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Toronto Sun
5 days ago
- Toronto Sun
Murder case against father of nine-year-old Montreal girl moves to grand jury in New York
Published Jul 25, 2025 • Last updated 0 minutes ago • 1 minute read Melina Frattolin was reported missing by her father on July 19 in Lake George. On Monday, Luciano Frattolin, 45, was charged with second-degree murder and concealing a body. Image on left via Facebook, image on right via Gambella Coffee MONTREAL — The case against the father of a nine-year-old Montreal girl found dead in Upstate New York will move directly to the grand jury stage. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The court in Ticonderoga, N.Y., and the secretary for the district attorney both confirmed that the felony hearing scheduled to take place today for Luciano Frattolin has been cancelled. Instead the case will move to a grand jury, where its members will assess the prosecution's evidence to decide whether there is probable cause that Frattolin killed his daughter Melina and should stand trial. The 45-year-old has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and the concealment of a human corpse after his daughter's body was found in a shallow pond in New York state last weekend. Police have said Frattolin originally reported his daughter missing and potentially abducted, but officers determined the story to be false. Preliminary autopsy results released this week concluded the nine-year-old Canadian girl died from asphyxia due to drowning, and the death was ruled a homicide. Read More Hockey Toronto & GTA Sports Toronto & GTA Columnists
Toronto Sun
7 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Legal battles of Luciano Frattolin, man accused of killing his 9-year-old daughter
Bank suing to recover more than $150,000 in unpaid bills associated with coffee-distribution company, rental property Published Jul 23, 2025 • Last updated 21 minutes ago • 4 minute read Luciano Frattolin is seen in a photo from the Gambella Coffee website. Montreal businessman Luciano Frattolin, who is charged with his daughter's murder in New York state, was facing deep debt and was involved in multiple legal proceedings this year, court documents reveal. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Among them is a lawsuit filed by Frattolin in which he alleges a business associate threatened to jeopardize access to his daughter, Melina. Frattolin, 45, reported nine-year-old Melina as kidnapped on Saturday during their vacation to the United States, triggering an Amber Alert and extensive search. She was expected to return that weekend to her mother in Montreal, who has had full custody since a 2019 separation from Frattolin. Melina's body was discovered in a pond Sunday afternoon and her father was arrested. Frattolin is charged with second-degree murder as well as concealing a body in connection with her death. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday. Preliminary findings from an autopsy found Melina died from asphyxia due to drowning, New York State Police said Tuesday. Her death was classified as a homicide and the investigation is ongoing. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Police have said Frattolin has no history of reported domestic violence. He doesn't have a criminal record, according to provincial and municipal court records. But court records in Montreal show Frattolin was involved in at least five legal proceedings in 2025. He is listed as the plaintiff in three of them. Prior to his arrest, the businessman's Instagram account documented various trips, photos with his daughter and the appearance of a lavish lifestyle. He was also reportedly prominent in Ethiopia because of his business dealings there — but Frattolin appeared to be in major debt, according to filings. In two of the cases, Scotiabank was suing him to recover more than $150,000 in unpaid bills associated with two of his businesses: Gambella Coffee and a short-term rental property. The filings show the debt was accrued through different financial means, including multiple business credit cards and lines of credit. Some of the contracts date back to 2022. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Documents show Frattolin's lawyer answered the summons in both cases. In a filing from May, there is a notice for a first-case protocol in the case centred on unpaid amounts associated with the rental property. Frattolin also filed a lawsuit against a man hired as the property manager for his short-term rental property in the Mile End neighbourhood. In the filing, his lawyer said Frattolin was informed last August by the building's landlords that rental payments totalling more than $26,000, or about 10 months of rent, had not been paid. The landlords terminated the commercial lease, but Frattolin alleged the property manager was tasked with paying rent as part of his job. Emails included with the filing show the landlords would not reconsider a lease with Frattolin unless the missed rent payments were made in full. The court records also show a letter of demand was sent by Frattolin's lawyer in September 2024 to the property manager, terminating the contract. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Frattolin lived in Canada on a part-time basis and started the Airbnb as a way to provide for his daughter and pay his expenses, according to court documents. Quebec's business registry shows Frattolin recently listed two addresses as his residences: one in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough and the other in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The filing reads Frattolin was 'left with considerable sums to pay the arrears of rent, interests penalties and charges related to the property' and hasn't 'received any business revenue since August 2024.' At the property, Frattolin stored some personal belongings and his daughter's winter clothes and toys before leaving Canada. But he hasn't been able to access the property, the filing states. