Ensenada, Mexico: A judge‑only trial has started for three men accused of murdering Australian surfing brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad during a 2024 surfing trip.
During the brief summer, the bodies of the three men were discovered in the bottom of a well. Investigators found gunshot wounds to their heads, a grim hint that a bungled robbery had turned into a lethal confrontation.
Prosecutors seek sentences exceeding 200 years for each defendant and an additional 168 years for the alleged ringleader, citing the brutality of the crime and the victims’ status as tourists in a normally tranquil Baja California surf town.
Parents of the Robinson brothers, Martin and Debra, were present in court and urged the accused to see the human consequence of their alleged actions.
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, the parents told reporters.
The trial has run into tensions: the defendants were moved to a smaller courtroom amid claims that some witnesses felt intimidation by associates of the accused.
With a four‑week schedule and hundreds of witnesses scheduled, the court aims to present a complete picture of the alleged car‑jacking that spiraled into murder.
