Three Men Sentenced to 158 Years Each for Murdering Two Australian Surfers and Their American Friend in Mexico
Brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and Carter Rhoad were shot during a robbery on a 2024 surf trip near Ensenada. A judge ruled the killers acted with premeditation.
By Watchman Report staff ·
A Mexican judge on Friday sentenced three men to 158 years and nine months in prison each for the 2024 murders of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, 30 and 33, and their American friend Carter Rhoad, 30, CBS News reported. The three were camping near Ensenada in Baja California when they were attacked in late April 2024. Their bodies were found days later in a covered well about 4 miles away, with gunshot wounds to their heads.
Judge Raúl Hernández ruled that the defendants, identified only as Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús, acted with premeditation. Prosecutors said the men wanted to steal the tires and other parts from the group's pickup truck, then burned the tents and truck to destroy evidence. Jesús Gerardo's former girlfriend, who admitted goading him into the theft, was sentenced to 20 years last November. The judge rejected a request for more than $100,000 in damages, saying compensation must be sought in civil court. The defense has said it will appeal, Al Jazeera reported.
"It's hard for a parent to lose a son, and we lost two sons," Martin Robinson said during the trial. "There can never be justice for the loss of a son, but we are grateful that these men will never hurt anyone else," Rhoad's mother, Page, said after the verdict.
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