A trio of bandits who allegedly killed three men on a surfing trip in Mexico had targeted the victims’ truck so they could take its tires, prosecutors revealed Sunday.
The Baja California Prosecutor’s Office released more grisly details in the murders of Australian brothers Jake, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, and American Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, who were last seen alive on April 27 during a trip in the city of Ensenada.
The bodies of the three surfers found last week were positively identified Sunday by their families, Baja California state prosecutors said Sunday.
Chief state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez said during a press conference that the alleged killers decided to target the surfers when they noticed their truck and tents.
“They approached, with the intention of stealing their vehicle and taking the tires and other parts to put them on the older-model pickup they were driving,” said Andrade Ramirez.
“When they (the foreigners) came up and caught them, surely, they resisted,” she added. “And these people, the assailants, took out a gun and first they killed the one who was putting up resistance against the vehicle theft, and then others came along and joined the fight to defend their property and their companion who had been attacked, and they killed them too.”
Following the fatal confrontation, the suspects burned the three men’s tents before they dumped their bodies into a 50-foot-deep well that was four miles from the murder scene, she said.
The thieves then covered the well with boards, the prosecutor said.
“It was literally almost impossible to find it,” Andrade Ramirez said of the well.
Even before the slain surfers were formally identified by their relatives, authorities were confident the bodies belonged to the Robinson brothers and Rhoad, who hailed from San Diego.
A truck, which was burned out, was also found by authorities nearby and is suspected of belonging to the surfers.
A fourth body, which was badly decomposed, was also found when the other three bodies were recovered. It is believed to be the remains of a rancher who owned the property and went missing two weeks earlier.
Police have arrested Jesús Gerardo Garcia Cota, alias El Kekas, his partner Ari Gisel García Cota, and Jesus’ brother Cristian Alejandro Garcia in connection to the three surfers’ disappearance, but haven’t charged them with murder.
At least one of the suspects, Jesus Gerardo, was believed to have directly been part of the slayings.
Meanwhile, a buddy of Callum recalled how he told him about his favorite surfing spot in Baja, La Bocana, and wrote out directions on a napkin, according to a report.
Randy Dible, a San Diego photographer, said he almost tagged along but had to cancel when a last-minute job came in, according to a News.com.au, which cited an interview Dible did with The Australian.
“I told him about this place because I’d been traveling down there all over that country for 30 years so I know it like the back of my hand and I knew just where to go,” Dible told the outlet.
Dible now regrets ever mentioning the surfing spot to Callum.406
“I wish I’d never met up with him that day, I feel really bad. I feel guilty. It’s just starting to hit home,” he reportedly said.
The three men had been posting about the idyllic surfing trip along the Pacific Coast leading up the gruesome tragedy.
