Luciano Frattolin convicted in daughter's death

Luciano Frattolin was convicted Monday in the death of his 9-year-old daughter Melina during a court-approved vacation in New York’s Adirondacks, bringing a grim end to a case that drew intense attention across Essex County. A jury in Elizabethtown found the Canadian coffee entrepreneur guilty of second-degree murder and concealment of a body after weeks of testimony in Essex County Court.

Prosecutors said Frattolin drowned the girl in an Adirondacks swamp last summer and then tried to hide what happened by dumping her body near Ticonderoga. He later told a false story that Melina had been kidnapped, which triggered a large search effort across the Adirondacks. Jurors reached their decision in about an hour. Frattolin now faces life in prison on the murder and body-concealment charges.

Essex County District Attorney Michael Langey used his closing argument to describe the girl’s death in stark terms, saying, “Melina’s short life came to a violent end.” He also pointed to the condition of the child’s body, telling jurors that her long black hair, taken out of braids, was covered with dirt and grass. Frattolin shook his head during the proceedings and did not show remorse, according to the courtroom account.

The case turned in part on the changing version of events Frattolin gave investigators. He had accused his ex-wife, Kali Galanis, of abusing Melina and claimed she was framing him in the reported kidnapping. On a recording with investigators, Frattolin said, “If she is behind this, she does this to make me look like a bad person.” Prosecutors argued that his story kept shifting, while jurors ultimately credited the state’s case.