(Elizabethtown) The father of a 9 -year -old Montreal girl, found drowned in a northern New York state pond, was charged by a large jury and will undergo his trial for second degree murder.
Luciano Frattolin appeared on Wednesday before a court of Elizabethtown, in New York State, where he pleaded not guilty of second degree and concealment of corpse. He called for a bail, but his request was refused.
Melina Frattolin’s body, 9, was found in a shallow pond on July 20 in Ticonderoga, in New York State, near the border with the Vermont.
New York State police said Luciano Frattolin, 45, initially reported the disappearance and the possible kidnapping of his daughter, but that the police had concluded that this information was false. They arrested him for the murder of the child on July 21.
Judge Tatiana Coffinger ordered her placement in pre -trial detention without the possibility of bail, claiming that her decision “is the only way to guarantee his appearance before the court”.
Read “Murina of Melina Frattolin: How does a great jury work?” »»
“I cannot guarantee his return,” she said.
A prosecutor spokesperson confirmed that the father’s file had been presented to a large jury, who made an indictment after determining that there were enough elements for the holding of a trial.
The case will return to court on August 19, when prosecutors should take stock of the disclosure of evidence.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Michael Langey, a prosecutor of the county of Essex, argued that the accused was likely to flee and had no connection with the United States. He is Italian and Ethiopian citizen, he said, and has passports from the two countries, as well as an international driving license. Luciano Frattolin lies in Canada and Ethiopia, and has companies in these two countries, said Me Langey.
Emily Evatt, lawyer committed from the father’s office, told court that his client does not have an Ethiopian passport.
Me Langey allegedly alleged that Luciano Frattolin had made an offer for a 5 million CAN property in Montreal and had presented a real estate agent of a CAN 30 million bank. The accused would also have tried to sell a mining, added the prosecutor.
“Given his absence of links with our country and the State, and the possible life sentence that he currently faces, the civil party requests his pre -trial detention without surety,” required Michael Langey. In the general opinion, no amount of money would guarantee his return, given his lack of links. »»
Emily Evatt, however, said that his client had no judicial history and by waiting for his trial, he would be hosted with a friend in New York, nearly 430 kilometers to the south. She added that he should be released on bail, that he should put his Italian passport and submit to electronic surveillance.
“He has no reason to flee these allegations; He maintains his innocence and is innocent until proven otherwise, ”said Mr.e Evatt to the court.
Finally, judge Coffinger said that too much information about the accused was unknown to justify his release.
According to the indictment, the father would have drowned his daughter in a pond between 7:35 p.m. and 9:05 p.m. on July 19, in a wooded near Route 74. He is also accused of having tried to hide his body: the accusation act indicates that it was found in water, near a fell tree, a stone on the body.
The preliminary results of the autopsy concluded that the nine -year -old girl died of asphyxiation by drowning, and the death was qualified as homicide.
Luciano Frattolin and Melina’s mother have been separated since 2019. Melina lived full time with her mother, who had not expressed concern about letting her daughter spend time with her father, police said.
Melina and her father arrived in the United States on July 11 for holidays in New York and Connecticut states and had to be back in Montreal on July 20.
On the day of her death, Melina spoke to her mother on the phone around 6:30 p.m. and did not seem to be under any threat, the police said. About three and a half hours later, the father called 911 and reported the disappearance and the possible kidnapping of his 9 -year -old daughter. But over the investigation, the police noted inconsistencies in the account of the events made by the father and in the chronology of Melina’s disappearance.
Police added that the mobile of the murder of the girl was investigated.
On Wednesday, the judge set several dates of treatment of the case for the coming months, the trial before jury being temporarily set for January 5, 2026.
