Three men accused of murdering two Australian brothers and their American friend two years ago have gone on trial in Mexico, with the parents of the victims attending the proceedings. Jack and Callum Robinson from Perth and Jack Carter Rhoad from the US were shot dead during a suspected botched robbery and car theft attempt in April 2024. Their bodies were found at the bottom of a well in Mexico, with gunshot wounds to their heads, after they went missing in Baja California.
The three men were on a surfing trip along Mexico’s Pacific coast and had been camping in a remote beachside area when they were attacked. Their bodies were dumped in a cliff-top shaft. The parents of the Australian brothers, Debra and Martin Robinson, travelled to the city of Ensenada for the start of the proceedings.
On the first day of their 20-day trial, the accused men were removed from the main courtroom after allegedly intimidating witnesses. Jesús “El Kekas” Gerardo, Irineo Francisco, and Ángel Jesús were moved to a smaller courtroom after prosecutors said that people associated with the defendants had intimidated two witnesses. Three witnesses appeared before the court as the trial got underway, including the stepson of one of the defendants.
The witness, his face concealed, described his stepfather as violent and said he had accompanied the accused to the crime scene and was waiting nearby when the “commotion” began. He claimed that he had run away but rejoined the group after they called him back. He said the accused threatened him, telling him “the same thing that happened to the gringos would happen to him” if he said anything.
The girlfriend of the witness’s stepfather, Ary Gisell Silva, admitted last year she had instigated the robbery in order to steal the pick-up truck’s tyres. She was the first to make contact with the three surfers and noticed valuables with them, including “good phones and good tyres”. She told a Mexican court she had urged her boyfriend and his accomplices to rob the surfers.
She was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2025 after being found guilty of crimes related to “violent robbery”. The parents of the murdered brothers told the media on Tuesday that attending the trial was “incredibly important and overwhelmingly difficult”. They would do the same for us.” The triple murder had sparked outrage and grief in Australia and the US as the friends and families of the surfers galvanised major media attention for the search for their bodies.
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