Luciano Frattolin, Montreal, Canada dad who killed 9 year old daughter, Melina was struggling with piling debt, failed business projects, lawsuits and struggling paying child support along with previously alluding to the young girl ‘disrupting his life’.
A Canada dad who allegedly killed his 9 year old daughter while the father and daughter were travelling upstate NY had been burdened with massive debt and struggling to pay child support, including the dad sharing how the young girl had ‘disrupted his life.’
While on his coffee website, Luciano Frattolin, 45, spoke about living a successful life as an entrepreneur, it was while appearing in court on Monday on charges of murdering his daughter, Melina, the parent told a judge that he was broke and couldn’t afford a lawyer.
Melina Frattolin cause of death ruled to be asphyxiation by drowning (body found hidden underneath log in shallow pond)
Montreal dad resented adjusting personal life for daughter
Frattolin, who was born in Ethiopia, spoke glowingly of Melina on his corporate bio page for his Montreal-based java company, Gabella Coffee, calling her ‘beautiful’ and ‘the light of his life.’
But the write-up also alluded to the father’s fragile state of mind.
He conceded he had to learn to live with his daughter’s ‘messy art projects’ and ‘chaotic’ toys because of his obsession with keeping ‘perfect order’ in his home.
In the bio – which has since been scrubbed from the Internet – the businessman also alludes to a life of painful hardships he’s had to endure, including ‘incidences of racism,’ ‘feelings of isolation’ and the death of his father as a teenager.
Montreal dad struggling with debt and bad business dealings
Frattolin was estranged form Melina’s mom, with whom he separated with in 2019 and whom had full custody of the child and who the child was supposed to be returned to on the day the 9 year old girl was found deceased after the father telling cops a ‘white van had snatched her.’ A story that authorities deemed to be a hoax and full of inconsistencies.
Less than 24 hours later, the missing 9 year old girl was found dead in shallow pond waters in Ticonderoga, less than an hour where the father reported last seeing his daughter, Melina Frattolin.
The manner and cause of death was now pending an autopsy.
It was also revealed in court, that the businessman was was more than $150,000 in debt stemming from business dealings in Montreal.
The flailing entrepreneur had rented a property in the hip Montreal enclave of Mile End since 2020, which he sublet as an Airbnb, according to a report in La Presse.
He hired two property managers to run the venture, including having them make the rent payments he owed — enabling him to pay his daughter’s child support with what he netted afterward, he said in court documents obtained by the outlet.
But his lease was terminated by the landlord in August 2024 when he fell $26,000 behind in rent.
He was also being denied access to the property, where he said he stored his daughter’s winter clothing and toys.
He is currently suing the managers for more than $115,000, claiming they exploited the property without his knowledge and never made the rent payments as promised, according to Le Devoir.
In turn, the managers alleged Frattolin had planned to empty his bank account and flee the country, which he denied.
Frattolin was also a further $33,000 in debt on his bed and breakfast credit card which he accused his business partner of using for fraudulent purposes and who had diverted revenues after allegedly filing under a new name without Frattolin’s knowledge.
An employee of Dépanneur Café, a coffee shop Frattolin once owned and on which he still owes Bank of Nova Scotia about $83,000, said the Montreal businessman had been splitting his time between Italy and Canada for the past 18 months.
The bank said Frattolin also owed them $97,000 in unpaid credit-card debts from Café Gambella, another coffee shop bearing the same name as his online java business.
During Monday’s court arraignment, Frattolin entered a not-guilty plea after being charged with second-degree murder along with concealment of a corpse.
He’s due back in court July 25.
