Mexican judge sentences three men to 158 years each for killing Australian brothers and U.S. surfer

A judge in Ensenada, Mexico, on Friday, Oct. 16, sentenced three men to 158 years and nine months in prison each for the 2024 murders of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad, the BBC, Al Jazeera and Australia's ABC reported.

The three were found guilty a week earlier in a judge-only trial, ABC reported. Al Jazeera said the sentences were for homicide, robbery with violence and vehicle theft with violence. Their full names were withheld for legal reasons. They were identified as Jesus Gerardo, known as "El Kekas," Irineo Francisco and Angel Jesus.

Judge Raul Hernandez Arellano said the crime was made worse because the tourists were unarmed and attacked at a remote location at night, ABC reported. Prosecutors had asked for 210 years each, Al Jazeera reported.

The men were also ordered to pay 1,980,728 pesos for the brothers' deaths and 549,550 pesos for Rhoad's, according to ABC. The defense has said it will appeal and has 10 days to do so, ABC reported.

What happened

The Robinsons and Rhoad camped on a beach at Punta San Jose, near Ensenada, on the night of April 27, 2024, Al Jazeera reported. Their bodies were found May 3 in a well more than 15 meters (about 50 feet) deep, all with gunshot wounds to the head.

Prosecutors told the court the men were killed in a robbery gone wrong, ABC reported. The defense argued there was not enough evidence. The BBC said the killings were an apparent botched robbery of the victims' truck.

In a separate trial in November 2025, the girlfriend of the alleged ringleader was sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting involvement in the robbery, the BBC reported.

The families

Debra Robinson, the brothers' mother, told the court her sons' murders had taken "the future we had imagined with them," the BBC reported. The brothers' parents, Debra and Martin Robinson, watched the sentencing by video link from Melbourne and said in a statement that they were satisfied with the sentences. "No sentence, no matter how long, will ever bring our beautiful boys back," they said, according to ABC. Rhoad's mother, Page, thanked the judge and said she was glad no other families would be victims of these men, ABC reported.

Why it matters

The killings shocked surfers and tourists in an area usually seen as safe from the violence found elsewhere in Mexico. The head of Baja California's surfers' association, Antonio Otanez, said "justice has been served" and that the killings had caused a "major drop" in visits by surfers to the region, Al Jazeera reported.