ENSENADA, Mexico — A Mexican court on Friday found three men guilty of murdering Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad, who were shot dead during a surfing trip in Baja California in 2024, BBC News, The Guardian and DW reported.
The defendants, identified for legal reasons only by their first names — Jesús Gerardo, known as “El Kekas,” who was accused of leading the attack, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús — were convicted in the coastal city of Ensenada. The judge ruled that they had acted with premeditation. Prosecutors asked for 210 years in prison for each, although the maximum sentence in Baja California is 60 years, and sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 16, The Guardian said.
Jake, 30, Callum, 33, and Rhoad, 30, were camping in a remote beach area in April 2024 when they were attacked in an apparent botched robbery of their truck. Their bodies were found days later in a well, with gunshot wounds to their heads. In November 2025, Ary Gisell Silva, then the girlfriend of the main defendant, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting she instigated the robbery.
Debra Robinson, the brothers’ mother, burst into tears as the verdict was read. “They took our sons from our lives forever,” she had told the court. “What hurts us most is that, in their final hours, they were treated with such cruelty.” Their father, Martin Robinson, said outside court: “No outcome can ever undo this tragedy, but we hope today marks an important step towards justice,” according to The Guardian. Rhoad’s fiancée, Natalie Weirtz, who joined by video link from the United States, said the accused “must be punished so that no other family suffers the same pain.”
The killings drew outrage in Australia and the United States. Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent states, though cartel activity does not usually affect tourists, DW said. The family has set up the Callum and Jake Robinson Foundation to carry on their sons’ legacy.
Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, DW
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