Three men sentenced to 158 years each in Mexico for killing three tourist surfers

Verdict for tourist murders in Baja California

On Friday, a court in Mexico handed down sentences to three men who killed two Australian brothers and their American friend during a surfing trip. Each of the convicts received a sentence of 158 years and nine months in prison. This was announced by a representative of the judicial system, Reuters reports.

The defendants, whose full names are not officially disclosed and who appear in the case materials as Jesus Gerardo “N”, Ireneo Francisco “N”, and Angel Jesus “N”, were found guilty a week ago of murder, aggravated robbery, robbery with violence, and aggravated vehicle theft.

Circumstances of the crime and the victims

The victims were 33-year-old Jake Robinson, 30-year-old Callum Robinson, who are brothers, and their 30-year-old American friend, Jack Carter Road. In late April 2024, the men camped and surfed near Punta San Jose, located approximately 80 km south of the city of Ensenada. It was then that they were declared missing.

Search operations, which involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), lasted several days. On 3 May, the tourists' bodies were found at the bottom of a well. Law enforcement established that each of the deceased had a gunshot wound to the head. The pickup truck the tourists were travelling in was found burned down a few kilometres from where the bodies were discovered.

Additional penalties and related cases

In addition to imprisonment, the court ordered the convicts to pay compensation to the families of the deceased, a representative of the Baja California state judiciary said.

Earlier, in November, Gissel Silva was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and aggravated vehicle theft. The case was heard in an expedited manner. The woman was 23 years old at the time of her arrest; she was taken into custody a few days after the foreigners' bodies were found.

Crime situation in the region

Although the Ensenada area is considered relatively safe, Baja California state is among the most crime-ridden regions in Mexico. Following the tourists' murders, the US Department of State urged citizens to reconsider travel plans to this state, citing risks of crime and kidnapping.