Three men accused of murdering two Australian brothers and their American friend two years ago have gone on trial in Mexico, with the parents of the victims attending the proceedings.
Jack and Callum Robinson from Perth and Jack Carter Rhoad from the US were shot dead during a suspected botched robbery and car theft attempt in April 2024. Their bodies were found at the bottom of a well in Mexico, with gunshot wounds to their heads, after they went missing in Baja California.
The three men were on a surfing trip along Mexico’s Pacific coast and had been camping in a remote beachside area when they were attacked. Their bodies were dumped in a cliff-top shaft.
The parents of the Australian brothers, Debra and Martin Robinson, travelled to the city of Ensenada for the start of the proceedings.
On the first day of their 20-day trial, the accused men were removed from the main courtroom after allegedly intimidating witnesses.
Jesús “El Kekas” Gerardo, Irineo Francisco, and Ángel Jesús were moved to a smaller courtroom after prosecutors said that people associated with the defendants had intimidated two witnesses.
Three witnesses appeared before the court as the trial got underway, including the stepson of one of the defendants.
The witness, his face concealed, described his stepfather as violent and said he had accompanied the accused to the crime scene and was waiting nearby when the “commotion” began.
“I heard a lot of noise,” he said, according to CBS News.
He claimed that he had run away but rejoined the group after they called him back.
He said the accused threatened him, telling him “the same thing that happened to the gringos would happen to him” if he said anything.
The girlfriend of the witness’s stepfather, Ary Gisell Silva, admitted last year she had instigated the robbery in order to steal the pick-up truck’s tyres. She was the first to make contact with the three surfers and noticed valuables with them, including “good phones and good tyres”.
She told a Mexican court she had urged her boyfriend and his accomplices to rob the surfers.
She was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2025 after being found guilty of crimes related to “violent robbery”.
The parents of the murdered brothers told the media on Tuesday that attending the trial was “incredibly important and overwhelmingly difficult”.
“We want the men accused of murdering our sons to see, in person, the human consequences of what happened,” the Robinsons said in a statement, according to the Australian broadcaster ABC. “Callum and Jake were not simply victims in a case file – they were our sons, deeply loved by their family and friends, with lives, dreams and futures that were brutally taken away.”
They said their attendance was “about representing our sons, being here for them”.
“I know they want us to be here. They would do the same for us.”
The triple murder had sparked outrage and grief in Australia and the US as the friends and families of the surfers galvanised major media attention for the search for their bodies.
Prosecutors are seeking jail sentences of over 200 years for the accused on charges of violent robbery and auto theft.
Prosecutors have said the victims were killed during a bungled robbery. The defence has argued that the evidence wasn’t enough to prove that theory.
Callum Robinson was a member of Australia’s national lacrosse team and lived in San Diego, where he played professionally.
His younger brother, who was due to start work as a doctor, had travelled from Australia for the trip. Rhoad, from California, was killed just months before he was due to get married.
The surfers were reported missing on 27 April 2024 and their bodies were found on 3 May. Police later said they had been killed on 28 April.
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