Latest news with #Frattolin
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Melina Frattolin case update: Dad Luciano Frattolin did not like ‘being tied down' by his daughter, ex-friend claims
Luciano Frattolin, the man accused of killing his nine-year-old daughter, Melina Frattolin, did not like being 'tied down' by his daughter, according to a former friend. Frattolin, 45, was on vacation with Melina in New York when she was killed. He now faces a murder charge. Luciano Frattolin was arrested after his daughter Melina Galanis Frattolin was found dead in New York.(Facebook/ New York State Police and Gambella Coffee Website) The friend told the Montreal Gazette that Frattolin spent most of his time in Ethiopia, where he was born and ran businesses like a mine and hotel construction project. The friend said, 'He loved his daughter, but he didn't like the idea of being tied down,' as per New York Post report. Also Read: Melina Frattolin case update: Father Luciano Frattolin arrested after body of Canadian girl found in Ticonderoga Luciano Frattolin allegedly cheated on his wife Frattolin used to live in Montreal but mostly stayed in Ethiopia. Melina lived in Canada with her mother. The mother had split from Frattolin after he allegedly cheated on her, the friend said. His only real ties to Montreal were his daughter and ex, according to the source, who said he stopped speaking to Frattolin after a business deal went wrong and 'some of the funds disappeared.' 'From what [Frattolin] said, he truly loved [Melina]. He would visit at least once a year,' the friend said. The friend also said Frattolin is a 'prominent' businessman in Ethiopia. He was born to an Ethiopian mother and an Italian father. In 2019, he co-founded an iron ore mine there with a Chinese company and secured a 20-year contract. That same year, he was reportedly attacked and suffered permanent damage to one of his eyes. While recovering from the injury, Melina's mother visited him in Ethiopia and found out he was seeing someone else.'That is why they separated,' the friend said. Frattolin later referred to the 2019 incident in a deleted online bio, calling it an 'unfortunate event' that 'severely affected his well-being' and led to a 'long and arduous' recovery. Luciano Frattolin faced various problems The friend said Frattolin had money problems and would often leave Ethiopia when things got tough, heading to Italy and coming back when things calmed down. The friend said, 'He had a lot of bills, so any time things were about to blow up, he would travel, and go back [to Ethiopia] once things cooled down.' Frattolin liked to keep up a flashy lifestyle. He wore expensive clothes and watches and only flew business class or better, the friend said. 'He was one of the first people to bring a Porsche into Ethiopia. He also had a Land Cruiser,' the friend added. 'He had two [luxury] cars, so in Ethiopia, he would be considered a very well-off person.' On Instagram, Frattolin once posted a video of himself driving the Porsche on dirt roads in Ethiopia, with a local tribesperson in the shot. Frattolin pleaded not guilty to murder on Monday in a court in Ticonderoga, New York,. He is expected back in court Friday.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Canada dad arrested on charges of daughter's murder in US cheated on wife; almost lost one eye in an assault in Ethiopia
9-year-old Melina Frattolin was allegedly killed by her father who called 911 to report that his daughter was kidnapped. Chilling details about Luciano Frattolin, a Canadian dad arrested on charges of killing his 9-year-old daughter on a vacation in the US, have emerged. A former friend told the Montreal Gazette that though Luciano Frattolin, the 45-year-old Ethiopian businessman, loved his daughter very much, he did not want to get tied down to her. Melina, the 9-year-old, used to stay with her mother as she had her full custody after their acrimonious divorce and Luciano only met his daughter once a year. 'He loved his daughter, but he didn't like the idea of being tied down,' said the friend, who knew Frattolin when they both lived in Ethiopia. Other than Melina, Luciano had no connection to Montreal and his main base is in Ethiopia. Luciano Frattolin's business deals According to the Montreal Gazette, Frattolin is prominent in Ethiopia because of his many business dealings, including that of a mine, a planned construction of a hotel in Ethiopia connected to a well-known international chain of hotels. In Montreal, Frattolin is listed as the primary shareholder of a numbered company that includes a business called Café Gambella that was created in 2020. On Quebec's business registry, Frattolin lists two addresses as his residences; one is on Bernard St. W. in Plateau-Mont-Royal and the other is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Permanent damage to his eye in 2019 Luciano's former friend revealed that in 2019, he founded a mine along with a company based in Beijing and they secured a 20-year concession to extract iron ore. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Hidden Cause Found: Dementia And Memory Loss Linked To This Habit Memory and Health Click Here Undo But soon after the deal, he was assaulted and the attack caused permanent damage to one of his eyes. Cheated on wife At that time, Luciano was in Ethiopia recovering from the assault and his wife from Canada went to Ethiopia to visit him. She got to know that he was seeing another woman. This resulted in their divorce and the mother got the full custody of the daughter. On Saturday, Luciano called 911 and reported that his daughter had been kidnapped when he stopped his car to urinate. An amber alert was issued, and police launched into a massive search and investigation only to understand that they were misled by the father. Melina's body was found Sunday and the autopsy report confirmed that the cause of her death was drowning.
