Mexico trial opens for 3 in 2024 surfer murders

Three men charged with murder in the 2024 killings of two Australian brothers and an American friend began their trial Monday in Mexico's Baja California state. The proceedings are taking place in the coastal city of Ensenada. Jesús Gerardo García, known as "El Kekas," along with Irineo Francisco N. and Ángel Jesús N., face charges of murder and aggravated robbery. The surnames of the latter two defendants were withheld in accordance with Mexican criminal procedure. The victims were identified as brothers Jake Robinson, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30. Prosecutors allege the trio killed the surfers during an attempt to steal their pickup truck. The vehicle was later found burned near where the victims' bodies were discovered. The bodies were found at the bottom of a well with gunshot wounds to their heads, several days after the group went missing during a surfing and camping trip in a remote beachside area in April 2024. The parents of the Australian brothers, Martin and Debra Robinson, traveled from Perth to attend the trial.