Mexican court finds three men guilty of 2024 killings of Australian and American surfers

The verdict

A Mexican judge found three men guilty on Friday of the 2024 murders of two Australian brothers and their American friend during a surf trip in Baja California, according to a court source. The convicted men are Jesus Gerardo Garcia, known as "El Kekas", and two co-defendants identified only as Irineo Francisco "N" and Angel Jesus "N". The Baja California court found them guilty of aggravated homicide, violent robbery and vehicle theft. AFP reporting from the courtroom in Ensenada says the judge found the three acted with premeditation, and the sentences are due next week. The court source gave October 16 as the date the sentence will be announced.

Sentencing request and disputed figures

The prosecution's request is reported differently by different sources. Reuters says prosecutors sought sentences of up to 150 years, while AFP and Le Figaro report a request of 210 years for each defendant. AFP notes that the maximum penalty in Baja California is 60 years. According to AFP, prosecutors told the court that the three foreigners had been caught defenceless and that one of the accused had boasted of holding goods taken from the victims.

How the killings happened

Callum Robinson, 33, his brother Jake Robinson, 30, and their American friend Carter Rhoad, 30, were camping and surfing near Punta San Jose, about 80 km (50 miles) south of Ensenada, when they were reported missing in late April 2024. After a days-long search, aided by the FBI, their bodies were found on May 3, each with gunshot wounds to the head. One account places the bodies at the bottom of a well, while The Guardian describes a clifftop shaft. Prosecutors said the accused tried to carjack the tourists, who were shot when they resisted, and the truck was later found burned nearby. According to testimony from the principal suspect's girlfriend, Garcia said that Carter Rhoad begged to be spared and told them he was married.

Families and the trial

The trial began on 7 September and lasted four weeks. Martin and Debra Robinson travelled from Perth to attend, and Rhoad's fiancee, Natalie Weirtz, joined by video call from the United States. Addressing the court at the start of the trial, Martin Robinson described his sons' murders as "hell".

"It's hard for a parent to lose a son, and we lost two sons," he said.

Debra Robinson testified on the final day of the trial and wept when the verdict was announced, AFP reported. She 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.

Weirtz told the court: "The accused are guilty and must be punished so that no other family suffers the same pain."

Wider context

Gisell Silva, Garcia's then-girlfriend, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in November 2025 in a separate trial. She was 23 when she was arrested a few days after the bodies were found. Baja California ranks among Mexico's most violent states, marked by organised crime and drug trafficking, although cartel activity rarely affects tourists. Other foreign visitors have been targeted on Mexico's Pacific coast, including two Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, who were killed in Sinaloa in 2015 and whose bodies were burned. After the 2024 killings, the US State Department urged Americans to reconsider travel to the state because of crime and kidnapping risks.