A US film producer, Francis Kaufmann, has been accused of murdering a Russian woman, Anastasia Trofimova, and her 11-month-old baby in Rome.
The bodies of Trofimova and her baby were found separately in overgrown areas of Rome’s Villa Pamphili park on June 7.
According to Italian police, Kaufmann, 46, used an authentic US passport in the name of Rexal Ford and an Italian identity card in the name of Matteo Capozzi.
Kaufmann was extradited from Greece to Italy over the weekend and faced a preliminary legal hearing in Rome’s Rebibbia prison on Tuesday.
During the hearing, Kaufmann exercised his right not to answer any questions and did not respond to the charges against him.
Italian police claim that Kaufmann’s DNA was found on the black garbage bag in which Trofimova’s body was found.
The victims’ identities were unknown for more than a week before an Italian TV show that highlights missing persons ran photos released by police of Trofimova’s extensive tattoos, which her mother in Moscow recognised after a friend sent them to her.
Trofimova’s mother said her daughter had met a man she knew by the name Rexal Ford in Malta, where she was studying English.
She had never met her granddaughter, but was in sporadic touch with the couple and child, she told Italian investigators and Italian media.
Kaufmann, who has denied involvement in the murders, was arrested on the Greek island of Skiathos on June 13.
Italian police say Kaufmann, Trofimova, and the baby lived rough in various parks in Rome and ate at the city’s soup kitchens, despite him having multiple credit cards and often taking potential film investors to expensive restaurants.
Kaufmann, who promoted himself as a film producer and screenwriter, used his Rexal Ford alias to scout movie locations, including several rooftop terraces in Rome.