Former coffee entrepreneur Luciano Frattolin has been convicted of killing his nine-year-old daughter, with prosecutors saying he drowned the child in a shallow swamp as part of a calculated act of retaliation against his ex-wife.
Frattolin, 46, the Montreal-based founder of the organic coffee company Gambella, was found guilty Monday of second-degree murder and concealment of a body in the death of his daughter, Melina, last year, the New York Post reports.
Authorities said Frattolin, who lived in Montreal, Canada, brought Melina on a trip through the northeastern United States in the summer of 2025. Prosecutors argued the journey was a cover for a murder plot, claiming he wanted to avoid future child support payments.
Melina’s body was discovered on July 19, 2025, concealed beneath a log in a secluded pond in Ticonderoga, New York, investigators said.
During closing arguments Monday, the Essex County district attorney described the heartbreaking scene in court. “Melina’s short life came to a violent end,” he said, noting that the child’s long black hair, recently taken out of braids, was found matted with dirt, grass and mud.
As prosecutors spoke about his daughter’s final moments, Frattolin shook his head and appeared to show no remorse, according to the Post.
The jury at the New Jersey courthouse reached its decision quickly, deliberating for roughly an hour before returning the guilty verdict.
Frattolin has continued to insist that Melina was abducted under mysterious circumstances on the night she died.
Luciano Frattolin, 46, the founder of organic coffee brand Gambella, was found guilty on Monday of second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse charges
Prosecutors said Frattolin brought his nine-year-old daughter, Melina, on a trip to the United States in a ploy to kill her so he could avoid paying child support
He had called authorities at around 9.30pm on July 19, 2025 from Lake George, New York, claiming Melina was forced into a white van.
Frattolin also said he chased the van for 15 to 20 minutes before he decided to stop in Warren County to make the call.
The report sparked a massive manhunt for Melina, as law enforcement officers stopped white vans throughout the region.
At first, prosecutors said Frattolin cooperated with the investigators by allowing them to search his vehicle and cellphone as well as Melina’s phone.
But Frattolin changed his story as investigators uncovered new evidence in the case.
According to the prosecution, what officers had expected to be a brief drive to the alleged abduction site instead took hours, with Frattolin repeatedly redirecting officers.
At one point, he even allegedly told the cops they traveled too far north on Interstate 87 when they approached Exit 28 – though his cellphone and vehicle data placed Frattolin in the area, where he stayed for nearly an hour.
When he was then questioned about the stop, Frattolin allegedly told investigators that he and Melina had been looking for a place to hike or swim.
The young girl’s remains were then found on July 19, 2025 hidden under a log in a remote pond in the town of Ticonderoga, New York
Investigators also noted that Frattolin told them he had been unable to access his cellphone immediately after the abduction because it had fallen between the seats of his rental car.
Yet prosecutors said there is evidence showing he had texted the girl’s mother, Kali Galanis, that Melina would be home in 10 minutes.
Galanis, though, had already become worried about her daughter.
She had been tracking the young girl through her phone, but after Melina and Frattolin stopped at a McDonald’s in Saratoga Springs earlier in the night, she lost access.
Authorities later discovered that the McDonald’s was the last place the nine-year-old girl’s phone showed any activity.
Video footage from the restaurant also allegedly showed Frattolin wearing different clothes than what he was seen donning after reporting his daughter missing.
Officers later located his wet clothes and shoes in a garbage bag off of I-87.
When the coffee guru was then questioned about Melina’s disappearance, he admitted it ‘would’ve been easier’ to murder the young girl overseas, either in Italy or Ethiopia, New York State Police investigator Daniel Mauro testified during the trial.
Frattolin now faces life in prison.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
