A Mexican judge in the coastal city of Ensenada, located in the state of Baja California, has handed down strict prison sentences of 158 years and nine months each to three local men for the brutal 2024 murder of two Australian brothers and their American companion. The defendants—identified as Jesus Gerardo Garcia, Irineo Francisco, and Angel Jesus—were convicted on multiple counts, including homicide, robbery with violence, and vehicle theft with violence.

The high-profile case stems from an incident in late April 2024, when Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson, aged 33 and 30, along with their 30-year-old American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, traveled to Mexico for a surfing trip. After the three friends went missing while camping near Ensenada, authorities launched an intensive multi-day search aided by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. On May 3, their bodies were discovered inside a deep well with gunshot wounds to their heads.

The tragedy heavily impacted Mexico’s tourism sector, exposing severe security vulnerabilities faced by foreign visitors in the region. While local surfing representatives welcomed the verdict as a measure of justice, they acknowledged that the killings triggered a major drop in tourist arrivals. Prosecutors had originally requested an exemplary sentence of 210 years for each of the convicted individuals.

Source: www.aljazeera.com