A trial of three of the alleged suspects in the 2024 killings of two Australians and one American began Monday in a court in Baja California. The murders shocked Mexico and heightened concerns about the risks foreigners face when visiting the country.
Jesús Gerardo García, alias “El Kekas”; Irineo Francisco “N”; and Ángel Jesús “N” were brought before a court in Ensenada on Monday for an oral trial over their alleged involvement in the killings of Australian brothers Callum Ryan Robinson and Jake Martin Robinson, and American Jack Carter Rhoad. The hearing concluded late in the afternoon and will continue Tuesday.
Shortly before entering the courthouse, Martin Robinson, father of the Australian brothers, told the press that he and his wife decided to attend the hearing in Ensenada to represent their sons. “I know they would want us to be here; they would do the same for us,” he said.
García was arrested in 2024 along with two other men and Ary Gisell Silva Raya after the bodies of the Robinson brothers and Carter were located. The three had been reported missing shortly after arriving in Mexico to surf on the beaches of Baja California.
Silva Raya, who was García’s partner and whose phone was confiscated by authorities, was sentenced last November to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the crimes of “aggravated robbery with violence” and “vehicle theft with violence” through an abbreviated proceeding.
García, who is facing proceedings for the crime of forced disappearance, did not accept the abbreviated proceeding and decided to go to trial.
According to the state prosecutor’s office, Silva Raya arrived at Punta San José —about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Ensenada— on April 27, 2024, where she came into contact with the three foreigners and “encouraged one of her companions to strip them of their belongings,” which was carried out the following day.
State Prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez told the press that “El Kekas” —a word that in local slang means quesadillas, or cheese-filled tortillas— tried to take the tires and other parts of a pickup truck in which the foreigners were traveling, but when they resisted the robbery, he allegedly killed them and then hid their bodies in a well, where they were found on May 3, 2024.
Source: procesp
