The three surfers first went missing in April of 2024. Photos: Instagram
Three men are on trial for the murder of a trio of surfers in Baja California in April of 2024. The latest details to emerge are based on the testimony of Ari Gisell, the ex-girlfriend of defendant Jesús Gerardo, AKA El Kekas, who herself was convicted last year of instigating the robbery that led to the murders.
The trial occurs two years after Australians Jake and Callum Robinson and American Jack Carter Rhoad were found executed after going on a surf trip to Ensenada. Last week, proceedings began against Gerardo,” Irineo Francisco N. and Ángel Jesús N.
As ABC News reports, Gisell told the court that Gerardo had described to her how he killed the men. According to Gisell, Gerardo told her that the surfers voluntarily handed over their car keys and wallets and begged for their lives, with one man saying “Please don’t kill me because I have a wife.” She added that Gerardo told her that if she was there, “You would have seen how beautifully they cried.”
The testimony also included previously unreleased details about the events leading to the mens’ deaths. Gisell said that she, Gerardo, another woman and the son of Gerardo’s ex-girlfriend first met the Robinsons and Rhoad at Punta San José. Gerardo told Gisell to ask them for fuel, which the men willingly gave them. After the exchange, Gisell told Gerardo that the men had “good tires and nice phones,” but she said she had not intended this to be encouragement to rob them.
From there, the group of Mexicans went back to Gerardo’s home, where he dropped off the two women and said he was planning to “f*** up the gringos,” then took the ex-girlfriend’s son with him.
Gisell said that the pair returned later in the Americans’ car, and that Gerardo had three phones in his pocket and two chain necklaces. Both the car and Gerardo’s boots were spattered in blood. Gisell told the court she did not ask any questions what had happened because of Gerardo’s reputation as a violent hit man.
She added that the Robinsons and Rhoad were good people who deserved justice, and empathized with their parents.
