For the murder of three surfers in April 2024 in Ensenada, a court in Mexico on Thursday sentenced three Mexican men to 158 years and nine months in prison each. The victims were two Australians and the American partner of one of them.
Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, aged 30 and 33 respectively, and American Carter Rhodes, 30, the boyfriend of one of the brothers, lost their lives. They were staying at a campsite on a secluded beach in Ensenada, on the Pacific coast in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California, when they were killed.
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Several days after they went missing, their bodies were discovered with bullet wounds to the head.
The verdict finding all three defendants guilty was issued on October 9. Prosecutors had sought 210 years in prison for each of them. During the trial, they pointed out that the three foreign nationals had been caught by surprise in the attack and killed while defenseless, without putting up even the slightest resistance. According to prosecutors, after the crime one of the defendants had bragged that he possessed the victims’ belongings.
Organized crime and drug trafficking affect Baja California, which ranks among Mexico’s most violent states. However, foreign tourists are rarely targeted by cartels.
