A Mexican judge on Friday sentenced three men to more than 158 years of imprisonment for the murder of two Australian surfers and their American friend during an attempted robbery in 2024. Brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, aged 30 and 33 respectively, and their friend Carter Rhoad, 30, were on a surfing trip to Mexico's Pacific coast when they were shot dead in Baja California during an attempted robbery. They were camping in a remote beachside area near the city of Ensenada when they were attacked on April 27, 2024.
Their bodies were found days later, dumped in a cliff-top well, with gunshot wounds to their heads. A 9mm and a .45 caliber pistol were used in the attack. Judge Raul Hernandez ruled that the three Mexican defendants, identified only by their first names — Jesus Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Angel Jesus — acted with premeditation.
Jesus Gerardo, known as "el Kekas," had a criminal record before the attacks. On Friday, the court sentenced the three to 158 years and nine months each. Prosecutors had sought more than $100,000 in damages, but the judge rejected it and said any compensation would have to be pursued through civil proceedings.
"There can never be justice for the loss of a son, but we are grateful that these men will never hurt anyone else," Rhoad's mother Page said after learning the verdict. The trio was attacked on April 28 or 29. Police found bloodstains and drag marks at their last known campsite, according to the Baja California state prosecutor's office.
Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez theorized that the killers drove by and saw the group's pickup truck and tents and wanted to steal the vehicle's tires and other parts. Andrade Ramírez said it was unlikely that the trio was targeted because they were tourists. Jesus Gerardo's former girlfriend, Ary Gisell Silva, admitted to goading him into stealing the tires from the vehicle.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in November. She said Jesus Gerardo sneered at the trio's plea for their lives and bragged about the items he stole from them. Prosecutors said the attack was followed by a hurried attempt to destroy evidence.
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