Suspect in deaths of Australian and American surfers in Mexico ‘told girlfriend he killed them’, officials say
Australian siblings Jake and Callum Robinson along with their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad vanished on April 27 while surfing near Ensenada.
Prosecutors have charged the suspect Jesús Gerardo, also known as “El Kekas,” with kidnapping, planning to tack on murder at a later time. The alleged killer has not entered a plea.
Baja California law enforcement officials said the three men, who were all in their early 30s, were likely killed in a botched robbery after they discovered the tires of their pickup truck were being stolen.
Six days after their disappearance, authorities said the corpses were found dumped in a cliffside well, each containing an apparent gunshot to the head.
Officials found a fourth body, though it had been there for much longer and was unrelated to the case. Jesús, whose last name has to be omitted per Mexican law, faces charges related to “forced disappearance.”
The suspect’s girlfriend Ari Gisel, 23, and another man, whose surnames were also suppressed, have also be reprimanded for their suspected involvement.
The prosecution named Ari as one of its witnesses during a court appearance Wednesday. She has not been charged with the three tourists’ disappearance.
Ari told investigators her boyfriend arrived at her house a day after the alleged murder, telling her he had an encounter with “three gringos.” When she asked him to elaborate, he outright confessed and exclaimed “I killed them.”
He subsequently turned her attention to her car, which had been fitted with the tires allegedly stolen from the surfer tourists.
Prosecutors said there were likely more players involved in the murders. The Robinson brother’s parents earlier this week travelled to Mexico from Perth to identify their son’s bodies.
“Now it’s time to bring them home to family and friends and the ocean waves in Australia,” Debra Robinson lamented in a heartfelt tribute.
