Three men found guilty of murders of Australian surfer brothers and US friend in Mexico

Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, 30 and 33, and friend Carter Rhoad, 30, were killed on a surfing trip in 2024

A Mexican judge has convicted three men of the 2024 murders of two Australian surfers and their American friend in a case that sparked international outrage.

The deaths of the trio sparked an outpouring of grief and condemnation in Australia and the United States.

The judge ruled that the three Mexican defendants acted with premeditation.

“They took our sons from our lives forever,” said Debra Robinson, who testified on the final day of the trial. “What hurts us most is that, in their final hours, they were treated with such cruelty.”

Addressing the court at the start of the trial, Martin Robinson described his sons’ murders as “hell”.

Rhoad’s mother, Page, and his fiance, Natalie Weirtz, also participated in the hearing in a video call from the United States.

The surfers were camping in a remote beachside area when they were attacked in April 2024. Their bodies were found in a clifftop shaft, with gunshot wounds to their heads.

Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent states, plagued by organised crime and drug trafficking, although cartel activity does not usually affect tourists. Other foreign visitors have, however, been targeted in criminal attacks on Mexico’s Pacific coast.