46岁加拿大咖啡品牌CEO为报复前妻，将9岁亲生女儿淹死在浅水塘，最高可面临终身监禁The 46 year old CEO of a Canadian coffee brand drowned his 9-year-old biological daughter in a shallow pond in retaliation for his ex-wife, and could face up to life imprisonment

46岁的卢恰诺·弗拉托林是加拿大蒙特利尔有机咖啡品牌Gambella Coffee的创始人兼CEO。公司网站上说，9岁的亲生女儿梅利娜是他的“生命之光”。

然而，2025年7月19日傍晚，弗拉托林带着女儿梅利娜从蒙特利尔南下美国，驶下纽约州州际公路，停在一条荒僻步道旁……

当地时间2026年8月10日，纽约州埃塞克斯县法院陪审团商议了大约一个小时，裁定弗拉托林二级谋杀和隐藏尸体罪名成立。他最高可面临终身监禁。

检察官指控称，弗拉托林在纽约州一处浅水塘中淹死了女儿梅利娜，这趟跨越加拿大、美国的父女旅行，是一场以杀女为目的的计划旅行，动机是报复前妻。

验尸结果显示，梅利娜死于窒息性溺水。其遗体被发现时，一棵倒下的树和一块大石部分遮住了她的身体。

杀害女儿后，弗拉托林拨打了报警电话，报告女儿失踪，说两名驾白色货车的男子把她带走了。

▲46岁的弗拉托林被控二级谋杀罪和隐藏尸体罪

自称女儿被前妻策划绑架

警方在弗拉托林租来的丰田普锐斯中发现了多份手写便条。检方将这些材料作为证明故意杀人的证据。其中一张写着“结束这场疯狂”，还有一张便条上写着“不要再让梅利娜受苦了”。

检方还出示了弗拉托林贬损梅利娜母亲的文件。据报道，其中一张便条称孩子母亲“邪恶”，“不配当母亲”。埃塞克斯县地方检察官迈克尔·兰吉透露，车内还有便条提到要把女儿带向“终点”。

便条里的“疯狂”指向什么？检方认为，这与一场围绕女儿的“监护权战争”有关。

法院文件显示，弗拉托林与梅利娜的母亲卡莉·加拉尼斯自2019年起分居，加拉尼斯拥有对梅利娜的完整监护权。

弗拉托林向警方表示，他和女儿遭遇了绑架事件，他在公路旁停车，转过身给女儿留出“方便”的空间。再回头时，他看见两名男子把女儿塞进一辆白色货车。他说自己追了那辆车15到20分钟才停下来报警。

弗拉托林声称，前妻加拉尼斯虐待女儿，还可能策划绑架来陷害他。在一段审讯录音中，他说：“如果这件事是她在背后操纵，她这样做就是为了让我看起来像个坏人。”

前妻要求和女儿通话，他回复“她睡着了”

弗拉托林出生于埃塞俄比亚，持有意大利护照，创办了有机咖啡品牌。法庭文件显示，弗拉托林在社媒上展示过奢华的非洲狩猎旅行。

据报道，2025年1月，弗拉托林提议带梅利娜去自己的祖国埃塞俄比亚旅行两周。

▲弗拉托林与9岁的女儿梅利娜

梅利娜的母亲加拉尼斯在庭上作证说，女儿表示“她不想去”。加拉尼斯同时说，她开始担心弗拉托林带女儿出国的计划，因为她的律师曾向她提起一些案例称，有些离异配偶会把孩子带到其他国家后拒绝送回。而且，女儿还向她转述过一些父亲说的“令人不安、令人警觉”的话。

弗拉托林随后提出改去纽约。加拉尼斯最终同意，让女儿从7月11日开始随父亲旅行，约定7月19日晚回到蒙特利尔。

2025年7月19日20时42分，约定的回家时间已过。加拉尼斯开始发短信，并连续打了三次电话。没有人接。

20时52分，弗拉托林终于回复：“我正在回去。”

加拉尼斯要求和女儿通话。弗拉托林回复：“她睡着了。”

车里找到一卷胶带，上面粘着长发

接下来的40多分钟里，加拉尼斯不断追问他们何时到家。弗拉托林把迟到归咎于交通，还一度声称他们距蒙特利尔的住处不到20分钟。然后，他不再回复。电话直接转入了语音信箱。

21时58分，弗拉托林拨打报警电话，报告女儿失踪。

在庭审中，检方出示了电子证据和物证，用以重建弗拉托林当天的行动轨迹。据检方开庭陈述，GPS数据显示，弗拉托林在遗体附近区域停留了接近一个小时。检方称，弗拉托林故意将女儿遗体藏在倒树旁、压在石头下。

▲2025年7月19日晚，弗拉托林首次与警方接触后的画面

当天傍晚大约5时30分，一家麦当劳餐厅监控画面显示，父女一起离开餐厅。

执法部门后来在87号州际公路旁的一个垃圾袋中，找到弗拉托林的湿衣服和鞋。检方称，衣物上的泥，与发现遗体的湿地区域泥土相符。

调查人员还在他的车里找到一卷胶带，上面粘着长发。调查员在宣誓书中写道，这“表明曾被用于捆绑人”。

弗拉托林定于2026年10月14日接受宣判，最高可面临终身监禁。他目前继续被羁押，可以在一个月内提出上诉。

红星新闻记者 邓纾怡

原标题：《46岁加拿大咖啡品牌CEO为报复前妻，将9岁亲生女儿淹死在浅水塘，最高可面临终身监禁》

Luciano Fratolin, 46, is the founder and CEO of Gambella Coffee, an organic coffee brand based in Montreal, Canada. The company website states that his 9-year-old biological daughter Melina is his' light of life '.

