Three men have been found guilty in the murders of two Australian brothers and their American companion, ending a case that began with an international search after the friends vanished during a surfing trip in Mexico. Their remains were later discovered in a well.
A judge in Ensenada on Friday convicted Jesús Gerardo García, also known as “El Kekas,” Irineo Francisco “N” and Ángel Jesús “N” of killing Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend, Carter Rhoad, in Baja California in April 2024, The Associated Press reported.
The defendants were also convicted of armed robbery and armed carjacking. Judge Raúl Hernández is expected to issue their sentences on Oct. 16. Prosecutors with the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office are requesting 210 years in prison for each man, according to the AP.
Martin and Debra Robinson, the parents of Australian surfers Callum and Jake Robinson, address reporters after three men were convicted in the brothers’ deaths and the killing of their American friend, Carter Rhoad. (Karen Castaneda/AP Photo)
The convictions came after a monthlong trial that featured testimony describing how one of the victims pleaded for his life shortly before the group was killed.
Ary Gisell Silva Raya, García’s former partner, told the court that he said he had gone to the surfers’ tent with a 9mm handgun. According to her testimony, the men tried to stop the attack by throwing their possessions toward him, while one of them pleaded to be left alive, the AP reported.
Silva Raya testified that García did not respond to the victim’s 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 bodies were found inside a well on May 3, 2024.
People march in Ensenada, Mexico, following the 2024 killings of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad during a surfing trip. (Karen Castaneda/AP Photo)
Investigators initially said the victims were killed after confronting people who were trying 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 the surfers’ tents before meeting resistance during the attempted theft.
In an account of a May 2024 hearing, the BBC reported that García allegedly told his girlfriend he had done something to “three gringos” and later acknowledged, “I killed them.”
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Silva Raya also testified that García showed her a vehicle equipped with tires believed to have been taken from the victims’ truck.
Debra and Martin Robinson, the parents of Callum and Jake Robinson, leave an Ensenada courthouse after the trial of the men accused of killing the brothers and their American friend on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (Karen Castaneda/AP Photo)
Silva Raya was found in possession of one of the victims’ phones. Prosecutors alleged that she encountered the surfers on April 27, 2024, and encouraged one of her associates to rob them, according to the AP.
She admitted guilt to aggravated robbery involving violence and vehicle theft involving violence, receiving a 20-year prison sentence in November 2025. García and the two other men faced the full trial.
For the Robinson family, the guilty verdicts offered some 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 justice, the AP reported. He acknowledged that the decision could not bring his sons back, but said it represented progress as the family continued to remember and honor all three victims.
Martin and Debra Robinson walk outside a building after their sons, Callum and Jake, were killed during a surfing trip in Mexico. The brothers and their American friend, Carter Rhoad, were found dead in a well in May 2024. (Karen Castaneda/AP Photo)
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.