A Mexican judge sentenced three men for the 2024 killings of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad.
A Mexican judge in the coastal city of Ensenada sentenced three men on Friday to 158 years and nine months in prison each for the 2024 murders of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and American tourist Carter Rhoad, Al Jazeera reported.
Judge Raul Hernandez ruled that the defendants—identified as Jesus Gerardo, known as “El Kekas,” Irineo Francisco, and Angel Jesus—acted with premeditation during an attempted robbery along the Baja California coast, according to CBS News. The three were convicted of homicide, robbery with violence, and vehicle theft with violence, one week after being found guilty at the conclusion of a month-long trial.
The victims’ families attended the sentencing hearing by video link. Debra Robinson, the mother of Jake and Callum Robinson, told the court that the killings took “the future we had imagined with them,” according to BBC News. Page Rhoad, the mother of Carter Rhoad, said following the verdict: “There can never be justice for the loss of a son, but we are grateful that these men will never hurt anyone else.” Natalie Weirtz, who was engaged to marry Rhoad just months after the attack, asked the court by video link to punish the defendants so other families would be spared similar suffering.
How the attack unfolded
Brothers Callum Robinson, 33, and Jake Robinson, 30, had traveled with Rhoad, 30—identified by Al Jazeera as Jack Carter Rhoad—to Baja California in late April 2024 for a surfing trip. The group set up camp on the night of April 27 at a remote beach in Punta San Jose, located near Ensenada. The attack took place barely 36 hours after they crossed into Mexico from the United States, with investigators placing the killings on April 27, 28, or 29.
State prosecutors concluded that the killers spotted the campers’ pickup truck and tents while driving past and decided to steal the vehicle’s tires and spare parts. Jesus Gerardo’s former girlfriend, Ary Gisell Silva, admitted she pushed him to take the tires from the vehicle. She testified that Gerardo sneered at the men as they pleaded for their lives and later boasted about the items he had taken from them. Silva received a 20-year prison sentence in November after admitting to her role in the robbery.
Investigators reported that 9mm and .45 caliber handguns were used to shoot the three men in the head. The attackers then burned the surfers’ tents and pickup truck before driving about 4 miles away to dispose of the bodies in a secluded, cliff-top well.
The well, which was more than 15 meters deep and concealed beneath wooden boards, required a multi-day search involving the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Search teams recovered the victims’ bodies on May 3, 2024, in an operation that took two hours. Investigators also recovered a fourth body from the same well that had been there much longer. While authorities suspect the same men may have been involved in that earlier killing, no charges have been filed in that case.
Legal rulings and community impact
State prosecutors had asked the court to impose an exemplary prison sentence of 210 years for each man. Prosecutors also requested more than $100,000 in damages for the victims’ families, but Judge Hernandez dismissed the restitution claim, stating that any financial compensation must be pursued separately in civil court.
Ensenada has long drawn surfers from across the world, and Baja California relies heavily on tourism for its local economy. While cartel activity and violent crime remain widespread across Baja California, tourists are rarely targeted in Ensenada. Antonio Otanez, president of the Baja California surfers’ association, welcomed Friday’s decision and noted that the killings had triggered a steep decline in visiting surfers, while local surfers pressed authorities for stronger safety measures across the region.
