Mexican Court Sentences Woman to 20 Years in Surfers' Robbery Case

A Mexican court has sentenced a 23-year-old woman to 20 years in prison for her role in the robbery that led to the murders of two Australian surfers and their American companion during a camping trip in Baja California last year.

Judicial authorities in Ensenada announced the ruling on Wednesday, convicting Ary Gisell Silva Raya of robbery with violence in connection with the April 2024 killings of brothers Jake Robinson, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, from Perth, Australia, and their friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, from San Diego, California. The three men had traveled from the United States for a surfing excursion along a remote coastal stretch south of Ensenada when they vanished on April 27. Investigators determined they were shot in the head the following day after resisting an attempted theft of their pickup truck.

According to the Baja California State Prosecutor's Office, Silva Raya encountered the victims at Punta San Jose beach and alerted her boyfriend, Jesús Gerardo, and two associates, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús, to the truck's valuable tires and phones. Evidence presented at trial showed she urged the men to rob the campers, commenting that the vehicle had "good...