ELIZABETHTOWN — Analysis done on Melina Frattolin’s clothing revealed traces of blood on the purple sweatshirt she was wearing the night she died last year.
Kimberly Stoddard, a forensic scientist at the New York State Police Forensic Intelligence Center in Albany, testified during the Luciano Frattolin murder trial in Essex County Court today that she analyzed several articles of Melina’s clothing last year.
The first piece was a pair of purple underwear, which Stoddard tested for blood and seminal fluid, both of which came back negative.
Demetra Xyzhalis, another forensic scientist at the forensic center, said she examined a pair of Melina’s underwear, as well, and both tests came back negative.
Stoddard’s examination extended to the entire outfit she was wearing when she died, including her Adidas shoes, pink Gap shorts, black and white H&M shirt, and purple Old Navy sweatshirt.
Additionally, Stoddard analyzed a rope bracelet found on her left wrist, a blue-tinted garment bag, a white garbage bag and the three used wipes it contained, and a note from the trunk of a vehicle.
Stoddard said all of the clothing was covered with dirt and debris, which made several tests for blood inconclusive. All screenings done for seminal fluid were negative.
However, on the purple sweatshirt, Stoddard said there were four areas that appeared to have reddish staining. She cut these areas off of the sweatshirt, which were on the shoulder area and hoodie area, and analyzed them further before sending them for further DNA analysis.
Stoddard held up each article of clothing in court; the items were visibly dirty.
The 9-year-old girl was found dead in a shallow pond off State Route 74 in Ticonderoga on July 20, 2025.
Frattolin, 46, of Montreal, had reported his daughter missing the night before and told police two men in a white van abducted her from a rest area in Lake George off of I-87. He was charged shortly after with killing his daughter and has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse.
The murder trial has been ongoing in Essex County Court before Judge Tatianna Coffinger since July 23.
Ian Saginor, who works at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, as a geologist forensic examiner, also took the stand today. He was responsible for analyzing soil samples sent by New York State Police investigators last year.
Saginor said he compared the soil sample taken from the site where she was found to soil found on clothes and shoes retrieved from the roadside of I-87.
He said the sample was deemed inclusion with the soil taken off the shoes found on the roadside. The possibility the items originated from the same source could not be eliminated.
Soil taken off the shirt and shorts from the roadside was classified as exclusion, which means the possibility of the items originating from the same source was eliminated, Saginor said.
Multiple tests were done to come to these classifications, including a color test, visual test with two different microscopes and a process called X-ray diffraction.
Saginor also compared the soil sample to the sample of debris and dirt found in the victim’s airway, and he said it was primarily not geological material. It was determined to be plant debris of some sort. Because of this, Saginor said he discontinued his examination of the sample he was provided.
The trial will continue in Essex County Court on Wednesday morning.