Man charged with killing Montreal daughter 'pretty prominent in Ethiopia,' ex-friend says
Luciano Frattolin 'loved his daughter, but he didn’t like the idea of being tied down'
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The man now charged with murdering his nine-year-old daughter from Montreal, while they were on vacation in the U.S., was primarily based in Ethiopia where he liked to display his wealth, a former friend of Luciano Frattolin says.
Frattolin, 45, was charged on Monday, at a courthouse in Ticonderoga, N.Y., with the second-degree murder of his daughter Melina and with concealing her body. Late Saturday night, Frattolin claimed to police that his daughter was kidnapped while he stopped to urinate near an exit on Interstate 87 in Lake George, N.Y.
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While the New York State Police investigated Frattolin’s claims, they noticed his story changed. By early Sunday afternoon, they found Melina’s body under a log in a pond and Frattolin was arrested.
On Monday, the New York State Police said the father and daughter had been on a vacation and entered the U.S. on July 11. The girl was supposed to be returned to her mother in Montreal on Saturday. The police also said Frattolin is estranged from the girl’s mother, a Montreal resident, and that she had full custody of the girl after they separated in 2019.
“His real connection to Montreal was his daughter and his ex-partner, but he didn’t have any real connections to Montreal,” said a man who knew Frattolin for years when both lived in Ethiopia. The man, who asked that his name not be published, said his family had a falling out with Frattolin a few years ago after a land deal went sour when “some of the funds disappeared.”
“From what (Frattolin) said, he truly loved (Melina). He would visit at least once a year. He loved his daughter, but he didn’t like the idea of being tied down,” the man said. “His main base was in Ethiopia, not Montreal.”
The man said Frattolin is “prominent” in Ethiopia because of his business dealings there, which included Frattolin’s interests in a mine and a planned construction of a hotel in Ethiopia connected to a well known international chain of hotels.
In Montreal, Frattolin is listed as the primary shareholder of a numbered company that includes a business called Café Gambella that was created in 2020. On Quebec’s business registry Frattolin lists two addresses as his residences. one is on Bernard St. W. in Plateau-Mont-Royal and the other is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to a report published online, by a media based in Ethiopia in 2019, Frattolin founded a mine along with a company based in Beijing and they “secured a 20-year concession to extract iron ore” from it.
“When he signed (to get financial support for the mine) it was a very big deal,” the man said. “I don’t know if (the mine) went into operation.
Frattolin’s former friend said that after founding the mine, 2019 became “a very dark year” for Frattolin. He was assaulted and the attack caused permanent damage to one of his eyes. The man said he doesn’t know the motive for the assault, but added it caused a chain reaction that caused Melina’s mother to leave him. She visited him in Ethiopia while he was recovering from the assault, the man said, and learned he was seeing another woman.
“That is why they separated.” the man said.
“He was pretty prominent in Ethiopia” the former friend said, adding that Frattolin seemed to spend a lot more time in Italy and Montreal in recent years to avoid problems that arose from business ventures in Ethiopia that were not going well. “He had a lot of bills, so any time things were about to blow up he would travel (to Montreal or Italy) and go back (to Ethiopia) once things cooled down.”
The man also said Frattolin was “very image conscious,” something that is clearly on display in Frattolin’s Instagram account. He was always well dressed, wore an expensive watch “and he never flew coach,” the former friend said.
“He was one of the first people to bring a Porsche into Ethiopia. He also had a Land Cruiser. He had two (luxury) cars, so in Ethiopia he would be considered a very well-off person,” the man said.
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