Italian court hands down life sentence over the killing of Anastasia Trofimova and 11-month-old Andromeda in Villa Pamphilj.A Rome court on Thursday sentenced American Francis Kaufmann, 47, to life in prison for the murders of his partner and their 11-month-old daughter, whose bodies were found in the capital’s Villa Pamphili park in June 2025.The First Assize Court found Kaufmann guilty of the double murder and of concealing the bodies of Anastasia Trofimova, 28, and baby Andromeda. It upheld aggravating circumstances including petty and abject motives, the victims’ defencelessness, and his relationship to both victims. He was also given three years of daytime isolation and ordered to pay provisional damages of €100,000 per victim to the family. Autopsies established that Kaufmann suffocated Trofimova and strangled the baby hours later. Judges are due to publish their reasoning within 90 days. Kaufmann’s lawyer, Paolo Foti, said the defence would decide on an appeal after reading it, insisting there were “gaps” in the case, including the lack of his client’s fingerprints on the bodies. Kaufmann has always maintained his innocence. Background The bodies were found on 7 June 2025 a few metres apart: Trofimova, originally from Omsk in Russia, under a black sheet among oleander bushes, and the baby near a hedge. Neither had identification, and investigators needed several days to establish who they were. Prosecutors said a 16-year-old who raised the alarm by calling 112 put them on the trail of Kaufmann, a California native who called himself Rexal Ford and presented himself as a film director. Prosecutor Antonio Verdi praised the teenager’s “civic sense” in court, state broadcaster RAI News reports. The couple had met in Malta in 2023 before moving to Rome. After losing their accommodation they reportedly slept rough in the park. Kaufmann subsequently fled to the Greek island of Skiathos, where he was arrested on 13 June and later extradited to Italy and held in Rome’s Rebibbia prison. Prosecutors criticised police who had stopped Kaufmann at least three times, most recently on 5 June, when he was drunk on the street with the baby, saying officers had been “taken in” by him and that the child might otherwise have been saved. Anti-violence group Differenza Donna, a civil party in the trial, called for scrutiny of possible failings in protecting the pair. The trial was paused for about a month after a psychiatric assessment found him temporarily unfit to stand trial. It resumed after judges ruled he could continue under constant medical monitoring. Kaufmann had also secured around $1 million in Italian tax credits for a film that was never made, a scandal that led to the resignation of the head of the culture ministry’s film department.

A Rome court on Thursday sentenced American Francis Kaufmann, 47, to life in prison for the murders of his partner and their 11-month-old daughter, whose in the capital’s Villa Pamphili park in June 2025. The First Assize Court found Kaufmann guilty of the double murder and of concealing the bodies of Anastasia Trofimova, 28, and baby Andromeda. It upheld aggravating circumstances including petty and abject motives, the victims’ defencelessness, and his relationship to both victims. He was also given three years of daytime isolation and ordered to pay provisional damages of €100,000 per victim to the family. Autopsies established that Kaufmann suffocated Trofimova and strangled the baby hours later. Judges are due to publish their reasoning within 90 days. Kaufmann’s lawyer, Paolo Foti, said the defence would decide on an appeal after reading it, insisting there were “gaps” in the case, including the lack of his client’s fingerprints on the bodies. Kaufmann has always maintained his innocence. The bodies were found on 7 June 2025 a few metres apart: Trofimova, originally from Omsk in Russia, under a black sheet among oleander bushes, and the baby near a hedge. Neither had identification, and investigators needed several days to establish who they were. Prosecutors said a 16-year-old who raised the alarm by calling 112 put them on the trail of Kaufmann, a California native who called himself Rexal Ford and presented himself as a film director. Prosecutor Antonio Verdi praised the teenager’s “civic sense” in court, state broadcaster RAI News reports. The couple had met in Malta in 2023 before moving to Rome. After losing their accommodation they reportedly slept rough in the park. Kaufmann subsequently fled to the Greek island of Skiathos, where he was arrested on 13 June and later and held in Rome’s Rebibbia prison. Prosecutors criticised police who had stopped Kaufmann at least three times, most recently on 5 June, when he was drunk on the street with the baby, saying officers had been “taken in” by him and that the child might otherwise have been saved. Anti-violence group Differenza Donna, a civil party in the trial, called for scrutiny of possible failings in protecting the pair. The trial was paused for about a month after found him temporarily unfit to stand trial. It resumed after judges ruled he could continue under constant medical monitoring. Kaufmann had also secured around for a film that was never made, a scandal that led to the resignation of the head of the culture ministry’s film department.