MENDOCINO CO., 4/23/25 – Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall appeared on a podcast last week to discuss claims that a former Mendocino County resident is a serial killer.
The claims surfaced in March after Mendocino County resident Galina Trefil published a Facebook post alleging her father, 85-year-old John Charles Trefil, killed numerous people in five states and five counties, including in Mendocino County.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office responded to the claims, saying despite investigative efforts, no evidence was found to substantiate the allegations by Trefil.
That didn’t stop Trefil’s Facebook post from going viral. It’s been shared over 16,000 times on Facebook and spurred true crime enthusiast YouTube videos and now a podcast episode.
Kendall joined the Ukiah-based podcast Like It or Not, which presents what it calls “unfiltered conversations about the topics that matter — and some that just make life interesting.” The podcast covers a wide array of subjects, often related to life in Northern California.
During the episode, Kendall addressed the claims and the investigation that the Sheriff’s Office made and dismissed accusations that the man could be the Zodiac Killer.
The identity of the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who terrorized Northern California in the late 1960s with a series of cryptic letters and unsolved killings, remains officially unknown. The timeline of the Zodiac Killer murders and the alleged murders by John Charles Trefil overlap.
In addition to the Trefil case, Kendall also addresses his feelings and thoughts about Governor Gavin Newsom (“He’s not representing me personally as a resident of California”) and immigration (“Think about all these kids who have grown up with all of our kids – they’re just as American as everybody else.”).
The conversation and podcast can be found on Spotify and YouTube.
Sydney Fishman contributed to this story.
I’m personally very happy that tom alman is the new mayor of willits.
I think he’ll be great for our community.
Carter Lane, you mean the guy that left his wife for an underage girl that he was working with, as a counselor, for Mendocino County Youth Project? Yeah probably won’t tune into a pedo podcast.
Raymond Hillman