Mexico opens trial for suspects accused of killing Australian and US surfers during alleged robbery attempt

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Lawyers and prosecutors arrive for the trial of three suspects accused of murdering Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and American Jack Carter Rhoad in April 2024 during a surfing trip, in Ensenada, Baja California state, Mexico September 7, 2026. — AFP pic

ENSENADA (Mexico), Sept 8 — The suspected murderers of two Australian surfers and an American at a Mexican surfing hotspot went on trial yesterday, two years after their killings in a suspected robbery.

Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, aged 30 and 33, respectively, and 30-year-old American friend Jack Carter Rhoad were on a surfing trip to Mexico’s Pacific coast when they were shot dead in Baja California state.

They had been camping in a remote beachside area when they were attacked in April 2024.

Their bodies were found dumped in a cliff-top shaft several days after they went missing.

They bore gunshot wounds to their heads.

Three men are on trial over their killings.

The Robinsons’ parents travelled to the port city of Ensenada for the start of the proceedings.

Bereaved mother Debra Robinson stared at the accused before bursting into tears in the courtroom.

“It’s about representing our sons, being here for them. I know they want us to be here,” her partner Martin Robinson earlier told reporters.

“We want to find out what happened. We want to find out why,” he said.

Debra Martin Robinson, mother of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson, murdered in April 2024 during a surfing trip, looks through a courtroom window during the trial of three murder suspects in Ensenada, Baja California state, Mexico September 7, 2026. — AFP pic

‘Good phones’ 

Authorities say the men were murdered during an attempt to steal their pickup truck, which was found burned near their bodies.

Three witnesses appeared before the court on Monday, including the stepson of one of the defendants, who described his stepfather as violent.

Testifying from an adjoining room with his face concealed, he said he accompanied the accused to the crime scene, waiting nearby when the “commotion” began.

“I heard a lot of noise,” he said, explaining that he had run away but rejoined the group after they called him.

He said they warned him that “the same thing that happened to the gringos would happen to him” if he said anything.

The girlfriend of the witness’ stepfather was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year after admitting she had instigated the robbery in order to steal the pickup’s tires.

Ary Gisell Silva told a court that she had urged her boyfriend and two other men to rob the surfers, noting they had “good phones and good tires.”

The crime sparked outrage and grief in Australia and the United States, where the surfers’ friends and families galvanised a major search on social media for their bodies.

Callum Robinson played professional lacrosse in the United States. His brother Jake was pursuing a career in medicine.

Rhoad was killed a few months before he was set to marry.

Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent states, plagued by organised crime and drug trafficking, although cartel activity doesn’t usually affect tourists.

Other foreign visitors have, however, been targeted in criminal attacks on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Two Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, were murdered in 2015 while traveling through the north-western state of Sinaloa in the north-west.

Their bodies were later burned. — AFP