{"id":821620,"date":"2026-07-23T21:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/821620\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T21:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:08:09","slug":"prosecution-lays-out-case-against-montreal-man-charged-with-murdering-his-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/821620\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecution lays out case against Montreal man charged with murdering his daughter"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was reported by Lohr McKinstry and originally published in Plattsburgh N.Y.\u2019s Press-Republican<\/a>. <\/p>\n

ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. \u2014 The first day of the Luciano Frattolin murder trial opened Thursday with attorneys offering totally opposite versions of how the Canadian man\u2019s 9-year-old daughter lost her life.<\/p>\n

Frattolin, 45, of Montreal, is charged with drowning his daughter, Melina, in a shallow pond in the town of Ticonderoga, N.Y.<\/p>\n

He has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse.<\/p>\n

After three days of jury selection, the trial began with opening statements<\/a> by the prosecution and defence.<\/p>\n

Prosecution <\/p>\n

Essex County assistant district attorney Carrie Daly said the capital murder case began \u201cwhen the body of a little girl was located by law enforcement\u201d off the Short Swing Trail in the Pharaoh Lakes Wilderness Area between Ticonderoga and Schroon Lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat girl was Melina Frattolin,\u201d Daly told jurors. \u201cThe People intend to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant drowned her. After the murder, the defendant concealed her body by placing a large rock on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daly said Frattolin had a 10-year relationship with the girl\u2019s mother, Kali Galanis, that ended in 2019. Galanis had full custody of Melina and had allowed Frattolin to take her on a vacation in the United States in July 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Frattolin) placed a 911 call from Lake George and reported his daughter was kidnapped,\u201d Daly said.<\/p>\n

Frattolin told police he turned around on I-87 and went southbound to find a rest stop for his daughter. The two had been due back at Melina\u2019s mother\u2019s home at 8:30 p.m. on July 19, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time information was located from multiple sources, the defendant changed his story,\u201d Daly said.<\/p>\n

She said video from the Saratoga Springs McDonald\u2019s, where Frattolin and Melina stopped, showed he was wearing different clothes when they were there, Daly said.<\/p>\n

Frattolin\u2019s wet clothes and shoes were later found in a garbage bag in the woods off I-87, she said.<\/p>\n

Defence<\/p>\n

Frattolin\u2019s defence is being handled by Warren County assigned counsel administrator Brian Pilatzke along with the Essex County Public Defender\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a tragedy,\u201d Pilatzke said in his opening statement to the jury. \u201cA young child is gone. Your duty is to decide whether Mr. Frattolin is guilty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case is based entirely on circumstantial evidence. Melina was kidnapped. When he called 911, the operator couldn\u2019t understand his English.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frattolin lived in Canada but is a dual citizen of Ethiopia and Italy. He carried an Italian passport.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuciano fully co-operated with law enforcement,\u201d Pilatzke said. \u201cLuciano begged them to find his daughter. \u201d<\/p>\n

He said if the prosecution fails to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, Frattolin must be acquitted.<\/p>\n

Witnesses<\/p>\n

The first witness to be called by the prosecution was Warren County communications officer Ryan Grierson, the dispatcher on duty when Frattolin called 911.<\/p>\n

He said cellphone data from Frattolin\u2019s phone displayed at the 911 centre showed he was in front of the Warren County Government Building when he made the call.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring that phone call, you noticed that Mr. Frattolin was having a language barrier?\u201d Pilatzke asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorrect,\u201d Grierson answered.<\/p>\n

Warren County Sheriff\u2019s Department patrol officer Trevor Hopeck took the stand next to testify he met Frattolin on Route 9 near the municipal complex and got information from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first words he said to me was, \u2018She\u2019s gone,\u2019\u201d Hopeck said. \u201cThey stopped for a bathroom break, and she was taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audio from the 911 call and video from Hopeck\u2019s Axon bodycam were both played for the jury.<\/p>\n

The trial will resume Friday at 9 a.m. in the Essex County Courthouse.<\/p>\n

Hamilton County Judge Tatiana Coffinger, specially presiding, is hearing the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was reported by Lohr McKinstry and originally published in Plattsburgh N.Y.\u2019s Press-Republican. ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. \u2014 The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-821620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}