Local man confesses to killing Australian and American surfers in Baja California

A Mexican man charged in the disappearance of three surfers who took their pipeline adventures to Baja California has confessed to killing them, according to information revealed by prosecutors in a Mexican court.

American Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, and Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson went missing near Ensenada nearly two weeks ago on April 27.

The suspect, whose first name is Jesús Gerardo, and is now frequently called “El Kekas” – a slang word for quesadillas – made an appearance in court on Wednesday on kidnapping charges, but Mexican officials suggested the man will soon face charges of murder.

Mexican law permits only first names to be used in the early stages of criminal proceedings. Despite the young man’s appearance in court, the young man has not entered a plea of guilty or not guilty.

Mexican law enforcement officials in Baja California have reported that the three international surfing adventurers were most likely murdered after they interfered with someone who was trying to steal tires from their pickup truck.

The three surfers, all in their 30s, were located in a cliffside six days after they vanished with execution style gunshot wounds to the head, according to Baja California law enforcement officials. A fourth corpse was also located in the well, but police say that body was dumped long ago and is part of a separate incident.

So far “El Kekas,” has been charged with “forced disappearance” while another man and his 23-year old girlfriend, known only as Ari Gisel, have been taken into custody for questioning over their purported participation.

Mexican prosecutors have so far classified the girlfriend, who has not been charged in the matter, as a prosecutorial witness during Wednesday’s judicial proceedings.

During court proceedings, Ari Gisel told prosecutors that her boyfriend, Jesús, came to her residence on April 28, the day after the three men disappeared, and told her he did something to “three gringos.”

When the girlfriend asked Jesús Gerardo to elaborate, he simply told her, “I killed them,” of the three men who disappeared. The boyfriend then showed her he had replaced the tires on her car, which prosecutors insist were stolen from the three victims.

Law enforcement officials told the court they suspect other people were involved in the murder of the three men. The investigation is continuing to unravel as the families of the two Australian brothers flew from Perth to Mexico to identify their sons’ bodies.

Their mother, Debra Robinson on Tuesday said, “Now it's time to bring them home to family and friends and the ocean waves in Australia.”

Violent crime and execution style murders have skyrocketed in Mexico during the past couple of years, but mostly due to cartel violence and drug related criminal activity. The murder of the three surfers in Baja California, a Mexican state just south of the U.S. State of California has inspired new fears.

A May 8 BBC report said, “the killings have sparked fear and anger,” noting that Baja California is “one of Mexico's most violent states, as local drug gangs fight turf wars … but the Ensenada area, about 75 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border and known for its surfing conditions, [and] is considered safer and has long attracted tourists from California.”

As a result of the execution style murders, some demonstrators marched on Sunday, holding up surfboards with slogans calling upon the Mexican government to secure the state’s beaches.

One group of surfers reportedly held a “paddle-out” ocean vigil to show their respect to the slain surfers.

According to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Baja California residents reported 27,211 criminal incidents per 100,000 people in 2022.

While that number is slightly lower than Mexico’s nationwide rate of 28,701 incidents per 100,000 people in the same year, it is more than 10 times more than Australia’s crime rate of 2,118 per 100,000 where the Robinson brothers are from.

Analysts have suggested that approximately 92% of Mexican crimes in 2022 were unreported, which means the actual crime rate is exponentially higher than the surfers’ native countries in Australia and the United States.