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. His lawyer also alleged that the property manager had accused Frattolin of emptying the business bank account and 'fleeing the country.' The lawyer wrote the alleged accusations are 'frivolous and completely false.' In the filing, Frattolin alleged the property manager threatened to work with the mother of his child to prevent him from entering Quebec due to the business's unpaid taxes. This has not been tested in court. The property manager is also alleged to have used Frattolin's business permit and 'appears to be running the very same business' under a different name, the filing reads. In April, a judge granted Frattolin's application for a safeguard order. He also ordered the property manager to 'cease all rental and management activities' related to the property, to hand over keys and any other means to access the property, and to provide a list of all homestay websites and applications used for the business's operations. The same ruling notes the defendants — the property manager and three people listed as mises en cause, including the landlords — were absent and not represented by a lawyer. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The court documents consulted by The Gazette did not include a response by the property manager to the filing. Frattolin was also before the courts for other matters this year. In two other cases, he filed motions against three telecommunications giants. He was seeking an order to compel them to disclose the identities of IP addresses that allegedly accessed his email account over several months. In the most recent filing from May, his lawyer said the companies complied with first and complementary orders, but Frattolin was seeking more information about other IP addresses that allegedly accessed a second email account of his. With files from The Gazette's Paul Cherry and The Canadian Press Sports Golf Canada Toronto & GTA Columnists
Montreal Gazette
7 days ago
- Montreal Gazette
The legal battles of Luciano Frattolin, the man accused of killing his 9-year-old daughter
Montreal Crime Montreal businessman Luciano Frattolin, who is charged with his daughter's murder in New York state, was facing deep debt and was involved in multiple legal proceedings this year, court documents reveal. Among them is a lawsuit filed by Frattolin in which he alleges a business associate threatened to jeopardize access to his daughter, Melina. Frattolin, 45, reported nine-year-old Melina as kidnapped on Saturday during their vacation to the United States, triggering an Amber Alert and extensive search. She was expected to return that weekend to her mother in Montreal, who has had full custody since a 2019 separation from Frattolin. Melina's body was discovered in a pond Sunday afternoon and her father was arrested. Frattolin is charged with second-degree murder as well as concealing a body in connection with her death. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday. Preliminary findings from an autopsy found Melina died from asphyxia due to drowning, New York State Police said Tuesday. Her death was classified as a homicide and the investigation is ongoing. Police have said Frattolin has no history of reported domestic violence. He doesn't have a criminal record, according to provincial and municipal court records. But court records in Montreal show Frattolin was involved in at least five legal proceedings in 2025. He is listed as the plaintiff in three of them. Prior to his arrest, the businessman's Instagram account documented various trips, photos with his daughter and the appearance of a lavish lifestyle. He was also reportedly prominent in Ethiopia because of his business dealings there — but Frattolin appeared to be in major debt, according to filings. In two of the cases, Scotiabank was suing him to recover more than $150,000 in unpaid bills associated with two of his businesses: Gambella Coffee and a short-term rental property. The filings show the debt was accrued through different financial means, including multiple business credit cards and lines of credit. Some of the contracts date back to 2022. Documents show Frattolin's lawyer answered the summons in both cases. In a filing from May, there is a notice for a first-case protocol in the case centred on unpaid amounts associated with the rental property. Frattolin also filed a lawsuit against a man hired as the property manager for his short-term rental property in the Mile End neighbourhood. In the filing, his lawyer said Frattolin was informed last August by the building's landlords that rental payments totalling more than $26,000, or about 10 months of rent, had not been paid. The landlords terminated the commercial lease, but Frattolin alleged the property manager was tasked with paying rent as part of his job. Emails included with the filing show the landlords would not reconsider a lease with Frattolin unless the missed rent payments were made in full. The court records also show a letter of demand was sent by Frattolin's lawyer in September 2024 to the property manager, terminating the contract. Frattolin lived in Canada on a part-time basis and started the Airbnb as a way to provide for his daughter and pay his expenses, according to court documents. Quebec's business registry shows Frattolin recently listed two addresses as his residences: one in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough and the other in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The filing reads Frattolin was 'left with considerable sums to pay the arrears of rent, interests penalties and charges related to the property' and hasn't 'received any business revenue since August 2024.' At the property, Frattolin stored some personal belongings and his daughter's winter clothes and toys before leaving Canada. But he hasn't been able to access the property, the filing states. His lawyer also alleged that the property manager had accused Frattolin of emptying the business bank account and 'fleeing the country.' The lawyer wrote the alleged accusations are 'frivolous and completely false.' In the filing, Frattolin alleged the property manager threatened to work with the mother of his child to prevent him from entering Quebec due to the business's unpaid taxes. This has not been tested in court. The property manager is also alleged to have used Frattolin's business permit and 'appears to be running the very same business' under a different name, the filing reads. In April, a