Galina Trefil: Post 11

My name is Galina. I'm the daughter of a serial killer, Jon Charles Trefil. One of the murders that my father admitted to was that of Barry Kirk Pinder. This is one of the rare murders that Jon described in vivid detail in front of both me and Athena Bolton, who now works at the DA's Office. In 1974, John claimed that he went to MacKerricher State Park. Whether this was with the intention to stay at the park or murder someone, I don't know. John spent a lot of time camping out on beaches, in the woods; at reservoirs. In addition to hitchhikers, John claimed that a large number of his victims were out-of-area campers that would set up camp far back in the woods; poor people that had stayed away from campgrounds in order to save money. (There was a lot of that going on in the 1960s and 1970s of Mendocino County.) I do remember vaguely him taking me to campgrounds when I was very little, maybe four or five. He would disappear, leaving me to walk around by myself. I'd wait hours, not knowing when he'd be back. John later told me that he decided killing at MacKerricher was definitely a bad idea because it was far too populated and could easily have resulted in him getting caught. On this particular occasion in 1974, John stated that he was at the campground with a buddy of his: John Shandel. Shandel was a known figure in the construction business. According to John's story, there was some degree of tree-trimming or removal Shandel was providing in the area when this murder happened. The two men were interacting with Pinder. Both Johns were drunk. At some point, John claimed that Shandel attempted a physically intimate moment with Pinder. I do not recall if John Trefil said that Shandel was present for what happened next or not. The DA's Office has the tapes. John claimed to be very angry about the attempted intimacy between Shandel and Pinder, and thereafter because of it beat Pinder to death. At no point did John claim any degree of bodily contact with Pinder. It was John's confession to Pinder's murder which resulted in the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department getting a warrant for John's DNA. I was present for that. I will never forget how pissed off John looked when Det. Logan repeatedly called John "Mr. Trefil," rather than "Dr. Trefil." The DNA did not come back as tying John to the scene, but...it wouldn't. John never claimed to have touched Pinder with his body, or in any other way, left DNA at the scene. The story of John's interaction with Pinder could have been confirmed by John Shandel, but I was told that the Sheriff's Department had stated that Shandel was already dead and could not be questioned. They were wrong. Shandel didn't die for at least six months after the DNA was taken. So far as I'm aware, Shandel was never questioned at all. This was so botched and the Pinder family still has no justice.