Three men in Mexico get 158 years each for murdering two Australian brothers and their American friend on a surf trip

The sentences closed a case that had hung over Baja California for two and a half years. A judge in the coastal city of Ensenada ruled on Friday that Jesus Gerardo Garcia, known as El Kekas, Irineo Francisco and Angel Jesus will each serve 158 years and nine months in prison. The three were found guilty a week earlier of homicide, aggravated robbery, robbery with violence and vehicle theft with violence, and the judge ordered them to pay compensation to the families.

Jake Robinson, 33, Callum Robinson, 30, and Carter Rhoad, 30, were camping and surfing near Punta San Jose, about 80 kilometers south of Ensenada, when they were reported missing in late April 2024. After a search aided by the FBI, their bodies were found on May 3 at the bottom of a well, each with a gunshot wound to the head, and their pickup truck was found burned several kilometers away. Prosecutors said the attackers came to steal the tires from the truck and shot the man who resisted first, then the other two. A fourth defendant, Gisell Silva, pleaded guilty in a fast track proceeding and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Outside the court, the families measured the verdict against the loss. There will never be justice for the loss of a child, but these men will never hurt anyone else again, said Page Rhoad, the American victim's mother, speaking by video link after the sentencing. Martin Robinson, the brothers' father, called the verdict a significant moment in a long and painful journey. Antonio Otanez, president of the Baja California surfers association, welcomed the outcome and said justice has been served, while noting that the killings caused a major drop in tourist visits, above all by surfers, to beaches the region depends on.