasn’t immediately known Thursday.
