‘I heard a lot of noise’: trial begins in Mexico for alleged killers of Australian surfers and American friend

Callum Robinson, 33, and his brother Jake, 30, from Perth, Australia, were camping in a remote beachside area when they were robbed and killed. Photograph: SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE View image in fullscreen Callum Robinson, 33, and his brother Jake, 30, from Perth, Australia, were camping in a remote beachside area when they were robbed and killed. Photograph: SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE ‘I heard a lot of noise’: trial begins in Mexico for alleged killers of Australian surfers and American friend Bereaved mother Debra Robinson in court stares at three men accused of murdering Jake and Callum Robinson and Jack Rhoad in Baja California in 2024 The suspected murderers of two Australian surfers and an American at a Mexican surfing hotspot have gone on trial, two years after the killings in a suspected robbery. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, aged 30 and 33, respectively, and 30-year-old American friend Jack Carter Rhoad were on a surfing trip to Mexico’s Pacific coast when they were shot dead in Baja California state. They had been camping in a remote beachside area when they were allegedly attacked in April 2024. Their bodies were found dumped in a cliff-top shaft several days after they went missing. They bore gunshot wounds to their heads. Three men are on trial over their killings. View image in fullscreen Debra and Martin Robinson arrive at court in Baja California on Monday. Photograph: Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Robinsons’ parents traveled to the port city of Ensenada for the start of the proceedings on Monday. Bereaved mother Debra Robinson stared at the accused before bursting into tears in the courtroom. “It’s about representing our sons, being here for them. I know they want us to be here,” her partner, Martin Robinson, had earlier told reporters. “We want to find out what happened. We want to find out why.” Authorities allege the men were murdered during an attempt to steal their pickup truck, which was found burned near their bodies. Three witnesses appeared before the court on Monday, including the stepson of one of the defendants, who described his stepfather as violent. Testifying from an adjoining room with his face concealed, he said he accompanied the accused to the crime scene, waiting nearby when the “commotion” began. “I heard a lot of noise,” he said, explaining that he had run away but rejoined the group after they called him. Parents of Australian brothers killed at Mexican surfing hotspot attend murder trial – video He said they warned him that “the same thing that happened to the gringos would happen to him” if he said anything.