THE MENDOCINO COUNTY Sheriff’s Office is responding to a social media post in which a woman writes, “I am the daughter of a serial killer.”
Last Wednesday, Galina Trefil published a Facebook post alleging her father, 85-year-old Jon Charles Trefil, killed numerous people in five states and five countries, including in Mendocino County.
According to state medical records, Jon Charles worked as a psychiatrist with an Albion mailing address. He surrendered his license to practice in California in 1999 following allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a patient. Today, he lives in a care facility in Fairfax.
In her Facebook post, Trefil says her father owned three “murder cabins” in Comptche, Boonville and Westport where he kidnapped, tortured, killed and buried numerous victims.
She even went as far as accusing Jon Charles of killing her own grandfather and great-grandparents.
“Though he said that he began killing in the 1950s, he only really made it a habit from the summer of 1965 to approximately 1999. From 1965 onward, he admitted to murdering one person, give or take, per month,” Trefil wrote.
Trefil claims her father owned three ‘murder cabins’ in Comptche, Boonville and Westport where he kidnapped, tortured, killed and buried his victims.
Trefil alleges her father told her about the murders and that Jon Charles wants justice for the victims. She also said that local law enforcement and the Mendocino County District Attorney are all aware of the accusations — in fact, she said her father confessed on tape.
The post went viral. It’s been shared over 13,000 times on Facebook and spurred true crime enthusiast YouTube videos. And locals are also talking, with some wondering if their own relative who went missing and was never found could have been a victim of Trefil’s.
Now the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is responding to the viral post.
Documenting the evidence
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Galina Trefil filed a report with the office in January 2023 that resulted in an investigation led by detectives. The detectives worked with an advocate working on behalf of Trefil, who provided recordings of Jon Charles confessing to various murders, as well as other documents as evidence.
One of the murders that Jon Charles confessed to was that of an unsolved murder in Mendocino County in the 1970s, the Sheriff’s Office said. Detectives determined that Trefil’s confession aligned with consistencies found in the case and requested that Trefil’s DNA be collected to compare with DNA from an unknown male found at the scene.
In May 2023, a warrant was issued, and Trefil’s DNA was collected and submitted to the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services. After processing, it was uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national DNA database that allows state and local crime labs to store and compare DNA samples from crime scene evidence.
The department reported to the Sheriff’s Office that the DNA did not match the profile from the unsolved murder. The DNA remains in CODIS and so far, no unsolved murders have come up a match.
The Sheriff’s Office also searched a property and cabin in Comptche where Trefil says her father killed and buried people. Investigators also reviewed Jon Charles’ diaries and journals that Trefil provided. No evidence was found to substantiate the allegations by Trefil.
The investigation remains active, the Sheriff’s Office said. However, authorities have no intention to interview Jon Charles due to a lack of probable cause or legal justification.
The Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information regarding the Trefil case to contact (707) 463-4086 (option 1) or an anonymous tip line at (707) 234-2100.
This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.
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