Latest news with #LucianoFrattolin
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Killer Dad? Canadian man accused of murdering his 9-year-old daughter
Luciano Frattolin - a Canadian coffee entrepreneur - is accused of murdering his 9-year-old daughter and stashing her body in the woods while the two vacationed in upstate New York York, Hunter Biden spills the tea on his dad's debate performance in a new interview, and remembering Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor best known for playing Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, dead at 54.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Awful public insults 'killer dad' Luciano Frattolin leveled at daughter, 9, as it's revealed he was $200k in debt
The Canadian father who allegedly killed his nine-year-old daughter in New York had insulted her 'messy art projects' and 'chaotic' toys on his coffee business's website. Luciano Frattolin, 45, wrote on his Gambella Coffee website that he struggled with daughter Melina's impact on his life because of his obsession with keeping 'perfect order' in his home. The businessman included candid insights into his 'feelings of isolation' and struggles with 'incidences of racism', and said he was hit hard by the death of his father as a teenager. At his arraignment on Monday, where he hung his head in shame as he was perp-walked into Ticonderoga Town Court in upstate New York, Frattolin also revealed he is mired in debt. He said he is more than $200,000 in debt due to his failing business in Canada, and admitted he could not afford a lawyer as he pleaded not guilty to murdering Melina. According to authorities, Frattolin killed his little girl as they were heading home from a vacation in New York on Saturday night, and he was set to give custody back to her mother. He called 911 in upstate New York and claimed that she had been abducted, but soon after an AMBER alert was issued, suspicion fell on Luciano. Cops said he had 'inconsistencies' in his story of the abduction, before her body was found in a lake in a remote stretch in Ticonderoga, New York, around 45 miles south of where her father said she had last been seen. Despite his apparent insults at his daughter's 'messy' impact on his life, Frattolin also wrote on his coffee website bio that she is the 'light of his life.' 'She is the inspiration for... well, everything,' the bio read. 'His pursuits for building a more equitable and just world are deeply guided by his determination that she will not have to endure the same social injustices that he encountered throughout his childhood.' The bio has since been scrubbed from the internet, with Frattolin's coffee company and failing business ventures said to have severely impacted him in recent years. According to a report in Canadian news outlet La Presse, Frattolin had rented a property in a hip neighborhood in Montreal since 2020, which he subletted as an Airbnb. He said in court documents reported by the outlet that he hired two property managers to run the Airbnb and make the rent payments, which he then used to pay for Melina's child support. But he still fell $26,000 behind in rent, and his lease was terminated by the landlord in August 2024. Frattolin is currently suing the two property managers for over $115,000, alleging that they never made the rental payments as promised, per Le Devoir. The managers countered that Frattolin had plans to flee the country and empty his bank account, which he denied. The Bank of Nova Scotia said Frattolin owed around $83,000 on Dépanneur Café, coffee shop he once owned, alongside $97,000 in credit card debt from Café Gambella, a coffee shop with the same name as his failing coffee business. After Melina's body was found on Sunday, Frattolin is now facing charges of second-degree murder and concealment of a corpse. At a press conference on Monday, officers said they came to believe he 'fabricated' his report of an abduction due to inconsistencies with his story. He initially claimed that his daughter was kidnapped near Lake George in upstate New York when he pulled over to urinate in the woods. He said he turned around to find that Melina was missing, and saw a 'suspicious white van' fleeing the scene. But he later said that 'two unknown males forced' his daughter into the white van. At the press conference, officials said that Luciano and Melina had traveled to the US from Canada on July 11 for a vacation, and were expected to return on Sunday. Luciano and Melina had spent the week on vacation in New York, but he was set to hand custody of his daughter back to her mother that day, officials said. Melina's mother had full-time custody, and had been estranged from Luciano since 2019. At around 6:30pm on Saturday, Melina phoned her mom to say she was heading back to Canada, but sometime that night she was allegedly murdered. The little girl was found in the shallow portion of a pond in upstate New York near the town of Ticonderoga on Sunday. Her cause of death is not yet known, and officials said they would perform an autopsy on Monday.
