Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life for Drowning Daughter in Revenge Plot
Luciano Frattolin was also given additional jail time for hiding his 9-year-old daughter Melina's body.
ELIZABETHTOWN, NY – Luciano Frattolin has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for drowning his 9-year-old daughter, Melina, in a swamp as part of a revenge plot against his ex-wife.
"You live in a world of self made delusion of wealth and image when the greatest accomplishment in your life could’ve been as a great father," Judge Tatiana Coffinger stated at Frattolin's sentencing on Wednesday in an upstate New York court. "I hope at some point in your life you will realize what you have done."
Frattolin, 46, was convicted in August by a jury of second-degree murder. Prosecutors alleged he killed his daughter in the Adirondacks during a July 2025 vacation and then disposed of her body near Ticonderoga.
He subsequently claimed the girl had been kidnapped, which led to an Amber Alert and a search of the mountainous region. Coffinger also imposed an additional one-to-three-year sentence for hiding the body, to be served consecutively with the murder sentence.
Prosecutors stated Frattolin was motivated by animus toward Melina's mother, Kali Galanis, who had gained full custody of the child after splitting from Frattolin in 2019. Frattolin maintained his innocence during the sentencing proceedings.
