The surfers killed in Mexico trial began Monday in Ensenada, nearly two years after two Australian brothers and an American friend were shot to death during a suspected robbery on Baja California’s Pacific coast, according to prosecutors.
Australian siblings Jake and Callum Robinson, ages 30 and 33, and their 30-year-old American friend, Jack Carter Rhoad, were on a camping and surf trip in April 2024 when they were attacked at a remote beach area in Baja California state. Authorities said the killings occurred during an attempt to steal the group’s pickup truck, which was later found burned near where their bodies were discovered.
Investigators reported the surfers were last heard from on April 27, 2024, while camping near Ensenada. Prosecutors said assailants intentionally surprised the group and opened fire on April 28. The victims’ bodies, each bearing gunshot wounds to the head, were found on May 3 in a cliff-top shaft several days after they went missing.
What to know about the surfers killed in Mexico trial
The parents of Jake and Callum Robinson traveled to Ensenada for the start of proceedings. In court, Debra Robinson looked at the defendants before breaking down in tears. Earlier, her partner, Martin Robinson, told reporters they were attending to represent their sons, adding, “We want to find out what happened. We want to find out why.”
Three witnesses testified Monday, including the stepson of one of the defendants. Speaking from an adjoining room with his face concealed, the witness described his stepfather as violent. He said he accompanied the accused to the area and waited nearby when a commotion began.
He recalled hearing a lot of noise and running away, then rejoining the group after they called him. The men warned him that the same fate as “the gringos” would befall him if he spoke about what happened, he testified.
Prosecutors also referenced prior court records involving Ary Gisell Silva, the girlfriend of the witness’s stepfather. Silva was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year after admitting she had instigated the robbery to steal the pickup’s tires.
According to evidence presented, Silva first approached the tourists and noticed they had valuables, telling a court she urged her boyfriend and two other men to rob the surfers because they had “good phones and good tires.”
Victims remembered and broader context
The case drew grief and outrage in Australia and the United States, prompting a widespread social media search effort when the men went missing. Callum Robinson had played professional lacrosse in the U.S., while Jake Robinson, who had traveled to visit his brother, was about to begin work as a physician upon returning to Australia, according to previous court statements reported by international media.
Rhoad was engaged to be married in the months after the trip. His fiancée told the court he had been her “safety in the world,” and that her life had become a nightmare.
Baja California is among Mexico’s most violent states due to organized crime and drug trafficking, though officials say cartel violence typically does not target tourists. Still, foreign visitors have faced attacks along the Pacific coast.
In 2015, Australian surfers Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman were murdered while traveling through Sinaloa, and their bodies were later burned. The trial in Ensenada continues this week as prosecutors press their case against the three defendants in the surfers killed in Mexico trial.
