Trial opens in Mexico over killings of two Australian surfers and their American friend
The suspected killers of two Australian surfers and their American friend have gone on trial in Mexico, two years after the men were found dead
The suspected killers of two Australian surfers and their American friend have gone on trial in Mexico, two years after the men were found dead following a camping trip on the country’s Pacific coast.
The case has drawn the families of Jake and Callum Robinson back to Baja California. Their mother, Debra Robinson, sat in court in the port city of Ensenada on Monday and stared at the three men accused before breaking into tears.
Parents face the accused
Australian brothers Jake Robinson, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, were travelling with their 30-year-old American friend Jack Carter Rhoad when they were killed in April 2024, according to the case outlined in court. The three had been camping in a remote beachside area when they were allegedly attacked in what investigators suspect was a robbery.
The bodies of the three men were found dumped in a cliff-top shaft several days after they disappeared. All three had gunshot wounds to the head.
It was a brutal end. And it has kept grieving families waiting.
Martin Robinson, the brothers’ father, said before the hearing that the trip to Ensenada was about being there for his sons. “It’s about representing our sons, being here for them. I know they want us to be here,” he told reporters. “We want to find out what happened.”
A case watched beyond Mexico
The trial is being closely followed in Australia and the United States, where the victims had family and friends waiting for answers. For Mexico, it has also put a spotlight on safety at remote tourist spots along the Pacific coast, where surfers and campers often travel for isolated breaks and beaches.
The proceedings come two years after the killings, a delay that has added to the anguish around the case. Three men are on trial over the deaths.
For the Robinson family, Monday’s hearing was not just a legal step. It was the first chance to sit in the same room as the men accused of killing their sons. Debra Robinson did not speak in court. She only looked at the accused, then cried.
“We want to find out what happened,” Martin Robinson said. “We want to find out what happened.”
