ENSENADA, Mexico — A Mexican judge on Friday sentenced three men convicted of murdering Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad to 158 years and nine months in prison each, BBC News and DW reported.
The men, identified only as Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús for legal reasons, were found guilty a week ago of homicide, aggravated robbery and vehicle theft with violence. The court also ordered them to pay compensation to the victims’ families, DW said.
The three surfers — Jake, 30, Callum, 33, and Rhoad, 30 — were shot dead on April 27, 2024, while camping at a remote beach near Ensenada in Baja California, in what the court heard was a botched robbery of their truck. Their bodies were found days later dumped in a cliff-top well.
“There will never be justice for the loss of a child, but these men will never hurt anyone else again,” Rhoad’s mother, Page Rhoad, said via Zoom after the sentencing. “It’s hard for a parent to lose a son, and we lost two sons,” Martin Robinson said.
The girlfriend of the alleged ringleader was sentenced to 20 years in a separate trial last November after admitting involvement in the robbery. The killings shocked Australia and Ensenada’s surf community, where the area had been considered safe for visitors.
Sources: BBC News, DW, The Guardian
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