Rome, 25 June. (LaPresse) – ‘I am innocent, I want to speak first with my lawyer and the American consulate.’ This was the spontaneous statement made by Francis Kaufamann, alias Rexal Ford, to prosecutors in Rome, who heard him via videoconference from the prison in Larissa, Greece, where he is being held. Kaufmann exercised his right to remain silent. The man, accused of the double murder of Anastasia Trofimova and her daughter Andromeda, chose not to answer questions during the preliminary investigation carried out through a European Investigation Order, also in the presence of a Greek investigating judge. Meanwhile, the Larissa Court of Appeal is expected to rule tomorrow on the extradition request submitted by the Italian authorities. According to investigators, Kaufmann had been living for about two weeks with Anastasia, 28, and little Andromeda, just 11 months old, in a bed hidden among the oleanders of Villa Pamphili in Rome. Every day they left the park to wash and look for food near the San Silverio market. The Rome Public Prosecutor's Office is treating the case as aggravated double murder. Among the main pieces of evidence gathered by investigators are phone records, cell phone tower data and CCTV footage. The first suspicions arose between 3 and 4 June: during those hours, Kaufmann's phone suddenly switched off, while Anastasia seemed to vanish into thin air. A few hours earlier, Kaufmann had been involved in an argument inside the Starbucks in Piazza San Silvestro.
© Copyright LaPresse