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Alleged killer dad Luciano Frattolin spotted in woods
A New York woman thinks she saw accused killer dad Luciano Frattolin 'running up a hill' close to where his 9-year-old daughter was found drowned. Rebecca Kulickowski, a lifelong resident of Ticonderoga in upstate New York, told News10 that she submitted two police reports after seeing a man she now believes was Frattolin running away from his car on Saturday evening, when Melina Frattolin is thought to have been killed. Kulickowski was driving through Ticonderoga toward Schroon Lake when she saw a Toyota Prius stopped in the road. 6 Police arrested Luciano Frattolin after he claimed his daughter had been abducted. Instagram/Luciano Frattolin 'It only caught my eye because as I was driving past the car, I seen a skinny tall guy,' she told News10. 'And he was running up a hill that he was parked next to and there was a wooded area on the bottom of it,' she said. 'I just didn't feel right, there was something about him, I don't know, our eyes locked when I drove by, he looked at me,' she said. Kulickowski did not see a child with the man at the time — but immediately contacted police when she got an Amber Alert about little Melina on Sunday. 'We got an alert and I was like, 'God no.' I can't even tell you what I felt in that moment, it was horrible,' she said. 6 Frattolin is being held at the Essex County Jail in upstate New York Essex County Sheriff's Office The alert was triggered by the girl's dad claiming she'd been kidnapped, which officials later said appeared to be a hoax. The alert was called off when Melina's body was discovered pinned under a log in Eagle Lake, between Ticonderoga and Schroon Lake, close to where Kulickowski saw the suspicious man. 6 The suspect lied that his daughter had been abducted, police said. Wnyt13 6 Frattolin was arrested and charged with his daughter's murder. Instagram/Luciano Frattolin Frattolin, who had custody of his daughter for the week, was charged on Monday with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse. He and Melina entered the US from Canada on July 11 and traveled around New York and Connecticut, visiting New York City before heading back upstate. Follow The Post's coverage on Melina Frattolin On Saturday at 5:30 p.m. the pair were spotted in Frattolin's Prius in Saratoga Springs, around 67 miles south of Ticonderoga. Around an hour later at 6:30 p.m., Melina called her mother back home in Montreal and sounded well. 6 This map shows where Melina was found dead in upstate New York. Merrill Sherman / NY Post Design 6 Melina was found dead near Lake George. New York State Police Frattolin then allegedly stopped answering his estranged partner's messages about when he would be bringing Melina back, as he was scheduled to do on Saturday. He is alleged to have strangled his daughter to death around an hour after she spoke to her mother, and some two and a half hours before he called in a missing persons report at around 10 p.m. Saturday. Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! Frattolin was arrested early on Monday morning and appeared in court later that day where he pleaded not guilty. He is due back in court again on Friday.
