Chronicle

Identity revealed: the 28-year-old Russian woman killed in Villa Pamphili is called Anastasia Trofimova

The Rome Public Prosecutor's Office reveals details about the woman found dead in Villa Pamphili and the alleged killer, who is involved in an intricate international case.

19 June 2025

Una combo della donna trovata morta a Villa Pamphili e del tatuaggio sul piede, tratta dal profilo Facebook della trasmissione Rai 'Chi l'ha visto?' che ringraziamo per la concessione della foto all’Ansa. 19 giugno 2025.

4' min read

Key points

Kaufmann against Italians: you are mafiosi
Assumed murderer refuses extradition

4' min read

Her name is Anastasia Trofimova, 28, born in Omsk, Russia, the woman found dead on seven June in Villa Pamphili, a short distance from the body of her one-year-old daughter.

This was announced by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office in a note explaining that the identification was arrived at thanks to the cooperation of the FBI and the Maltese authorities.

"The woman was found to have entered Malta in September 2023 using a passport with the name of Anastasia Trofimova," explained the Prosecutor's Office. "At the US Embassy in Malta, the registration of the child with the name of Andromeda Ford, born in Malta on 14 June 2024, had been initiated. The comparison of the victim's fingerprints with those on her passport will allow the identification to be conclusively established'.

Assumed murderer refuses extradition

"Hello Federico, I hope all is well. I see that you and Arthur are talking about potential auditions for the project'. The voice in the audio broadcast by Tg1 is Francis Kaufmann.

It is 18 April and the alleged Villa Pamphili killer contacts screenwriter Federico Carro, introducing himself as Rexal Ford to discuss a film project. He asks him to find him a house in Rome, which he has money for but may have problems getting a lease. A child's voice can be heard in the background. 'It seems to me that it will be very difficult for me to find accommodation here in Italy, so I think I won't stay long,' he adds.

On 5 June he sends another message and asks for hospitality: 'I am left alone with the child,' he says this time, 'she left me to go with her ex'.

Kaufmann against the Italians: you are mafiosi

'Italians are mafiosi'. These are the words Kaufmann allegedly uttered after his arrest, while awaiting a validation hearing before the Court of Appeal in Larissa, Greece. An expression uttered in a contemptuous tone by the 46-year-old, who is accused by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office of aggravated murder. The man remains in the Greek prison, after refusing extradition to Italy, waiting for the judges to decide on the suspect's possible transfer to Rome.

Villa Pamphili, l'arresto di Rexal Ford in Grecia

According to the procedure, it will take at least 60 days: a period in which the investigators hope to have shed full light on what happened.

Against Kaufmann - who, in addition to his alias Rexal Ford, also used the Italian alias of Matteo Capozzi - a second murder charge could be brought for the death of the little girl's mother, who was found 200 metres away in the capital's green park.

At the moment, the identity of the 30-year-old woman remains to be ascertained. Those investigating do not rule out the possibility that she may be a Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizen, who fled the conflict in 2023 to reach Europe, landing in Malta that same year. And it is precisely on the island that investigative activity has focused. The Italian police, in cooperation with investigators in Valletta, are looking for elements that will help to trace the woman's name. Kaufmann-Ford is registered in the Maltese registry office as single and childless.

In the island's hospitals, there are currently no records of the delivery of the baby girl, which would date back to the end of 2024. It is not ruled out that the woman may have given birth in a flat and therefore a series of checks are also being carried out to see whether any private doctors may have helped the woman.

According to reports in the Times of Malta, Kaufmann reportedly lived in a house in the Marsascala area after obtaining a residence permit valid for a few months.

Investigators listened to several local residents, neighbours, to reconstruct elements of the man's background and possible relationship with the so-called'tattoo woman' I

he Californian, in all probability together with the woman and the child - whom he claims to be his daughter - left the island between the end of March and the very first days of April. He reached Sicily on a rented catamaran, a further sign that he had economic resources, while it is still unclear whether the woman and child also arrived in Italy by boat or followed another route.

At the time of his arrest, Kaufmann was in possession of three credit cards and three SIM cards, the last of which he bought at Termini station.

Financing his lifestyle would behis parents, who sent him monthly sums of between five and six thousand euro from the United States.

The investigators established that credit cards were often used for lunches and dinners in restaurants.

At the beginning of April, Kaufmann had contacted a real estate agency to rent a flat in the capital. Investigators are now working to locate the apartment. They are looking in particular in the Monteverde quadrant and in the Gregorio VII area, not far from Villa Pamphili, which has become the scene of a real murder mystery.