Sheriff’s Office Says No Evidence to Support Woman’s Claim Her Father Is a Serial Killer

Galina Trefil claims her father discussed murdering several people from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Sheriff's deputies on duty in Trabuco Canyon, Calif., on Aug. 23, 2023. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office in Northern California said it has investigated allegations from a woman who said in a series of social media posts that her father is a serial killer, but found no evidence to support the claims.

The sheriff’s office on March 17 acknowledged the social media posts by Galina Trefil, shared by thousands of people, claiming her 86-year-old father, Jon Charles Trefil, is a serial killer, according to a statement.

The office said it became aware of the claims two years prior when the woman originally reported her father to other local and regional law enforcement regarding her suspicions.

After learning of the claims in January 2023, detectives spoke with Galina Trefil, her advocate, and her father. The sheriff’s office obtained recordings, scanned journals, and other investigative materials, including pictures, copies of journal entries, and recordings of meetings between Jon Trefil, Galina Trefil, and the advocate.

During the meeting in February 2023, Galina Trefil claimed her father discussed murdering several people from the 1970s through the 1990s. She also provided a lengthy written statement to detectives.

Galina Trefil began researching unsolved murders in Mendocino County, including one from the 1970s, which she claims her father, who is in failing health, admitted to committing.

Detectives discovered that evidence had been submitted for DNA analysis in 2006 to the Department of Justice, which pointed toward an unknown male in the 1970s case. Due to consistencies in the information provided by Galina Trefil and the unsolved homicide case from the 1970s, detectives sought a warrant to obtain Jon Trefil’s DNA for comparison with the DNA test results.

A Mendocino County Judge authorized a search warrant in May 2023 to obtain a DNA sample from Jon Trefil for comparison with the DNA profile from the evidence involved in the homicide from the 1970s. Jon Trefil’s DNA sample was submitted to the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services and uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

However, Jon Trefil’s DNA did not match the unknown male tied to the unsolved 1970s murder investigation. Jon Trefil’s DNA profile was uploaded into CODIS for routine and regular comparisons to DNA profiles uploaded during the course of investigating unsolved cases, but the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office has not been notified of any matches or potential matches.

Galina Trefil also said that her father buried numerous people at a cabin in Comptche, California. Sheriffs said they did not locate any evidence, human remains, or burial sites on the property in Comptche.

She also made claims that her father identified other serial killers, but those have not been substantiated by detectives, the sheriff’s office said. Trefil’s diaries and journals did not include any confessions to murders, the office said.

The sheriff’s office has not interviewed Jon Trefil regarding the allegations due to his medical state and because his family said he would not cooperate with law enforcement.

“When legally justified and supported by probable cause, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate this matter,” the office wrote in a statement.

In her social media posts, Galina Trefil refers to herself repeatedly as the daughter of a serial killer and claims her father said he tortured under a dozen victims in the early 1980s when he worked at the Ukiah Hospital while they were patients. She says he would deny them anesthetic when he knew they needed it.

“They writhed. They cried. He watched,” she wrote on Facebook, claiming her mother was also aware of the torture but did not report him. She also claims her mother was in possession of human skulls that she kept in her classroom while she was an elementary school teacher.

She also claims that 30 years ago, her father submerged the body parts of multiple women in a body of water in Albion, California.

“The DA’s Office knows about John’s pond confessions—the very specific spots where he says the girls are,” she claims in her social media post.

She also said that her father has been investigated by numerous agencies starting in 1962.

“None of them have been able to catch him so far.  I’m doing my part, which I am morally bound to do, to ensure they have what they need to catch him,” she wrote. “I won’t stop until they do.”