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
Alleged killer dad Luciano Frattolin didn't like ‘being tied down' by daughter, former friend says
Alleged killer dad Luciano Frattolin didn't like being 'tied down' by his young daughter, whom he sometimes only saw once a year, according to a former friend. Frattolin, 45, who is charged with murdering his 9-year-old daughter Melina while on vacation in New York last week, spent most of his time in his birth country of Ethiopia, where he has stakes in a mine and hotel construction, the ex-associate told the Montreal Gazette. 'He loved his daughter, but he didn't like the idea of being tied down,' said the friend, who knew Frattolin when they both lived in Ethiopia. Advertisement 3 Police arrested Luciano Frattolin after he claimed his daughter Melina had been abducted. Essex County Sheriff's Office Melina lived in Canada with her mom, who split with Frattolin when he cheated, according to the former pal, who also fell out with him over a deal where 'some of the funds disappeared.' Frattolin was said to live in Canada but his 'real connection to Montreal was his daughter and his ex-partner, but he didn't have any real connections to Montreal,' said the insider, who asked not to remain anonymous. Advertisement 'From what [Frattolin] said, he truly loved [Melina]. He would visit at least once a year,' the friend said. 3 New York police released an image of Frattolin driving with his daughter on I-87. NYS Police Frattolin is a 'prominent' businessman in Ethiopia, where he was born to an Ethiopian mother and Italian father, the friend said. He founded an iron ore mine there in 2019 along with a Chinese-based company and secured a 20-year contract, according to a report published online and seen by the Montreal Gazette. But tragedy struck that same year when he was assaulted and suffered permanent damage to one of his eyes, the former friend claimed. Advertisement Melina's mother came to visit him in Ethiopia while he was recovering — and found he was seeing another woman, according to the pal. 'That is why they separated,' he said. 3 Melina Frattolin was found dead in a shallow pond after her father reported her missing. Instagram/Luciano Frattolin Frattolin hinted in a since-deleted bio that an 'unfortunate event' in 2019 that he said 'severely affected his well-being' and required a 'long and arduous' road to recovery. Advertisement The friend claimed Frattolin had money woes that forced him to leave Ethiopia for long stretches at a time, often traveling to Italy. 'He had a lot of bills, so any time things were about to blow up, he would travel, and go back [to Ethiopia] once things cooled down,' he said. Follow The Post's coverage on Melina Frattolin Frattolin maintained a luxury lifestyle and was 'very image conscious,' wearing expensive clothes and watches and never flying coach, as evidenced on his Instagram account, the former friend said. 'He was one of the first people to bring a Porsche into Ethiopia. He also had a Land Cruiser, the friend said. 'He had two [luxury] cars, so in Ethiopia, he would be considered a very well-off person.' Frattolin shared a video of his Porsche on his Instagram showing him driving the luxury car over the dirt roads of the East African country alongside an Ethiopian tribesperson. Frattolin pleaded not guilty to murder at a court in Ticonderoga, upstate New York, on Monday. He is due back in court on Friday.
NBC News
10 hours ago
- NBC News
9-year-old Montreal girl found in an upstate New York pond drowned in a homicide
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — A 9-year-old girl from Canada found dead in an upstate New York pond after her father reported her missing was drowned, according to preliminary autopsy results released Tuesday. Luciano Frattolin, 45, of Montreal, was charged with murdering and concealing the corpse of his daughter, Melina Frattolin. He pleaded not guilty Monday and was being held in a county jail. Frattolin called 911 on Saturday night 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, seeking the public's help in the search. But investigators noticed inconsistencies in the father's account and eventually concluded there was no evidence the girl had been abducted. A team led by state forest rangers found the girl's body on Sunday afternoon in the shallow part of a pond in the woods of Ticonderoga, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Lake George. The criminal complaint said Frattolin concealed her body under a log. The preliminary autopsy results said the cause of death was 'asphyxia due to drowning' and classified it as a homicide, according to state police. Final autopsy results are pending. Police said the father and daughter had been vacationing since July 11 in the U.S. and were expected back in Montreal that weekend. The girl lived with her mother, who has been estranged from Luciano Frattolin since 2019, police said. The investigation into the girl's death is continuing.