International Business Times
7 hours ago
- International Business Times
Luciano Frattolin: Dad Who Killed His Daughter Was Struggling to Pay Child Support as He Tells Court He's Broke and Can't Hire a Lawyer
The Canadian father charged with murdering his nine-year-old daughter was reportedly drowning in debt, was struggling to keep up with child support payments—and shared bizarre social posts claiming the young girl had turned his life upside down. Luciano 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. He told a judge that he couldn't hire a lawyer. This came as it was revealed that Frattolin hid his daughter's body in a remote pond after telling cops that two men had kidnapped her. Motive Behind Murder Luciano Frattolin's mugshot after his arrest X 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. 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. Luciano Frattolin with his daughter Melina Instagram 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 a "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. 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. Struggling to Survive 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. Melina Frattolin X 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 planned to empty his bank account and leave the country — a claim he has denied. 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. Luciano Frattolin with his daughter Melina Instagram 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." He and his daughter were on a vacation in the Lake George area shortly before she was killed — just about 30 miles from where her body was later discovered. Prior to the grim discovery, police said Frattolin had filed a false report claiming that Milena had been abducted by two men in a white van near Exit 22 on I-87 — less than an hour after she had spoken to her mother by phone before their scheduled flight back to Quebec. 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 with his daughter Melina Instagram Frattolin and Melina had entered the U.S. legally and had been on vacation since July 11, with plans to return to Quebec on Sunday. On Monday, Frattolin pleaded not guilty in court. He was charged with second-degree murder — a crime that could result in a life sentence under New York law — along with a charge for hiding a human corpse. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 25.
NDTV
8 hours ago
- NDTV
New York Man, Charged For 9-Year-Old Daughter's Murder, Reported Her Missing
A man whose 9-year-old daughter was found dead in a wooded pond after he reported that she had been abducted while they were they were vacationing in upstate New York was charged Monday with murder. Luciano Frattolin, 45, of Montreal is charged with murdering and concealing the corpse of his daughter, Melina Frattolin, according to New York State Police. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf at his arraignment Monday, according to court officials. The public defender's office assigned to defend Frattolin did not immediately respond to phone and email requests for comment from The Associated Press. Luciano Frattolin called 911 Saturday night and later told authorities his daughter had been abducted from a parking lot near Lake George, a resort town in the Adirondack region, authorities said. That led officials to issue an Amber Alert overnight to enlist the public's help in finding her. But authorities said there were inconsistencies in the father's account, and that they concluded there was no evidence she had been taken. Frattolin initially said he could not find his child after he stepped out of a wooded area at a parking lot near Lake George. 'During a subsequent interview, he then reports two unknown males forced her into a white van,' New York State Police Capt. Robert McConnell said. 'That lead was thoroughly investigated and disproven.' Surveillance video shows the father and daughter in another nearby resort town, Saratoga Springs, at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The girl spoke on the phone with her mother about an hour later and did not indicate she was under duress, police said. Police believe Frattolin killed the girl after the phone call and before he made the 911 call. Forest rangers found the girl's body on Sunday afternoon in the shallows of a pond about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Lake George, in Ticonderoga, authorities said. The criminal complaint said Frattolin concealed her body under a log. An autopsy has been scheduled. Police said the father and daughter had been vacationing since July 11 in the US and were expected back in Montreal that weekend. The girl lived in Montreal with her mother, who has been estranged from Luciano Frattolin since 2019, police said. Frattolin did not respond to requests for comment sent via LinkedIn, Instagram and his company website over the weekend. He described himself as a 'loving father' on his Instagram profile, and on the website of a coffee company said to be founded by him, a post says that his daughter Melina is 'the light of his life.' Police said Frattolin had no prior criminal or domestic violence history.
CBC
13 hours ago
- CBC
Montreal father charged with murdering daughter in New York state
A Montreal man has been charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse, after his nine-year-old daughter was found dead. Police say Luciano Frattolin had initially reported Melina Frattolin missing and possibly abducted.
