Three men have been found guilty of murdering Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their US friend Carter Rhoad during a surfing trip to Mexico in 2024.
Jake Robinson, 30, Callum Robinson, 33, and Carter Rhoad, 30, were shot dead in Baja California state in what prosecutors described as a suspected robbery. The verdict was returned on Friday local time.
Jesus Gerardo, known as “El Kekas”, was accused of leading the attack. His surname has not been disclosed for legal reasons. He was convicted alongside two other defendants, Irineo Francisco and Angel Jesus. The judge ruled that the three Mexican defendants acted with premeditation.
The parents of the Robinson brothers, Martin and Debra Robinson, travelled from Australia to the port city of Ensenada for the trial, which began on 7 September.
Debra Robinson, who testified on the final day of the trial, said: “They took our sons from our lives forever. What hurts us most is that, in their final hours, they were treated with such cruelty.” She burst into tears when the guilty verdict was pronounced.
Speaking outside the court after the verdict, Martin Robinson thanked family and friends for their support, along with the judge, court staff, the Australian embassy in Mexico and the Australian federal police.
“No outcome can ever undo this tragedy, but we hope today marks an important step towards justice and allows us to continue honouring their lives and the extraordinary young men they were. They will never be forgotten,” he said.
Debra Robinson said the verdict had not changed how she felt. “I don’t feel any different today as I did yesterday or I will tomorrow, because … Callum and Jake are not here. A verdict is a good thing, but it doesn’t bring them back,” she said.
She said she had no feelings towards the three guilty men. “I have tried to hold on to the memory of my children, my sons, and I try really not to think about them. And I don’t actually want them to have any notoriety. We don’t actually really speak their names. They’re not part of our grief really.”
Martin Robinson said a foundation set up in his sons’ names would carry on their legacy. The Callum and Jake Robinson Foundation aims to “help people live bigger, shine brighter and love harder in their honour”.
Rhoad’s mother, Page, and his fiance, Natalie Weirtz, took part in the hearing by video call from the United States.
“The accused are guilty and must be punished so that no other family suffers the same pain,” Weirtz said. “Since Carter’s death, I feel paranoid and isolated.”
The prosecution requested 210 years’ imprisonment for each of the accused, though the maximum sentence in Baja California is 60 years.
The three men were camping in a remote beachside area when they were attacked in April 2024. Their bodies were found in a clifftop shaft, with gunshot wounds to their heads.
In November 2025, Ary Gisell Silva, the then-girlfriend of the main defendant, was sentenced to two decades in prison after admitting that she instigated the robbery.
Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent states, plagued by organised crime and drug trafficking, although cartel activity does not usually affect tourists. Other foreign visitors have, however, been targeted in criminal attacks on Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Two Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, were killed in 2015 while travelling through the north-western state of Sinaloa. Their bodies were later burned.
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