A Mexican judge on Friday sentenced three men to more than 158 years of imprisonment for the murder of two Australian surfers and their American friend during an
.Brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, aged 30 and 33 respectively, and their friend Carter Rhoad, 30,
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judge → sentence → an
were on a surfing trip to Mexico's Pacific coast when they were shot dead in Baja California during an attempted robbery.
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they → shoot → robbery
They were camping in a remote beachside area near the city of Ensenada when they were attacked on April 27, 2024.
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they → camp → April
Their bodies were found days later, dumped in a cliff-top well, with
to their heads.
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bodies → find → heads
A 9mm and a .45 caliber pistol were used in the attack.
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mm → use → attack
Judge Raul Hernandez ruled that the three Mexican defendants, identified only by their first names — Jesus Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Angel Jesus — acted with premeditation.
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defendants → rule → premeditation
Jesus Gerardo, known as "el Kekas," had a criminal record before the attacks.
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Gerardo → know → attacks
On Friday, the court sentenced the three to 158 years and nine months each.
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court → sentence → years
Prosecutors had sought more than $100,000 in damages, but the judge rejected it and said any compensation would have to be pursued through civil proceedings.
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compensation → seek → proceedings
"There can never be justice for the loss of a son, but we are grateful that these men will never hurt anyone else," Rhoad's mother Page said after learning the verdict.
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mother → hurt → verdict
Killers wanted to steal truck tires
The trio was attacked on April 28 or 29.
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trio → want → April
Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez theorized that the killers drove by and saw the group's pickup truck and tents and wanted to steal the vehicle's tires and other parts.
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killers → theorize → tires
Andrade Ramírez said it was unlikely that the trio was targeted because they were tourists.
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they → say → ?
Jesus Gerardo's former girlfriend, Ary Gisell Silva, admitted to goading him into stealing the tires from the vehicle.
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girlfriend → admit → vehicle
She said Jesus Gerardo sneered at the trio's plea for their lives and bragged about the items he stole from them.
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he → say → them
Prosecutors said the attack was followed by a hurried attempt to destroy evidence.
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attack → say → evidence
The tents and truck were burned, and the bodies were dumped in a well at "a site that is extremely hard to get to" about 4 miles away, investigators said.
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investigators → burn → site
The well had been covered with boards and was "literally almost impossible to find," Andrade Ramírez said.
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Ramírez → cover → boards
It took two hours to remove the bodies, she said.
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she → take → bodies
Investigators also found a fourth body, which had been there much longer.
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which → find → body
Andrade Ramírez said the men who killed the surfers may have been behind the previous killing, but they have not been charged in relation to it.
uncertain
they → say → it
The Robinsons' parents had traveled to Mexico from Australia for the
and left after the verdict.
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parents → travel → verdict
They had spoken movingly in court about their loss.
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They → speak → loss
"It's hard for a parent to lose a son, and we lost two sons," Martin Robinson said.
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Robinson → lose → sons
Debra Robinson said what hurt the most was that her sons "were treated with such cruelty" in their final hours.
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sons → say → hours
The families of the victims followed the sentencing hearing via video link.
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families → follow → link
Rhoad's mother and his fiancée, Natalie Weirtz, addressed the court by video link.
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mother → address → link
Weirtz called for the accused to "be punished so that no other family suffers the same pain."
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family → call → pain
Rhoad and Weirtz had been set to marry just a few months after he was killed.
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he → set → ?
Baja California is one of Mexico's most violent states, plagued by organized crime and drug trafficking, although cartel activity does not usually affect tourists.
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activity → plague → tourists
Still, the callousness of the surfers' killings shocked Ensenada, a surfing mecca that attracts visitors from around the world.
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that → shock → world
Other foreign visitors have been targeted in attacks on Mexico's Pacific coast.
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visitors → target → coast
Two Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, were
while traveling through the northwestern state of Sinaloa.
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surfers → travel → Sinaloa
Their bodies were later burned.
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bodies → burn → ?
The Aporia