judge granted Frattolin's application for a safeguard order. He also ordered the property manager to 'cease all rental and management activities' related to the property, to hand over keys and any other means to access the property, and to provide a list of all homestay websites and applications used for the business's operations. The same ruling notes the defendants — the property manager and three people listed as mises en cause, including the landlords — were absent and not represented by a lawyer. The court documents consulted by The Gazette did not include a response by the property manager to the filing. Frattolin was also before the courts for other matters this year. In two other cases, he filed motions against three telecommunications giants. He was seeking an order to compel them to disclose the identities of IP addresses that allegedly accessed his email account over several months. In the most recent filing from May, his lawyer said the companies complied with first and complementary orders, but Frattolin was seeking more information about other IP addresses that allegedly accessed a second email account of his. This story was originally published
International Business Times
23-07-2025
- International Business Times
Melina Frattolin's Shocking Cause of Death Revealed after Preliminary Autopsy as Her Dad Faces Murder Charges
Melina Frattolin, the nine-year-old girl who was found dead just hours after her father claimed that she was kidnapped, died from drowning, her autopsy has confirmed. Luciano Frattolin reported his daughter missing on Saturday, telling authorities she had been taken by someone driving a white van in upstate New York. However, police later said Luciano had misled the investigation after they found the young girl's lifeless body underneath a log in the shallow waters of a pond near Ticonderoga. Luciano Frattolin, a Canadian CEO, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder of his daughter on Sunday. He is currently being held in custody and has entered a not guilty plea. Bizarre Motive Behind Drowning Daughter Melina Frattolin X The autopsy has since determined that Melina's cause of death was asphyxia resulting from drowning. Frattolin, 45, who once claimed himself to be a successful coffee business owner living a lavish lifestyle, appeared in court on Monday facing charges of killing his daughter Melina during a trip to upstate New York. Captain Robert McConnell said that Frattolin killed his daughter Melina on Saturday night while they were vacationing near the scenic town of Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains, roughly 60 miles north of Albany. Luciano Frattolin's mugshot after his arrest X While police have not formally identified a motive, the timeline presented during Monday's press conference suggests that the alleged murder took place just as Luciano was preparing to give custody of his daughter. The pair was last seen on surveillance video in Saratoga Springs around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, police said. Young Melina sounded completely normal when she spoke with her mother on the phone around 6:30 p.m., just before she and her father were supposed to catch a flight back to Quebec, police said. Father's Mental Health in Question Luciano reportedly was struggling to keep up with child support payments—and shared bizarre social posts claiming the young girl had turned his life upside down. Frattolin, who was born in Ethiopia, praised Melina on the official website of his Montreal-based coffee business, Gambella Coffee, describing her as "beautiful" and "the light of his life." However, the write-up also revealed unsettling clues about his troubled mental state. Luciano Frattolin with his daughter Melina Instagram He admitted struggling to cope with his daughter's "messy art projects" and "chaotic" toys, because of his obsession with keeping "perfect order" in his home. In the biography—which has since been removed from the web—he also referenced a life marked by deep personal struggles, mentioning experiences with "racism," "feelings of isolation," and the loss of his father as a teenager. Frattolin hints at an "unfortunate event" in 2019 that he claimed had a serious impact on his mental health and forced him onto a "long and arduous" path toward healing. Luciano Frattolin with his daughter Melina Instagram Police revealed during a press conference on Monday that he became estranged from his ex-wife that same year. Alongside emotional turmoil and a strained relationship with his former spouse, Frattolin was also dealing with over $200,000 in debt linked to his business ventures in Montreal. Since 2020, the struggling businessman had been renting a property in Montreal's trendy Mile End neighborhood, which he subleased on Airbnb, according to La Presse. He hired two property managers to run the venture, including handling rent payments—allowing him to use the remaining income to cover child support, according to court records reviewed by the outlet. However, his lease was terminated by the landlord in August 2024 after he fell behind by $26,000 in rent. He was subsequently barred from accessing the property, where he claimed he kept his daughter's winter clothes and toys. Frattolin is now suing the property managers for more than $115,000, alleging they misused the rental unit without his consent and failed to pay the rent as agreed, according to Le Devoir. In response, the property managers accused Frattolin of planning to empty his bank account and leave the country — a claim he has denied. Luciano Frattolin with his daughter Melina Instagram A former staff member at Dépanneur Café, a coffee shop previously owned by Frattolin, said he had been splitting his time between Italy and Canada over the past year and a half. Frattolin reportedly still owes the Bank of Nova Scotia around $83,000 related to that business. The bank also claims he is responsible for another $97,000 in unpaid credit card debt from Café Gambella, a second coffee venture that shares its name with his online coffee brand. However, Frattolin's Instagram painted a starkly different picture of his finances, filled with images of luxurious travel, high-end sports cars, and captions like "I'm truly addicted to Porsche."
