A Mexican judge sentenced three men to nearly 159 years in prison each for the murders of three foreign surfers in Baja California in 2024, according to a statement from the local attorney general’s office.
The sentences were handed down on Friday, and the men were also ordered to pay the victims’ families about $85,000 plus funeral expenses, according to a spokeswoman for the state attorney general office.
The victims were two brothers, Callum and Jake Robinson from Perth, Australia, and Jack Carter Rhoad of San Diego. The trio, in their early 30s, set off from San Diego in a van in April 2024 for Ensenada on a surf-and-camping vacation along Mexico’s northwest coast.
When they failed to show up to their Airbnb in a coastal town just north of Ensenada, it set off an intense search. The days-long hunt ended when the Mexican authorities found their bodies, with gunshot wounds to their heads, in a 50-foot-deep well.
The killings were a robbery gone wrong, the Mexican authorities said. Parts of northern Mexico are plagued by violent crime; the area is a major hub for drug smuggling into the United States for the Mexican cartels and gangs that operate in the region.
The defendants were found guilty a week ago of homicide and aggravated robbery, among other charges. The court identified them as Jesús Gerardo, Irineo and Ángel Jesús, with last names not provided, according to criminal procedure in Mexico.
Another defendant who was arrested in the killings was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year, after pleading guilty to aggravated robbery and violent vehicle theft, The Associated Press reported.
Callum Robinson, 32, was a former professional lacrosse player who was “larger than life in so many ways,” according to the website for a foundation named for the brothers. Jake Robinson, 31, was a “compassionate doctor,” the website said. Mr. Rhoad was killed just months before his wedding, according to a local Australian news site.
The case has been somewhat controversial in Mexico because of the Mexican authorities’ quick investigation into the deaths. Thousands of Mexicans go missing every year, and the authorities are often much slower to respond.
Some Mexicans complained of a racist double standard in this case, with the authorities’ acting quickly only because the victims were foreign and Baja California’s economy relies on tourism.
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