46-Year-Old Canadian Coffee Brand CEO Drowns 9-Year-Old Daughter in Shallow Pond to Retaliate Against Ex-Wife

Brief (coffeeyo.com): Luciano Fratolin, 46, founder and CEO of Montreal organic coffee brand Gambella Coffee, was convicted on August 10, 2026 of drowning his 9-year-old daughter Melina in a shallow New York pond—a premeditated act prosecutors say was revenge against his ex-wife—and could face life in prison.

Luciano Fratolin, 46, is the founder and CEO of Gambella Coffee, an organic coffee brand based in Montreal, Canada. According to the company’s website, his 9-year-old biological daughter Melina was the “light of his life.”

However, on the evening of July 19, 2025, Fratolin drove with his daughter Melina south from Montreal into the United States, pulling off the New York State interstate and stopping beside a remote trail…

On August 10, 2026 local time, a jury in Essex County, New York State, deliberated for about an hour and found Fratolin guilty of second-degree murder and concealing a corpse. He could face up to life in prison.

Prosecutors alleged that Fratolin drowned his daughter Melina in a shallow pond in New York State, and that this father-daughter trip across Canada and the United States was a planned journey with the purpose of killing his daughter, motivated by revenge against his ex-wife.

An autopsy showed that Melina died of asphyxial drowning. When her body was found, a fallen tree and a large rock partially covered it.

After killing his daughter, Fratolin called the police to report her missing, claiming that two men driving a white van had taken her away.

(Fratolin, 46, charged with second-degree murder and concealing a corpse.)

Claimed His Daughter Was Kidnapped by His Ex-Wife

Police found several handwritten notes in the Toyota Prius rented by Fratolin. The prosecution presented these materials as evidence of intentional murder. One read “end this madness,” and another note read “do not let Melina suffer anymore.”

The prosecution also presented documents in which Fratolin disparaged Melina’s mother. According to reports, one note called the child’s mother “evil” and “unfit to be a mother.” Essex County District Attorney Michael Lange revealed that there were also notes in the car mentioning taking the daughter toward an “end point.”

What did the “madness” in the notes refer to? The prosecution believed it was related to a “custody war” surrounding the daughter.

Court documents show that Fratolin and Melina’s mother, Cari Galanis, have been separated since 2019, and Galanis holds full custody of Melina.

Fratolin told police that he and his daughter had been the victims of a kidnapping: he pulled over by the road, turned around to give his daughter “privacy,” and when he looked back he saw two men shove his daughter into a white van. He said he chased the vehicle for 15 to 20 minutes before stopping to call the police.

Fratolin claimed that his ex-wife Galanis had abused their daughter and might have orchestrated the kidnapping to frame him. In a recorded interrogation, he said: “If she was behind this, she did it to make me look like the bad guy.”

Ex-Wife Asked to Speak with Daughter; He Replied “She’s Asleep”

Fratolin was born in Ethiopia, holds an Italian passport, and founded the organic coffee brand. Court documents show he displayed lavish African safari trips on social media.

According to reports, in January 2025, Fratolin proposed taking Melina on a two-week trip to his home country of Ethiopia.

(Fratolin with 9-year-old daughter Melina.)

Melina’s mother Galanis testified in court that her daughter said “she didn’t want to go.” Galanis also said she began to worry about Fratolin’s plan to take their daughter abroad, because her lawyer had mentioned cases in which some divorced spouses take children to other countries and refuse to send them back. Moreover, her daughter had relayed to her some “disturbing, alarming” things her father had said.

Fratolin then proposed going to New York instead. Galanis eventually agreed, letting their daughter travel with her father starting July 11, with a plan to return to Montreal on the evening of July 19.

At 20:42 on July 19, 2025, the agreed return time had passed. Galanis began texting and called three times in a row. No one answered.

At 20:52, Fratolin finally replied: “I’m on my way back.”

Galanis asked to speak with her daughter. Fratolin replied: “She’s asleep.”

A Roll of Tape with Long Hair Stuck to It Found in the Car

Over the next 40-plus minutes, Galanis kept pressing for when they would be home. Fratolin blamed traffic for the delay and at one point claimed they were less than 20 minutes from their Montreal residence. Then he stopped replying. The calls went straight to voicemail.

At 21:58, Fratolin called the police to report his daughter missing.

At trial, the prosecution presented electronic and physical evidence to reconstruct Fratolin’s movements that day. According to the prosecution’s opening statement, GPS data showed Fratolin stayed near the area where the body was found for nearly an hour. The prosecution said Fratolin deliberately hid his daughter’s body beside a fallen tree and under a rock.

(Fratolin after his first contact with police on the evening of July 19, 2025.)

Around 5:30 p.m. that day, surveillance footage from a McDonald’s restaurant showed the father and daughter leaving together.

Law enforcement later found Fratolin’s wet clothes and shoes in a trash bag by Interstate 87. The prosecution said the mud on the clothing matched the soil in the wetland area where the body was found.

Investigators also found a roll of tape in his car with long hair stuck to it. In a sworn affidavit, an investigator wrote that this “suggests it had been used to bind a person.”

Fratolin is scheduled to be sentenced on October 14, 2026, and could face up to life in prison. He remains in custody and may appeal within one month.

Source: Red Star News (Reporter: Deng Shuyi). Original title: “46-Year-Old Canadian Coffee Brand CEO Drowns 9-Year-Old Daughter in Shallow Pond to Retaliate Against Ex-Wife; Could Face Life in Prison.”

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