The Montreal man facing a murder charge in New York state in the death of his nine-year-old daughter has pleaded not guilty and will remain in custody until his next court appearance later this week.
Luciano Frattolin was represented by the Essex County Public Defenders Office and remanded to Essex County Jail until Friday at 1 p.m. eastern daylight time.
Frattolin was arrested on Monday, with New York State Police announcing later that the 45-year-old had been charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a corpse in connection with the death of Melina Frattolin.
The two had been in the U.S. since July 11, visiting Connecticut and New York City before heading to upstate New York on Saturday.
New York State Police Capt. Robert McConnell told reporters a man reported his nine-year-old daughter missing on Saturday from the area of Exit 22 of I-87 in Lake George, N.Y., possibly due to an abduction.
“His initial report (was that) as he steps away to a wooded area, returns (to) the vehicle, and at that point, his child is gone from the vehicle. He reports a suspicious white van fleeing the scene southbound during a subsequent interview. He then reports two unknown males forced her into a white van.”
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McConnell alleged Frattolin attempted to hide Melina’s body in the woods in Ticonderoga.
Preliminary results of an autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Sikirica on Monday concluded Melina Frattolin died of asphyxia due to drowning, New York State Police said late Tuesday. The death has been ruled a homicide.
What happens now?
Hank Idsinga, a former homicide detective with the Toronto Police Service, told Global News there are treaties that allow co-operation between police services on both sides of the border for investigations like this.
He said investigators will potentially look at Frattolin’s residence, social media, computer and cellphone downloads and even cellphone records.
“You really want to rebuild the last 24, 48 hours of the suspect’s life and a victim’s life and have it ready to go for court,” Idsinga said.
Idsinga said New York police would need to rely on authorities in Montreal, however, to conduct any investigative steps in the city, as they have no power to do so.
McConnell told reporters that while he can’t speak to the prosecution, he said Frattolin would be charged and prosecuted in the state.
Canada and the U.S. have an extradition treaty allowing for one country to extradite a person to the other based on a request.
According to Idsinga, the “only possibility” of Frattolin being returned to Canada would be to serve a sentence.
“But that’s pretty unusual as well when it’s an American-Canadian type of scenario,” he said.
— with files from Global News’ Kevin Nielsen, Touria Izri and Marc-Andre Cossette.
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