Mother Testifies Daughter Resisted Overseas Travel Before Alleged Murder by Father

Kali Galanis took the stand Tuesday in Essex County Court to describe how her 9-year-old daughter Melina repeatedly refused to accompany her father, Luciano Frattolin, on an international journey scheduled for January 2025. Galanis testified that Frattolin had proposed a two-week excursion to his native Ethiopia, but Melina’s resistance ultimately stopped the plan from moving forward. The mother said she shared her daughter’s apprehension about the proposed departure.

Galanis revealed that following her 2019 separation from Frattolin, she harbored serious reservations about allowing Melina to travel abroad with him. She told jurors that her legal counsel had cautioned her about documented cases in which separated parents transported children overseas and refused to return them. As Frattolin began discussing an extended Ethiopia itinerary, Galanis said conversations with Melina strengthened her resolve to block the trip entirely.

Rather than the international destination, Frattolin subsequently proposed a northeastern United States vacation instead, Galanis testified. Authorities documented that the pair subsequently traveled through Connecticut and New York before Melina was due to return home to Quebec. On the scheduled return date, Frattolin reported that his daughter had been abducted by two men in a white van, triggering an Amber Alert that investigators later determined was false.

Melina’s remains were discovered partially submerged in shallow water near Eagle Lake in Ticonderoga. Frattolin stands charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse. During Monday testimony, a New York State Police investigator disclosed that Frattolin remarked it would have been “easier” to kill his daughter in overseas locations including Italy or Ethiopia.