'El Kekas' Faces Murder Trial in Mexico After Allegedly Dumping US and Australian Surfers Down Cliff Shaft

Jesús Gerardo García, also known as "El Kekas", is on trial alongside two other Mexican men over the alleged murders of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. The three men disappeared during a surfing and camping trip in Baja California in April 2024, with their bodies later found in a shaft.

Prosecutors allege the three defendants attacked the surfers during an attempted robbery of their pickup truck and belongings. Investigators said the victims suffered gunshot wounds to the head before their bodies were dumped in the shaft. Their burnt-out Chevrolet pickup was later found on a ranch with its tyres missing.

The victims' families have travelled from Australia and the US to attend the proceedings. The judge-only trial began in Ensenada on Monday and is expected to run for more than four weeks, with dozens of witnesses expected to testify

Raúl Gerardo Cobo Montejano, the prosecutor leading the case, said: 'We are doing our best to bring them justice. We believe the case we have is solid. We are going to achieve a guilty verdict.'

Prosecutors Say Robbery Was Behind the Attack

The travelling surfers had been travelling along Mexico's Pacific coast when they were attacked at a remote beach in Baja California. Prosecutors allege that the three victims were targeted after the suspects spotted their Chevrolet pick-up truck along with their belongings.

Investigators believe the vehicle was the primary target. Meanwhile, prosecutors are alleging that the attackers were interested in the victims' phones and other possessions.

The first witness, whose identity has been withheld over fears of reprisals, told the court: "I'm witness to what happened to the gringos [foreigners].'

He said he had returned to the campsite with El Kekas and another person before hearing a gunshot and voices 'yelling and fighting.' The witness then fled the scene, and later said El Kekas warned him: 'Shut up and don't say anything or you'll get the same.'

Ari Gisell, the former girlfriend of Jesús Gerardo, also gave evidence in an earlier proceeding that he returned to her home after the incident and told her what had happened.

Major Search Leads to Harrowing Discovery

A search involving authorities as well as the three victims' families and friends was conducted after their disappearance. The victims' bodies were eventually found at the bottom of a shaft.

Investigators said the men had suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head, and that their campsite was burned. Mexican authorities later found the victims' white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck burned out on a ranch south of Ensenada.

The siblings' father, Martin Robinson, and his wife Debra attended the trial, where they came face to face with the defendants wearing orange prison uniforms. When he took the stand, Martin said, 'I'm here because my two sons were murdered.'

'We hold no resentment toward the people who did this, but we cannot understand how they could have taken the lives of two beautiful people,' the father added.

The defendants face charges including aggravated homicide and aggravated robbery, among other offences.

They have rejected plea agreements that could have resulted in prison terms of between 47 and 52 years. Prosecutors are instead seeking sentences of up to 210 years for each defendant. Jesús Gerardo also faces a request for an additional 168 years over a forced-disappearance charge.