A Mexican judge has sentenced three men to 158 years and nine months in prison each for the 2024 murders of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad, who were killed during a surfing trip to Baja California.
A botched robbery, then a week-long search
The three were camping in a remote beachside area near Ensenada when they were attacked on April 27, 2024, roughly 36 hours after crossing into Mexico from the United States. Prosecutors said the men were shot in an apparent robbery of their truck; their bodies were not found for about a week, when they were discovered dumped in a clifftop well with gunshot wounds to the head. A guilty verdict was handed down a week before Friday's sentencing, convicting the defendants — identified only as Jesus Gerardo, known as "El Kekas" and alleged to have led the attack, along with Irineo Francisco and Angel Jesus — of homicide, aggravated robbery, robbery with violence and vehicle theft with violence. Their full surnames were withheld for legal reasons. The alleged ringleader's girlfriend was separately sentenced to 20 years in prison last November after admitting involvement in the robbery.
Prosecutors had sought more than $100,000 in damages, but the judge ruled that any compensation would need to be pursued through separate civil proceedings. The case drew international attention, particularly in Australia, because the area around Ensenada has a reputation among surfers as safe compared with other parts of Mexico.
Families sat through a trial that began in September
Martin and Debra Robinson, the brothers' parents, traveled from Australia for the trial, which opened on September 7, and followed Friday's sentencing hearing by video link. Debra Robinson earlier told the court that her sons' murders had taken "the future we had imagined with them." The family has since established the Callum and Jake Robinson Foundation in their sons' memory. Callum, the elder brother, had moved to the United States to play professional lacrosse and was involved in coastal cleanups; Jake, a doctor, was preparing to take up a position at Geelong Hospital before his death.
Baja California is among Mexico's most violent states, driven largely by organized crime and drug trafficking, though such activity rarely affects tourists directly. The killings nonetheless echoed an earlier case: in 2015, Australian surfers Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman were killed while traveling through the northwestern state of Sinaloa, their bodies later burned. Local surfers in Ensenada have called for increased security for both residents and visiting tourists following the Robinson-Rhoad case, in a region where tourism remains central to the economy, according to reporting on the sentencing.
