Trigger Warning: This article contains references to the alleged child se–-ual abuse and murder that some readers may find distressing.

Luciano Frattolin, 46, is currently on trial in New York, accused of murdering his nine-year-old daughter, Melina Frattolin, in July 2025 during a vacation in the Lake George area. He has pleaded not guilty to a count of second-degree murder and one count of concealment of a human corpse.

Luciano and Melina’s mother, Kali Galanis, separated in 2019 and had been living apart in Montreal. She had sole physical custody of the daughter. Before committing the crime, he had devised a plan to get his daughter’s custody long back. According to evidence presented in the court hearing, he created a ten-year report along with notes that read “Plan A” and “Plan B” to paint Melina’s mother as an evil person to win her custody.

The prosecutor revealed that the father had a press release draft in the glove box of the rental car to tarnish his ex-wife’s image. He wrote, “Kali is simply the queen of evil. You were not supposed to be a mother for a reason.” In one of the notes he wrote, “Death is better than living with you. Your Dad is the only one who can control you.”

Another transcript read, “The problem was never me; it was always your mental illness.” Some bizarre items were also discovered from the glove compartment, such as Melina’s stained clothing, laptop, and multiple con–.

 

Galanis testified in Essex County court this week and told the jury about a two-week trip to Ethiopia in January last year that Luciano had proposed. She said the trip never happened since Melina had objected and the mother was uncomfortable with the plan.

Luciano took his daughter on a New York trip on July 11, 2025, which turned into a gruesome murder. They were expected to be home by evening on July 19. When they never returned, Galanis testified that she called and texted Luciano asking to speak to Melina. However, he told her she was asleep. According to surveillance footage obtained by police, the two were spotted in Saratoga Springs at around 5.30 p.m. the same evening, and Melina had spoken with her mother on the phone about an hour later.

Prosecutors have alleged Luciano killed his daughter sometime between 7 and 9 p.m. that night. By about 10 p.m., he called 911 to report that Melina had been kidnapped by two men in a white van. An Amber Alert was issued, and ultimately Melina’s body was discovered the next afternoon on July 20, in a shallow marsh near a fallen tree in a town of Ticonderoga, which is about 30 miles from Lake George.

Autopsy reports concluded asphyxia due to drowning as the cause of death. Luciano was arrested the next day and has remained in custody at a correctional facility in Essex County. 

State police investigator Jacalyn Sommer noted that Melina’s underpants and a pair of shorts and shirt belonging to Luciano appeared to have “seminal fluid,” according to the New York Post. However, the deceased girl’s clothing, which was sent to forensic labs, did not find semen. Luciano’s clothes have not been tested further.

He is due to appear in court on July 31, 2026.