ELIZABETHTOWN, NY – Luciano Frattolin may take the stand in his own defense Monday — an explosive potential turn in his slay trial as he faces a mountain of evidence that he murdered his 9-year-old daughter.
The Canadian coffee entrepreneur, 45, maintained his innocence during a brief exchange with Judge Tatiana Coffinger in Essex County Court on Friday, while indicating he wanted to take the weekend to decide whether to testify in what would be a desperate — and legally daring — attempt to somehow counteract three weeks of testimony showing he killed daughter Melina and dumped her body upstate.
“Yeah, I am innocent,” Frattolin told the judge as she urged him to fully consult his public defenders before taking the stand, a move that would open him up to grilling under oath by prosecutors.
He said he would take the weekend to weigh the move.
“I need more time,” he acknowledged.
“Yeah, I trust people easily, and I trust the cops,” he said, appearing convinced in his ability to prove his wafer-thin story originally given to cops that Melina was kidnapped along a thruway rest stop.
Prosecutors rested their case at 3:25 p.m. Friday, wrapping up more than two weeks of testimony by over a dozen law-enforcement personnel and experts, as well as hours of video footage and other evidence.
Melina’s mother, Kali Galanis, had full custody of her, but Luciano had been allowed to accompany her on a multiday trip from Montreal to New York City.
He was supposed to return Melina to Montreal the night last July around the same time he’s alleged to have murdered her and proceeded to dump her body in a swampy brook near Ticonderoga.