Vancouver Sun
22-07-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Who is Luciano Frattolin, the Montreal father accused of murdering his daughter?
A Montreal businessman has been charged with second-degree murder and the concealment of a corpse after the body of his nine-year daughter, Melina, was found over the weekend in New York state, where the two were are vacation. Here's what to know. Luciano Frattolin, 45, is the founder of Gambella Coffee, a company based in Montreal and named after a coffee-growing region in Ethiopia where he was born. The website for the company appears to have been taken down, but an archived version of the site includes a biography of the founder. It calls Frattolin 'an experienced entrepreneur with a proven track record of building diverse, high-performance businesses. With a background in the humanities and social sciences, his formal education, together with his pragmatic understanding about the complexities of life, motivates him to maintain an understanding of the world grounded in a distinct cross-cultural ethos.' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The site adds that he is the son of an Ethiopian mother and an Italian father, and that he spent his childhood 'running between rows of crimson coffee buds on the Ethiopian family plantation, and the neoclassical architecture of his father's Milano.' It says that his father died when Frattolin was just 17, and that he 'reconciled the difficulties he faced during his youth by embodying the Nietzschean attitude of, 'That which does not kill him makes him stronger.'' The company's Instagram account remains active, as does an account for Frattolin . New York State Police said Frattolin has dual citizenship in Ethiopia and Italy and a Canadian visa. It does, referring to her as 'the light of his life' and 'the inspiration for … well, everything.' It adds: ' Seeing the world through her eyes has also helped Luciano look for creative ways to reinforce and empower Melina to know, feel, and understand her own unique individual beauty and intellect, while also teaching her to celebrate those same virtues inherent in the world's diversity. On a lighter note, Melina has also taught Luciano to let go of his rigid tendencies to keep everything in 'perfect order' — his love for Melina's messy art projects and chaotic ensemble of toys supersedes his love for a meticulously spotless home.' According to the Montreal Gazette , Frattolin and Melina's mother have been estranged since 2019, and the child resided full-time with her mother. The paper quotes a police investigation that found that Frattolin and his daughter legally entered the United States on July 11 for the purpose of a vacation and were expected to return on July 19, when Melina was to have been returned to the custody of her mother. According to the Gazette and other sources, a police investigation found that Melina was killed between 7:40 p.m. and 9:12 p.m. on Saturday. The felony complaint filed against Frattolin on Monday at a courthouse in Ticonderoga, N.Y., alleges he concealed her body by 'positioning her under a log in a waterway.' 'On Saturday, July 19, at approximately 10 p.m., Warren County 911 received a call from a man reporting his daughter missing, with a possible abduction,' New York State Police Capt. Robert McConnell said at a press conference, per the Gazette. The next day, they conducted a search in Ticonderoga, 'in an area Mr. Frattolin was suspected of having visited. During that search detail, at approximately (1:50 p.m.), members of the New York State Police Forest Rangers located Melina deceased in the shallow portion of a pond.' According to local reports , authorities initially treated the case as a potential abduction, issuing an AMBER Alert and launching a multi-agency search. But as the investigation unfolded, inconsistencies in Frattolin's account raised concerns; police say they determined the abduction story was fabricated and that Frattolin had deliberately misled investigators. Reports say that when Frattolin was arraigned Monday morning in court, a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf before he was returned to the Essex County jail. He spoke only briefly in court, telling Judge Richard Carpenter that the address listed for him in Montreal was incorrect, and that he could not afford an attorney. According to the Gazette, the last address for Frattolin is a bed and breakfast on Bernard Street in Montreal's Mile End neighbourhood. There was mail piled on the staircase inside the entrance's doorway, and no answer when journalists knocked at the door. Two people told the Gazette he is no longer involved with the business at the address, which is listed as a five-room hotel. The paper also found that the address listed for Gambella Coffee in downtown Montreal seemed to be either incorrect or outdated, the suite being the site of a law office. Neither he nor the company were listed in the building's directory, and an employee at the front desk did not know Frattolin or many details about the company, it noted. McConnell of the New York State Police said the cause of Melina's death is currently unknown and that Frattolin has no criminal record or any history of domestic violence. The Gazette reports that, according to provincial and municipal court records, Frattolin does not have a criminal record. He is currently involved in five lawsuits that were all filed this year, four as the plaintiff and one as the defendant, in which he is being sued by the Bank of Nova Scotia for around $83,000 on Dépanneur Café, a coffee shop he once owned. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
