Three men found guilty of murdering Australian surfer brothers and US friend in Mexico

A judge in Mexico's Baja California state found three men guilty on Friday of murdering Australian brothers Jake Robinson, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, and their US friend Carter Rhoad, 30, according to the BBC and the Guardian. The judge ruled the three defendants acted with premeditation, the Guardian reported. The men were identified only as Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús, and their full names could not be given for legal reasons, the BBC reported. The trial began on 7 September, according to the Guardian; a separate Guardian report said it began on 8 September.

The three are yet to be sentenced, the BBC reported, adding that they are likely to spend the rest of their lives in prison. The prosecution sought 150 years in prison for each defendant, according to the BBC and a Guardian report published before the verdict. A Guardian report after the verdict said the prosecution requested 210 years' imprisonment for each of the accused, while noting the maximum sentence in Baja California is 60 years.

The court heard the tourists were killed in an apparent botched robbery of their truck in a secluded beach area, the BBC reported. Their bodies were later found with gunshot wounds to their heads, dumped down a well, according to the BBC; the Guardian reported the bodies were found in a clifftop shaft. The BBC reported the killings took place barely 36 hours after the men crossed into Mexico from the US, and that their bodies were not found for another week.

Debra Robinson, the brothers' mother, told the courtroom the murders had taken "the future we had imagined with them", the BBC reported. "What hurts us most is that, in their final hours, they were treated with such cruelty," she said, according to the Guardian. Martin Robinson said outside court: "No outcome can ever undo this tragedy, but we hope today marks an important step towards justice and allows us to continue honouring their lives," the Guardian reported. Rhoad's mother, Page, and Natalie Weirtz participated in the hearing by video call from the United States, the Guardian reported.

In November last year, the girlfriend of alleged ringleader Jesús Gerardo, known as "El Kekas", was sentenced in a separate trial to 20 years in prison after admitting involvement in the robbery, the BBC reported. Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila said: "Baja California is and will continue to be a state with safe tourism for the thousands of people who visit us from the rest of the country and the world," the BBC reported. She also said: "I send my condolences and solidarity to the families at this difficult time."