Three men guilty of killing two Australian brothers and an American friend on a surf trip

36 hours.

That is how long Jake Robinson, his brother Callum and their friend Carter Rhoad were in Mexico before they were killed.

On Friday 9 October, a court in the northern state of Baja California found three men guilty of murdering them. The BBC reports that the men could only be named as Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús, because of legal rules.

The three victims were all in their early 30s. The brothers were from Australia. Carter was from the United States.

They had come to surf.

What happened to the surfers in April 2024?

They crossed the border from the US and drove into Baja California, a long finger of land famous for surf breaks.

Prosecutors say they set up camp in a secluded beach area. The BBC says the court heard it was an apparent botched robbery of their truck.

Then the three went quiet.

Their bodies were not found for about a week. According to the Associated Press, they were found in a well near the area on 3 May. The BBC says they had been shot in the head.

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The families identified them.

How did the court hear it happen?

The trial was held in the coastal city of Ensenada. It began on 7 September and lasted about a month.

Prosecutors say the alleged ringleader, Jesús Gerardo, known as "El Kekas", tried to steal tyres and other parts from the surfers' pickup truck. They say he shot the men when they resisted and then hid the bodies in a well.

The Associated Press reports that his girlfriend gave evidence in a separate case. She said he told her he had gone to the tent with a 9mm handgun. She also said the men threw their belongings at him to stop him, and that one begged for his life.

Authorities said one of the victims' phones was found with her. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison last November after admitting to her part in the robbery, the BBC says.

Photo: Ll1324 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

What do the numbers say?

The table below sets out the case.

The men have not been sentenced yet. The BBC says they are likely to spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Was it all over a set of tyres?

That is what prosecutors say. The Associated Press reports that Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez named the attempted theft of tyres and truck parts as the motive.

Think about that. Three young men, two of them brothers, lost their lives over wheels and spare parts from a pickup. It is the kind of detail that stuck with people in Ensenada, who were shocked at the apparent ease and pointlessness of the killings, the BBC says.

Four people in all were arrested. One was the girlfriend, who was dealt with first. The other three are the men now found guilty.

How did the case move from 2024 to a verdict?

Why did this case shake so many people?

Because of where it happened and how pointless it seems.

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The BBC says the murders sent shockwaves around the world, especially in Australia. This stretch of coast is usually safe from the violence seen in other parts of Mexico. Ensenada has a welcoming reputation among surfers.

The only explanation the authorities gave was that the three men were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After the bodies were found, local surfers paddled out at a popular break in Ensenada and threw flowers into the sea. They also asked for more security for residents and visitors, pointing to other violence in the state.

The state governor, Marina del Pilar Avila, said Baja California "is and will continue to be a state with safe tourism".

Photo: Thelmadatter / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

What did the families say in court?

Debra Robinson, the brothers' mother, told the court the murders had taken "the future we had imagined with them", as the BBC quotes her.

She and her husband Martin were in the courtroom in Ensenada throughout the trial. During closing arguments, Martin said: "It's hard for a parent to lose a son, and we lost two sons."

Carter Rhoad's family joined by video link.

Outside court a week before the verdict, Debra said the couple were deeply grateful to Australians for their support. She said they could feel the love and arms around them.

What happens next?

A date for sentencing has not been announced in the reports we found. The prosecution had asked for 150 years in prison for each man, and the BBC expects them to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

For two families on two continents, the court case ends something. The one thing no judge can change is the number that started this story, because those three friends spent only 36 hours in Mexico.