Three men have been found guilty of murdering Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, and their US friend Carter Rhoad during a surfing trip in Mexico in 2024.
The men’s full names could not be given for legal reasons, and they were only identified as Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús. They are yet to be sentenced – but are likely to spend the rest of their lives in a prison.
Debra Robinson, the brothers’ mother, told the courtroom that her sons’ murders had taken “the future we had imagined with them”.
During the trial in the northern Baja California state, the court heard that the tourists were killed in an apparent botched robbery of their truck in a secluded beach area.
Their bodies were later found dumped down a well with gunshot wounds to their heads.
The murders sent shockwaves around the world, particularly in Australia, as the coastal area is usually safe from the violence seen in other parts of Mexico.
Robinson and her husband Martin have been at the court in the coastal town of Ensenada throughout the trial, and delivered emotional testimony during closing arguments before Friday’s verdict.
“It’s hard for a parent to lose a son, and we lost two sons,” Martin said.
Family members of Carter Rhoad joined the trial by video link.
Robinson told reporters outside court a week ago that the couple were “deeply grateful” to Australians for the outpouring of support they had received and that they “feel the love and their arms around us”.
During the month-long trial, the prosecution had sought 150 years in prison for each of the three defendants.
In November last year, the girlfriend of the alleged ringleader, Jesús Gerardo (alias “El Kekas”), was sentenced in a separate trial to 20 years in prison. She had admitted to involvement in the robbery.
At the time, the murders shocked locals and tourists in Ensenada who were disturbed at the apparent ease and sheer pointlessness of the killings.
The beach town has a reputation as a welcoming spot for surfers, but the chilling murders revealed how commonplace such extreme violence remains in Mexico.
The only explanation the authorities were able to give was that the surfers – all in their early 30s – had ultimately been murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Their killings happened barely 36 hours after they crossed into Mexico from the US. Their bodies, however, were not found for another week, when their families were able to identify them.
At the time, the surfer community in Ensenada turned out in force to honour the men by paddling out at a popular surfing spot and throwing flowers into the sea.
Local surfers also called for greater security for residents and visiting tourists, citing other recent examples of violence in the state. Tourism is a key part of the regional economy in Baja California.
Amid the demands for action, state Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila tried to ease public fears about the widespread violence.
“Baja California is and will continue to be a state with safe tourism for the thousands of people who visit us from the rest of the country and the world,” she said.
“I send my condolences and solidarity to the families at this difficult time.”
