Three men were found guilty of murdering Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson alongside American friend Carter Rhoad during a 2024 surfing trip in Mexico. A judge delivered the verdicts in Ensenada after a trial detailing a botched robbery that left the tourists shot dead and dumped in a well.
Guilty Verdicts Handed Down in Ensenada Court
A Mexican judge convicted three men for the 2024 killings of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad during a surfing trip. Judge Raúl Hernández Arellano delivered the decisions at the Ensenada court following a five-week trial, finding Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco, and Ángel Jesús guilty of aggravated homicide and related offenses.
The convicted men face lengthy prison terms, with prosecutors having sought 150 years behind bars for each defendant. While sentencing has not yet concluded, the defendants are expected to spend the rest of their lives in a Mexican prison. A fourth individual, the girlfriend of Gerardo, was sentenced to twenty years in prison in a separate trial last November after admitting involvement in the robbery.
Families Deliver Emotional Testimony During Trial
Parents Debra and Martin Robinson attended every day of the proceedings, sitting hand in hand metres away from the accused men and enduring six hours of closing arguments. Taking the stand during the trial, Debra Robinson told the courtroom that the killings had destroyed the future the family had imagined with them.
Debra Robinson added that what hurts us most is that, in their final hours, they were treated with such cruelty
. Martin Robinson described the ordeal as a living hell for a parent losing two sons at once.
Carter Rhoad’s mother, Page, and his fiancée, Natalie Weirtz, participated in the hearings remotely via a video link from the United States. Weirtz told the court that the defendants deserved severe punishment to prevent other families from enduring similar grief, adding that the tragedy left her feeling paranoid and isolated.
Botched Robbery in a Remote Baja California Beach Area
The three tourists arrived in Mexico for a coastal surfing trip in April 2024, crossing the border just 36 hours before they were attacked while camping in a secluded beachside spot in Baja California state. Court testimony revealed that the victims were targeted in a botched robbery involving their truck. Prosecutors stated that the tourists begged for mercy before being shot in the head, and their attackers mocked their pleas.
The killers dumped the bodies down a clifftop shaft and well, where they remained undiscovered for a week until family members and authorities located them. Jake Robinson, aged 30, was a doctor preparing to start a hospital position in Geelong upon returning to Australia, while his 33-year-old brother Callum worked as a professional lacrosse player based in San Diego.
Killings Spark Outcry Across Australia and United States
The killings horrified people across Australia, the United States, and local communities in Baja California, a coastal region generally considered safe from the violence in other parts of Mexico. Other foreign visitors have, however, been targeted in criminal attacks on Mexico’s Pacific coast, such as the 2015 killings of two Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, while traveling through the north-western state of Sinaloa. Local surfers in Ensenada previously organized paddle-out memorials to honor the men by throwing flowers into the sea while demanding stronger protections for residents and visitors. Tourism remains a key part of the regional economy, prompting Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila to address public safety anxieties.
Baja California is and will continue to be a state with safe tourism for the thousands of people who visit us from the rest of the country and the world
, Ávila said, offering her solidarity to the grieving families.
