‘You’re going to end up like the gringos’: Witness tells court he was threatened to keep quiet after Australian brothers killed in Mexico

A witness has told a Mexican court he was threatened he would “end up like the gringos” if he told anyone about what he saw when two Australians were killed while on a surf trip to the country’s Pacific coast two years ago.

The first day of the trial of three men accused of killing brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, along with their friend Carter Rhoad, began on Monday (Mexico time), with the Robinsons’ parents travelling from Perth to the port city of Ensenada, about 110 kilometres south of the US-Mexico border, for the start of the proceedings.

The trio were allegedly murdered while on a surfing trip in the state of Baja California on Mexico’s Pacific coast in April 2024.

Three men – Jesus Gerardo, also known as El Kekas, Irineo Francisco and Angel Jesus – are on trial over their killings.

Debra Robinson told media outside the court that it was very important for the family to attend the proceedings.

“We’re doing this because we believe Callum and Jake would want us to be here,” she said.

“We want to find out what happened. We want to find out why,” Martin Robinson said.

The brothers and Rhoad had been camping in a remote beachside area when they were attacked. Their bodies were found dumped in a clifftop shaft several days after they went missing. They had gunshot wounds to their heads.

A total of 35 witnesses are expected to be called during the trial, and the Robinsons are expected to address the court.

A judge appeared remotely on the first day of the trial, after a previous judge had to withdraw from the four-week trial due to an injury.

Their replacement did not have enough time to travel to the location to attend in person, the ABC reported.

During the hearing, the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office accused Gerardo of the forced disappearance and murder of the three men.

Authorities say the men were murdered during an attempt to steal their ute, which was found burnt near their bodies.

Prosecutors and the defence presented the judge with their lists of evidence on Monday, with more than 50 pieces of evidence expected to be considered, including physical examination records, forensic reports, expert testimony, witness statements and cellphone message data.

Three witnesses appeared before the court, including the stepson of one of the defendants, who described his stepfather as violent.

Testifying from an adjoining room with his face concealed and identity suppressed, he said he accompanied Gerardo to the crime scene, where the two other men were present, and waited nearby when the “commotion” began.

“I heard a commotion, got out of the pickup truck and took off running to my uncle’s house, where I hid in the bathroom,” he said.

The witness said that when he later encountered the men again, they threatened to kill him and make him disappear if he told anyone what had happened.

“You’re going to end up like the gringos,” he recalled being told.

Two other witnesses have yet to testify. One of them is the witness’ mother and the former partner of “El Kekas”.

According to the State Attorney General’s Office investigation, the three men were camping in a rural area of Ensenada when the group, allegedly led by “El Kekas”, attacked them in an attempt to steal their pickup truck.

When the victims tried to defend themselves, the attackers pulled out a firearm and shot them before throwing their bodies down a well.

The girlfriend of “El Kekas” was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year after admitting she had instigated the robbery to steal the ute’s tyres.

Ary Gisell Silva told a court that she had urged her boyfriend and two other men to rob the surfers, noting they had “good phones and good tyres”.

The State Attorney General’s Office estimates the trial will take about a month and a half. There have been 22 additional oral trial hearings scheduled, with the final hearing set for October 9.

The crime sparked outrage and sadness in Australia and the US, where the surfers’ friends and families galvanised a major search on social media for their bodies.

Callum Robinson played professional lacrosse in the US, while Jake was pursuing a career in medicine. Rhoad was killed a few months before he was set to marry.

Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent states, plagued by organised crime and drug trafficking, although cartel activity doesn’t usually affect tourists.

Other foreign visitors have, however, been targeted in criminal attacks on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Two Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, were murdered in 2015 while travelling through the north-western state of Sinaloa.