?As a reporter living and working in Mendocino County, I’ve seen my fair share of unusual stories, but nothing quite like the recent claims made by Galina Trefil. Her Facebook post declaring, “I am the daughter of a serial killer,” sent ripples through our community. She alleged that her father, Dr. Jon Trefil, confessed to a decades-long killing spree, with victims across multiple states and countries. Despite providing recordings, journals, and other materials, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office has not found evidence to support her claims.
This incident underscores the powerful allure of true crime narratives and the intoxicating nature of internet sleuthing. Galina’s story, blending personal confession with elements of horror fiction, captivated online audiences, demonstrating how quickly unverified claims can gain traction. The case highlights the challenges authorities face in distinguishing fact from fiction in the digital age.?
As a reporter and community member, this experience has been a stark reminder of the importance of verification and responsible reporting. While the allure of uncovering hidden truths is strong, it’s essential to balance curiosity with skepticism, ensuring that the pursuit of justice doesn’t become a vehicle for misinformation.
Read my story in SFGATE here.
from the linked article-
Kande Trefil, Galina’s mother, believes her daughter is creating this story about her father because “she likes attention … more than most.”
Galina’s name recognition has soared in the wake of her viral post. However, no amount of online validation seems to satisfy her. In the end, she told SFGATE, “People are going to hate me no matter what I do.”
Looks a lot like Munchausen Syndrome by proxy.
Careful, it may be contagious.
Wow how do you know it’s not true? How about you prove it’s a lie? Instead of assuming she’s lieing cause of what you heard!
The dubious quality of Galina’s accusations is exemplified by her assertion that since Dr Trefil worked at the old Lake County Jail (the building the DA’s office is in now) for a time in the 1980s, that somehow he was involved in the death of the guy who killed Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Helbush in a shoot out in May 1981 and later hanged himself in his cell a few days later. This is a very well known story in Lake County with former Lake County DA Don Anderson, who was involved in this incident as a responding officer, having written a book about it. Thus Galina’s assertions are attention seeking antics with zero credibility.
The most notable thing to me is she refuses to officially file a police report. Because submitting a false police report is of course a crime. Until she does that, it’s a hoax.
As usual……”journalism” at its finest from a local wanna be. This was a waste of times read. WHAT exactly was your end result for yourself and your readers with this splash of nothingness Mr Fever?
I read your original and re-hashed, articles from other newspapers in hopes you might start doing your own real journalism…… But you don’t.
BUT! It is free circulated news I have to give this site that much lol
You’re a ridiculous hater or jealous? This is local news. We’re a rural community, dork! Not a lot of high profile news to report. This was an interesting & intriguing read & I’m positive most will get at least that out of it. Being someone who’s not on social media i hadn’t seen or heard of this story till this article. I’m grateful we have someone I m our community whom reports what the goings on are around here. My only regret wss reading your comment. Keep up the good work, Matt.
That was a great story on the fish restaurant in Noyo Harbor. Enjoyed it a lot.
We sit and read these articles for free. From pieces like this to fires floods and current issues. Then some hater comes along to criticize a person who is actually doing something good for our people in Mendo. It’s sick but one on every crowd.
Probably that roid head Tat James or one of them dudes from Squirrel Team 6 tryin to flex from behind the scenes. Just ignore them posers. Miserable clowns tryin to be something they’re not… important
This is a tragic story for Jon Trefil. I’m assuming that he’s not guilty of anything in this story except having a very troubled daughter. She wanted to be heard and found a ruthless way to accomplish it. I started to read this article yesterday. Once I figured out the basis of the story, I blew it off and stopped reading. My opinion, the worst thing we can do is perpetuate this malicious set of lies. Round file this article, Matt. If the tale can’t be substantiated, the only person who should be diving into all of this is a licensed clinical psychologist.
Had any one maybe thought that she’s a serial killer
He lives on in evil perpetuity! He has since inhabited JD Vance’s body and just killed the Pope!
The details of why he lost his medical license are publicly available and the only verifiable part of her story.
The odds of Jon Trefil being a serial killer are low, but the odds of him abusing his child, and exposing her to abusers are tragically high. With the kind of childhood trauma she most likely experienced it’s not really surprising this is the result. I hope she finds healing and her father is held accountable for the things he actually did do.