However, on the evening of July 19, 2025, Fratorin and his daughter Melina headed south from Montreal to the United States, drove off the interstate highway in New York, and stopped by a secluded trail

On August 10, 2026 local time, the jury in Essex County Court, New York, deliberated for about an hour and ruled that Fratorin was guilty of second degree murder and concealing a body. He can face up to life imprisonment.

The prosecutor accused Fratolin of drowning his daughter Melina in a shallow pond in New York State. This father daughter trip across Canada and the United States was a planned trip with the intention of killing her daughter, motivated by revenge against her ex-wife.

The autopsy results showed that Melina died from suffocation drowning. When her body was found, a fallen tree and a large stone partially covered her body.

After killing her daughter, Fratolin called the police and reported her missing, saying that two men driving a white truck had taken her away.

46 year old Fratolin charged with second degree murder and concealing a body

Self proclaimed daughter kidnapped by ex-wife's plan

The police found multiple handwritten notes in a Toyota Prius rented from Frattolin. The prosecutor used these materials as evidence to prove intentional homicide. One of them reads' End this madness', and another note reads' Don't let Melina suffer anymore '.

The prosecution also presented documents in which Fratolin belittled Melina's mother. According to reports, one of the notes referred to the child's mother as "evil" and "unworthy of being a mother". Essex County District Prosecutor Michael Langgi revealed that there were notes in the car mentioning taking his daughter to the 'finish line'.

What does the 'madness' in the note point to? The prosecutor believes that this is related to a "custody war" surrounding the daughter.

According to court documents, Fratolin and Melina's mother Carly Galanis have been separated since 2019, and Galanis has full custody of Melina.

Fratolin told the police that he and his daughter were involved in a kidnapping incident. He parked the car next to the highway and turned around to leave a "convenient" space for his daughter. When he turned around again, he saw two men stuffing their daughters into a white truck. He said he chased the car for 15 to 20 minutes before stopping to call the police.

Fratolin claimed that his ex-wife Galanis abused his daughter and may have planned a kidnapping to frame him. In an interrogation recording, he said, "If she was behind this, she did it to make me look like a bad person

My ex-wife requested to talk to my daughter, and he replied, 'She's asleep.'

Fratolin was born in Ethiopia, holds an Italian passport, and founded an organic coffee brand. According to court documents, Fratolin has showcased luxurious African hunting trips on social media.

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

▲ Fratolin and 9-year-old daughter Melina

Melina's mother Galanis testified in court that her daughter said 'she doesn't want to go'. Galanis also said that she began to worry about Fratolin's plan to take her daughter abroad because her lawyer had brought up some cases to her, claiming that some divorced spouses would take their children to other countries and refuse to send them back. Moreover, the daughter also relayed to her some of the father's "unsettling and alarming" words.

Fratolin subsequently proposed to move to New York. Galanis ultimately agreed to let his daughter travel with his father starting from July 11th and agreed to return to Montreal on the evening of July 19th.

At 20:42 on July 19, 2025, the agreed upon time to return home has passed. Galanis started texting and made three consecutive phone calls. No one answered.

At 20:52, Fratolin finally replied, "I'm going back

Galanis requested to speak with his daughter. She fell asleep, "replied Fratorin

I found a roll of tape in the car with long hair stuck on it

Over the next 40 minutes, Galanis kept asking when they would arrive home. Fratolin blamed the lateness on traffic and even claimed that they were less than 20 minutes away from their residence in Montreal. Then, he no longer replied. The call was directly transferred to voicemail.

At 21:58, Fratolin called the police to report his daughter's disappearance.

During the trial, the prosecution presented electronic and physical evidence to reconstruct Fratolin's movement trajectory on that day. According to the prosecutor's statement during the trial, GPS data showed that Fratolin stayed in the area near the body for nearly an hour. The prosecutor claimed that Fratolin intentionally hid his daughter's body next to a fallen tree and pressed it under a stone.

▲ On the evening of July 19, 2025, the scene of Fratolin's first contact with the police

At around 5:30 pm that evening, surveillance footage from a McDonald's restaurant showed a father and daughter leaving the restaurant together.

Law enforcement later found Fratolin's wet clothes and shoes in a garbage bag next to Interstate 87. The prosecutor claimed that the mud on the clothing matched the soil in the wetland area where the body was found.

The investigators also found a roll of tape in his car, with long hair stuck on it. The investigator wrote in the affidavit that this "indicates that it was used to bind people".

Fratolin is scheduled to receive sentencing on October 14, 2026, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. He is currently in custody and can file an appeal within one month.

Red Star News reporter Deng Shuyi

Original title: "46 year old Canadian coffee brand CEO drowns 9-year-old biological daughter in shallow pond to retaliate against ex-wife, could face up to life imprisonment"