A California man who used a string of aliases while posing as an American filmmaker has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his partner and their baby daughter before abandoning their naked bodies in a Rome park.
Charles Francis Kaufmann, 47, was convicted Thursday by a Rome court of killing his Russian partner, 28-year-old Anastasia Trofimova, and their 11-month-old daughter, Andromeda, in 2025.
The bodies were discovered in June 2025 at Villa Doria Pamphili. Trofimova was found beneath a black bag, while the infant was located under bushes a short distance away.
Kaufmann fled Italy but was arrested several weeks later on the Greek island of Skiathos, the famous filming location for Mamma Mia! He was subsequently extradited to Italy.
In police interviews, Kaufmann denied knowing anything about the deaths. “How would I? She took the baby and left me for an old boyfriend who was rich,” he claimed.
Prosecutors told the court that Trofimova was killed in early June 2025. CCTV footage then allegedly showed Kaufmann carrying his daughter toward the park before returning roughly an hour later without her.
Kaufmann’s defense argued that the prosecution had failed to present conclusive evidence tying him to the killings. “This is a trial based on circumstantial evidence, and circumstantial evidence is not proof,” his lawyer, Paolo Foti, said.
Kaufmann repeatedly denied responsibility before and during the trial, accusing Italian officials of belonging to the mafia and orchestrating a conspiracy against him.
Charles Francis Kaufmann, 47, of California, was convicted Thursday in Italy of murdering his Russian partner, Anastasia Trofimova, 28, and their 11-month-old daughter, Andromeda
Trofimova’s body was found beneath a black bag at Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphili in June 2025, while her baby was discovered beneath nearby bushes
Kaufmann fled Italy after the killings but was arrested weeks later on the Greek island of Skiathos before being extradited
Prosecutors said Trofimova was killed first, after which CCTV showed Kaufmann carrying the baby toward the park and returning about an hour later without her
“I am not a killer. I am a film producer,” Kaufmann told the court.
Kaufmann had presented himself as a filmmaker and director under the name Rexal Ford. He had previously obtained $1 million in Italian government tax credits for a movie that was never produced, triggering a scandal that led to the resignation of a senior Culture Ministry official.
On Thursday, two professional judges and six lay judges at Rome’s Court of Assizes convicted Kaufmann of murdering the mother and child and hiding their bodies.
The court imposed a life sentence. Judge Paola Roja also ordered Kaufmann to spend three years in solitary confinement.
After the verdict, vice prosecutor Antonio Verdi described Kaufmann as a “cold, calculating, manipulative and pathological narcissist.”
“He has a strong and distinctive personality, but he is an imposter whose game is over,” Verdi said.
The case emerged on June 7, 2025, when a child playing on a jungle gym in Rome’s largest park spotted what appeared to be a doll beneath the bushes. It was, in fact, an infant.
Within an hour, officers found the body of a woman nearby. The remains were so badly decomposed that investigators could initially identify her only by her blonde hair and distinctive tattoos.
Kaufmann’s defense lawyer, Paolo Foti, told the court: “This is a trial based on circumstantial evidence, and circumstantial evidence is not proof”
Kaufmann had operated as a filmmaker and director under the alias Rexal Ford and secured $1 million in Italian film tax credits for a project that was never made
Kaufmann received a life sentence, while Judge Paola Roja ordered that three years be served in solitary confinement
Forensic testing showed that both victims had been suffocated and strangled. Investigators believed Trofimova died on June 4 or 5, followed by her daughter late on June 6.
Neither victim had broken bones, bruising or obvious external injuries. Officials nevertheless concluded that the baby may have gone without food for several days before she was killed.
The mother and child remained unidentified for more than a week. Their identities began to emerge after the Italian missing-persons program Chi L’ha Visto broadcast images of Trofimova’s tattoos, prompting a flood of tips.
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One viewer recognized the tattoo on the woman’s ankle and said it belonged to someone frequently seen around Rome’s Campo de’ Fiori with a young woman and a baby.
Another viewer supplied a photograph of the family. It showed a man bleeding from his temple as a woman tried to comfort the baby during what appeared to be a drunken argument just weeks before the murders.
Additional witnesses reported seeing the couple at a Starbucks, a vegetable market and a park where they sometimes slept.
A review of police records produced a more significant lead. Between June 5 and 6, officers encountered Kaufmann acting drunkenly and erratically while carrying the baby, who was still alive.
Police allowed him to leave after he showed an American passport and what appeared to be film credentials. A spokesperson later told the court that Kaufmann said his wife was asleep in their hotel room.
Vice prosecutor Antonio Verdi described Kaufmann as a “cold, calculating, manipulative and pathological narcissist” after the verdict
Kaufmann consistently denied involvement and accused Italian authorities of being part of the mafia and conspiring against him
Police encountered Kaufmann acting drunk and erratically on June 5 or 6 as he carried the baby, who was still alive
A teenage boy called investigators on the night of June 6 after seeing a man carrying a “limp baby” along a road near the park. Prosecutors said police did not pursue the report, partly because the teenager had been out clubbing.
On June 11, surveillance cameras recorded Kaufmann leaving the area while dragging a large dark suitcase, which has never been recovered. He then used his Rexal Ford passport to board a flight to Greece.
Working with the FBI, investigators traced his passport and cellphone activity until they located him.
Kaufmann was arrested on an Interpol warrant and returned to Italy on June 13. Several days later, prosecutors identified the two victims.
Kaufmann said he met Trofimova in 2022 in Marsaskala, Malta. “We hooked up and hung out, and then she disappeared for about a year. Then she showed up on my doorstep, and I regret ever letting her in,” he told officials.
He said he was working at the time on a film titled Food Fight: The Great Culinary Battle of Malta. The project appeared on several databases, including IMDb, although it has since been removed from the platform.
The proposed film centered on “two ruthless rivals” facing off in a fierce battle for culinary supremacy across the Mediterranean. It was never released.
Andromeda was born in June 2024, and the family later moved to Rome.
Forensic examinations found that both victims had been suffocated and strangled; investigators believed Trofimova died on June 4 or 5 and her daughter late on June 6
Kaufmann entertained prospective investors with expensive meals at exclusive venues and claimed he was traveling the world to complete film projects
Kaufmann did not attend Thursday’s verdict; his lawyer said they had not met since June because Kaufmann refused to see him
In Italy, Kaufmann reportedly hosted potential investors at lavish restaurants and boasted about international trips to secure film deals, including a project called Stelle della Notte.
A fraudulent grant application obtained by Italian television and shown in court listed Harrison Ford as the film’s star, with a proposed fee of $4 million. Kevin Spacey was named as an alternative for $600,000, while celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was expected to appear as himself.
Kaufmann legally changed his name to Rexal Ford in 2019. However, while living in Malta in 2022, he used the identity Daniel R Foster and held a British passport and Maltese residency documents under that name.
By 2025, he was using another identity: Matteo Capozzi. That name appeared on an Italian identity document he used to rent a boat from Malta to Sicily, and beside his photograph on an IMDb page that has since been deleted.
When questioned about his multiple passports, Kaufmann replied: “You’re saying you never pretended to be someone you aren’t? Even once?”
Kaufmann was absent when the verdict was delivered Thursday. His lawyer said they had not met since June because Kaufmann refused to see him, adding: “When he returns to court for an appeal, it won’t be me next time.”
