Jury hears police interview tape in New York murder trial

A New York jury heard a three-hour recording of a police interview with Luciano Frattolin on Friday, July 24, as the murder trial of the man accused of killing his nine-year-old daughter continued in Elizabethtown. Frattolin, 46, is charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse in the death of his daughter, Melina Frattolin, whose body was found in a marsh in Ticonderoga, N.Y., on July 20, 2025. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges and has been held without bail since his arrest soon after the discovery.

The recording, captured in a police cruiser in July 2025, captured Frattolin interacting with officers as they drove through an area where he claimed his daughter had been kidnapped by two men in a white van. On the recording, Frattolin told police none of the areas looked familiar and he could not pinpoint the alleged kidnapping location. He also criticized the girl's mother, suggesting without evidence that she might have been involved in the abduction. Melina lived in Montreal with her mother, who is expected to testify. Frattolin and his daughter had been on a trip and were scheduled to return to Montreal on the day she died.