Three Convicted in Mexico Killings of Australian Brothers, US Friend

Three men have been found guilty in the murders of two Australian brothers and their American friend, a case that triggered an international search after the group vanished during a surfing trip in Mexico. Their bodies were later discovered inside a well.

Ensenada judge Raúl Hernández convicted Jesús Gerardo García, known as “El Kekas,” along with Irineo Francisco “N” and Ángel Jesús “N,” in connection with the April 2024 killings of Callum and Jake Robinson and their American companion, Carter Rhoad, in Baja California, The Associated Press reported.

The defendants were also convicted of armed robbery and armed carjacking. Their sentences are expected to be announced Oct. 16. Prosecutors with the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office are seeking 210 years in prison for each man, according to the AP.

The guilty verdicts came after a monthlong trial that included testimony describing how one of the victims pleaded for his life shortly before the men were killed.

Ary Gisell Silva Raya, García’s former partner, testified that he told her he had walked toward the surfers’ tent with a 9mm handgun. According to her account, the victims tossed their belongings toward him in an attempt to halt the assault, while one of the men begged him not to kill them, the AP reported.

Silva Raya said García disregarded the plea.

The three friends had traveled to Baja California for a surfing getaway and were reported missing after reaching Punta San Jose, roughly 50 miles from Ensenada. Their remains were found in a well on May 3, 2024.

Investigators initially said the victims were killed after confronting individuals who were attempting to steal the tires from their pickup truck.

Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez said authorities believed the suspects had noticed the truck and camping tents before meeting resistance from the surfers during the alleged theft.

In an account of a May 2024 court hearing, the BBC reported that García allegedly told his girlfriend he had done something to “three gringos” before saying, “I killed them.”

Silva Raya also testified that García showed her a vehicle equipped with tires believed to have been taken from the victims’ truck.

Police found one of the victims’ cellphones in Silva Raya’s possession. Prosecutors said she encountered the surfers on April 27, 2024, and encouraged one of her associates to rob them, according to the AP.

Silva Raya pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery involving violence and vehicle theft involving violence. She received a 20-year prison sentence in November 2025, while García and the two other defendants proceeded to trial.

For the Robinson family, the convictions offered a measure of relief more than two years after Callum and Jake were killed.

Their father, Martin Robinson, called the ruling an important moment in the family’s long and painful search for accountability, the AP reported. He acknowledged that the verdict could not bring back the three men but said it represented progress toward justice as the family continued to remember them.

Soon after the bodies were recovered, Debra Robinson spoke at a tribute on a San Diego beach about her sons’ deep passion for surfing.

“Our hearts are broken, and the world has become a darker place for us,” she said at the time. “They were young men enjoying their passion of surfing together.”

She recalled that Jake, a doctor, sought work at hospitals near surfing beaches and urged others to honor her sons by embracing life.

“Live bigger, shine brighter, and love harder in their memory,” she said.