
Killer Dad? Canadian man accused of murdering his 9-year-old daughter

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Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Bev Priestman says she ‘didn't feel safe' in Canada as ban for drone spying scandal ends: ‘We had to get out of that country'
Former Canadian women's soccer head coach Bev Priestman says she 'didn't feel safe' in Canada in the month after the Paris Olympics , when she was suspended by FIFA for her role in the drone spying scandal . Priestman's one-year ban ended this week, and she was named coach of the Wellington Phoenix FC women's team in New Zealand on Tuesday. She said relocating to Wellington — where her wife, Emma Humphries, is the club's academy director — helped her get out of the spotlight of the scandal. 'It was very difficult,' Priestman said during her introductory press conference in New Zealand's capital. 'I didn't leave my house for a month in Canada ... For me, I didn't feel safe. That's being brutally honest. I think it was very difficult for my family and, you know, I have to live with that. I have to weigh that.' Priestman said it was an 'absolute media frenzy' in Canada after the scandal, with people knocking on her door. 'I've got a little boy,' she explained. 'Without going into too much detail, it was very difficult … We knew we had to get out of that country.' Priestman and two other staffers — assistant Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were suspended by FIFA for a year last July after the team was caught using drones to spy on New Zealand practices before the teams met at the Paris Olympics. FIFA found Priestman discussed the practice of spying on opponents with staffers in the months before the Olympics, and had written in an email 'there is a whole operation on the men's side with regards to it.' The team was also warned on three occasions in the weeks before the opening ceremony that drone use was prohibited at the Games. Priestman left the Canadian team in November after an independent investigation confirmed the incident was 'a symptom of a difficult and unacceptable past culture within the national teams,' Canada Soccer officials said in a statement at the time. On Tuesday, Priestman said 'things around me had clouded my judgment in that moment' and everyone involved has regrets. 'I've taken that 12 months to reflect, to learn, to grow,' she said. 'It's been very difficult and I'm just excited to put my head down, work hard and get back to work.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dad pleads not guilty after being accused of killing daughter, lying about kidnapping
A father accused of killing his 9-year-old daughter in upstate New York and then falsely claiming she was kidnapped pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. Luciano Frattolin, of Montreal, was arraigned in Essex County on an indictment charging him with second-degree murder and the concealment of a human corpse. A judge ordered him held without bail. His next court appearance has been scheduled for Aug. 19, with a jury trial set to begin in January 2026. Frattolin is accused of killing his daughter, Melina Galanis Frattolin, during a vacation to the U.S., concealing her body and fabricating a story that she was abducted. Melina was found dead in a shallow pond in a remote area near Ticonderoga on July 20, a day after he reported that she was abducted when he pulled over to go into the woods to go to the bathroom, police said. Melina died by homicide and from "asphyxia due to drowning," according to preliminary autopsy results, New York State Police said. MORE: Father charged with murdering 9-year-old daughter he falsely claimed was kidnapped: Police Investigators believe she was killed on July 19, just hours after she called her mother to say that she and her father were on their way back to Montreal, police said. The indictment alleges Frattolin drowned his daughter then concealed her body "by placing it in a wooded area in water, near a fallen tree with a rock on top of the corpse." ABC News has reached out to his public defender for comment but has not yet received a response. Melina lived with her mother full time in Montreal and was on a 10-day vacation to New York City and Connecticut with her father at the time, according to Capt. Robert McConnell of the New York State Police. According to McConnell, Frattolin and his daughter's mother have been estranged since 2019. He said the mother knew Frattolin had taken Melina on a vacation and told police she had no prior concerns about them traveling to the U.S. together. Frattolin's kidnapping report led the New York State Police to issue an Amber Alert early on July 20. A massive search was launched before her body was discovered later that day by New York State Police Forest Rangers, authorities said. "He fabricated the initial report of the abduction," McConnell alleged during a July 20 news conference. Police began to focus on the father as a suspect after finding inconsistencies in his account of events and the timeline he provided, McConnell said.


San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Father accused of drowning daughter pleads not guilty in New York court
ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — A man accused of drowning his 9-year-old daughter while vacationing in New York's Adirondack region and hiding her body in the water in the woods pleaded not guilty Wednesday. Luciano Frattolin, 45, set off a frantic search for his daughter, Melina Frattolin, earlier this month by reporting her missing just before they were due back in Montreal. He was arrested after investigators found holes in his story. He was indicted Tuesday on charges of murder and concealing a corpse. Frattolin, wearing a gray suit coat and glasses, was sent back to jail without bail after a brief court appearance. Frattolin called 911 on the night of July 19 and said his daughter went missing from a parking lot near Lake George, a resort town in the Adirondack region. He later told authorities that two men forced his daughter into a white van, according to New York State Police. Officials issued an Amber Alert to enlist the help in finding the girl, but later noticed inconsistencies in Frattolin's account and concluded there was no abduction. Authorities say searchers found the girl's body in the shallow water of a pond off a state highway. The body was concealed with a rock near a fallen tree, according to the indictment. The girl lived in Montreal with her mother, who has been estranged for years from Luciano Frattolin, police said. Authorities say Frattolin, who was born in Ethiopia, was living in Montreal. His lawyer said he had an Italian passport.