The Baja California trial revealed chilling details of the surfers’ triple homicide.
Published on October 10, 2026
A Mexican judge has found three men guilty of the murders of two Australian brothers and their American friend in April 2024 in the Mexican state of Baja California.
The trial for the triple homicide that shocked Mexico and attracted international attention ended Friday after Judge Raul Hernández of the coastal city of Ensenada ruled that Jesus Gerardo Garcia, aka “El Kekas,” Irineo Francisco “N” and Angel Jesus “N” were responsible for the killings of Australians Callum and Jake Robinson, aged 30 and 33, respectively, and American Carter Redd Rhoad, 30.
The defendants, detained for more than two years, were also found guilty of armed robbery and armed carjacking.
“Today’s guilty verdict is an important moment in our long and painful journey to achieve justice for our beautiful sons, Callum and Jake, and their friend Carter Rhoad, whose lives were so cruelly taken from them in 2024,” said Father Martin Robinson.
The three men traveled to Baja California in April 2024 to surf and camped near the coastal town of Ensenada, but shortly after arriving in the town of Punta San Jose, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Ensenada, they were reported missing. Their bodies were found on May 3 in a well, all with gunshot wounds to the head.
Garcia, identified as the perpetrator of the murders, was arrested in May 2024 in connection with this case, along with his ex-partner Ary Gisell Silva Raya, Francisco and Jesus.
During the month-long trial, chilling details of this brutal crime were revealed. Silva Raya testified at a hearing last month that Garcia admitted to him that he had arrived at the tent where the foreigners were staying with a 9mm pistol.
Upon seeing him, they began to throw their belongings to prevent him from attacking them, and one of them begged for his life, which the attacker ignored, she explained.
She said Garcia bragged about “how beautifully” the victims cried and about the items he stole from them.
The prosecution said Silva Raya arrived in Punta San José on April 27, 2024, where she met the three foreigners and “incited one of her companions to rob them,” which they did the next day.
The woman, who was found in possession of one of the victims’ cell phones, was sentenced in November 2025 to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to “aggravated robbery with violence” and “vehicle theft with violence” in an accelerated procedure. However, Garcia and his two accomplices decided to stand trial.
Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent states, plagued by organized crime and drug trafficking, although cartel activities generally do not affect tourists.
The judge will announce the final sentence on October 16. The Baja California State Attorney General’s Office requested an “exemplary sentence” of 210 years in prison for each defendant.
“No outcome can ever undo this tragedy, but we hope that today marks an important step toward justice and allows us to continue to honor their lives and the extraordinary young men that they were,” Martin Robinson said. “They will never be forgotten.”
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