Woman Insists Her Dad Is the Most Prolific Serial Killer Ever

A California woman says her father killed more than 400, but skeptics say the evidence isn't there
Posted Apr 27, 2025 9:00 AM CDT
Woman Insists Her Dad Is the Most Prolific Serial Killer Ever
A photo of Jon Trefil, posted by daughter Galina.   (YouTube)

A California woman is on a mission to ensure the world knows her father's legacy, but she's having trouble convincing authorities her dad is what she claims he is: the most prolific serial killer in history. SFGate reports it all began about a month ago when Galina Trefil wrote on Facebook that her father, 86-year-old former psychiatrist Jon Trefil, had confessed to a killing spree that spanned decades and claimed more than 400 lives across the US and Europe. Her post, filled with dark details of "murder cabins" and strychnine-laced deaths, quickly wracked up more than 16,000 shares. However, there are a few twists: Local law enforcement says it's conducted a deep investigation and found no forensic evidence, no corroborated confessions, and no DNA matches that link her father to any crimes. Oh, and Trefil is a published horror author.

But despite this, Galina stands by her story and says investigators have ignored overwhelming evidence, including disturbing journal entries and audio recordings from her father. "They refused to do their job," she said. She claims he first admitted to being a killer in 2015, reportedly around the time he started showing signs of Parkinson's disease. Galina Trefil began interviewing her father for details and even partnered with a victim advocate to record hours of "confessional" footage from his nursing home and presented it to authorities as proof. However, investigators say the footage shows a barely coherent man offering vague and prompted responses, none of which confirmed actual crimes. Police searched the alleged burial sites Galina identified, but they found nothing. And a key cold case from 1974 with DNA evidence also failed to match Jon Trefil, undermining one of her central claims. (Read the full story.)

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