A Mexican judge found three men guilty on Friday of the 2024 murders of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and American surfer Carter Rhoad during a camping trip in Baja California. The defendants face sentencing on October 16, with prosecutors seeking 210 years in prison for each man.
Ensenada Judge Delivers Verdict After Monthlong Trial
Judge Raúl Hernández ruled that Jesús Gerardo García, Irineo Francisco, and Ángel Jesús were responsible for the triple homicide that shocked Mexico and drew international attention after a monthlong trial in the coastal city of Ensenada. The three defendants, who had been held in custody for more than two years following their arrests in May 2024, were convicted of aggravated homicide, violent robbery, and armed carjacking.
The victims—Australian brothers Callum Robinson, 33, and Jake Robinson, 30, along with their 30-year-old American friend Carter Rhoad—had crossed into Mexico from the United States in April 2024 to surf along an idyllic strip of beach in the Baja California state. They camped near the tourist enclave of Punta San José, roughly 50 miles south of Ensenada, before vanishing. Their bodies were discovered on May 3 in a well, each bearing gunshot wounds to the head.
Debra and Martin Robinson, the parents of Callum and Jake, travelled from Western Australia to attend the trial and were in court for the verdict alongside an Australian consular representative. The defense had attempted to argue that there was not enough evidence to prove the case, but the judge found that several witnesses had given credible and consistent evidence.
Courtroom Testimony Details Robbery and Slaying
Ary Gisell Silva Raya, the ex-partner of main defendant Jesús Gerardo García—known locally as “El Kekas”—testified that García arrived at the foreigners’ tent carrying a 9mm pistol after the defendants were tipped off to the tourists’ campsite.
Upon seeing him, they began throwing their belongings to prevent him from attacking them, and one of them begged for his life, which the assailant ignored.
Ary Gisell Silva Raya, via Associated Press
Investigators stated that the attackers targeted the victims’ white pickup truck for its tires and parts, shooting the men when they resisted and later dumping their bodies in the makeshift well while burning the vehicle nearby. Silva Raya arrived in Punta San José on April 27, 2024, met the three foreigners, and instigated one of her companions to carry out the robbery the following day. She was found in possession of one victim’s cellphone and pleaded guilty in an expedited proceeding in November 2025, receiving a 20-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery with violence and vehicle theft with violence.
The prosecution told the trial that the victims were murdered during a robbery gone wrong, and the court heard that Jesús Gerardo had a reputation as a violent hit man. Court documents also indicated that Irineo Francisco had links to the Sinaloa cartel.
Parents Address Court as Prosecutors Seek 210-Year Sentences
Debra Robinson told the courtroom that her sons’ murders had taken the future they had imagined with them, adding that accountability matters and that she hoped the convictions meant the men would not be able to inflict the same pain on any other families in Mexico.
“Today’s guilty verdict is a significant moment in our long and painful journey to seek justice for our beautiful sons, Callum and Jake, and their friend Carter Rhoad, whose lives were so cruelly taken from them in 2024,”
Martin Robinson
The Baja California State Attorney General’s Office has requested an exemplary sentence of 210 years in prison for each of the three convicted men, while state Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez also pushed for exemplary penalties ahead of the sentencing hearing. Judge Raúl Hernández will announce the final penalties on October 16, following arrests that took place in May 2024.