Shocking statement 'Killer dad' Luciano Frattolin made about daughter as money troubles, infidelity is revealed
Luciano Frattolin, 45, a Canadian businessman now facing second-degree murder charges, allegedly fabricated a story about his daughter Melina being abducted by men in a white van, but police say the truth was far worse.
Melina was found drowned in a remote section of forest in upstate New York on Sunday afternoon, her body partially concealed, after her father himself called 911 the night before to report her missing.
Now, a portrait is emerging of a man whose once-polished public image including that of a doting father masked a troubling private life marked by debt, deception, and emotional detachment from the child he claimed to cherish.
'He loved his daughter, but he didn't like the idea of being tied down,' a former associate of Frattolin told the Montreal Gazette, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The friend, who knew Frattolin during his time in Ethiopia, where the accused had investments in mining and hotel construction, said that while Frattolin visited his daughter at least once a year, he remained mostly distant from her day-to-day life in Montreal.
That emotional distance was laid bare in eerie writings Frattolin posted to his now-deleted coffee business website.
There, the accused father reflected on his obsession with maintaining 'perfect order' in his home and how his daughter's 'messy artwork' and 'chaotic toys' disrupted his sense of control.
Yet, in a disturbing contradiction, he also wrote that 'she is the light of my life… the inspiration for everything.'
Frattolin pleaded not guilty in Ticonderoga Town Court on Monday while shackled in a white prison jumpsuit.
At the arraignment, he revealed he was more than $200,000 in debt, citing the collapse of his business empire in Canada, claiming he could not afford a lawyer. His next court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
The horror began on Saturday night, when Frattolin called 911 and claimed that two men had forced his daughter into a white van near Lake George while he was urinating in the woods.
New York State Police quickly issued an Amber Alert, but soon began to suspect that his account didn't add up.
'There was no evidence of an abduction,' said Captain Robert McConnell of the New York State Police, who confirmed the cause of death was drowning and classified the case as a homicide.
Adding to the unraveling lies, a local woman named Rebecca Kulickowski told News10 she spotted a man she believes was Frattolin running frantically up a wooded hill the same night Melina vanished.
'It only caught my eye because as I was driving past the car, I seen a skinny tall guy,' she said. 'He was running up a hill that he was parked next to… I just didn't feel right… our eyes locked when I drove by.'
By Sunday afternoon, police found Melina's body in a shallow, muddy pond about 30 miles north of Lake George, partially hidden beneath a log.
Surveillance footage from earlier that evening showed Melina with her father in Saratoga Springs, and at 6:30pm, she called her mother in Montreal and said they were on their way home.
'She appeared to be in good health and did not indicate she was under any duress,' said Capt. McConnell.
'The investigation has determined that sometime after Melina's phone call with her mother, and before Mr. Frattolin's 911 call, he allegedly murdered Melina and left her body in a remote area where she was later discovered by law enforcement,' said Capt. McConnell.
Authorities believe the murder occurred just hours before Melina was due to be returned to her mother, who has had full custody since 2019, when she split with Frattolin after discovering he was seeing another woman during a visit to Ethiopia.
'She came to visit him while he was recovering from an assault,' said the former friend, referring to a 2019 incident that left Frattolin with permanent eye damage. 'And she found him with someone else. That's why they separated.'
Since then, Frattolin maintained sporadic contact with his daughter and struggled to stay afloat financially.
He had fallen $26,000 behind in rent on a Montreal property he sublet as an Airbnb, which he used to help pay Melina's child support and is currently suing two property managers for over $115,000, accusing them of mismanaging payments.
In a court filing, the Bank of Nova Scotia said Frattolin owed $83,000 on a shuttered café and an additional $97,000 in credit card debt.
His company, Café Gambella, which marketed ethically sourced Ethiopian coffee, has collapsed.
Despite the unraveling finances and fractured family ties, Frattolin tried to present himself online as a man of vision and virtue.
His Instagram was filled with photos of father-daughter trips, Thanksgiving celebrations, and exotic vacations to Ethiopia and Italy.
One particularly unsettling YouTube video showed him frolicking in the snow with Melina, set to a lullaby: 'Now hush, little baby, don't you cry. Everything's gonna be alright… Daddy's here to hold you through the night.'
But behind the camera, friends say, he was 'image-obsessed,' dressing in designer clothes and refusing to fly coach.
'He was one of the first people to bring a Porsche into Ethiopia,' the former associate said. 'He had a Land Cruiser, too. In Ethiopia, that's wealth.'
At the same time, his online biography alluded cryptically to an 'unfortunate event' in 2019 that required a 'long and arduous recovery', hinting at the physical and emotional damage he suffered in the assault.
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