Man accused of killing three surfers in Mexico allegedly told girlfriend: ‘I screwed three gringos’

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A man arrested in connection with the deaths of two Australian surfers and their American boyfriend in Mexico is said to have admitted to his girlfriend that he committed the murders.

The suspect, identified under Mexican law only by his first name, Jesus Gerardo, allegedly told the woman that he had “screwed three gringos,” prosecutors allege.

The bodies of brothers Callum and Jake Robinson were found in a remote well after they were killed by car thieves during a surfing and camping trip in Baja California, across the border from San Diego.

The brothers, aged 33 and 30 respectively, were found dead along with their friend, US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad.

The public prosecutor’s office had identified three people as potential suspects, two of whom were caught with methamphetamines. One of them, a woman, was in possession of one of the victims’ cell phones when she was caught.

Prosecutors said the two were being held on drug charges but remained suspects in the murders. They are 23-year-old Ari Gisell and Cristian Alejandro Garcia.

Jesus was the third man arrested and is currently charged with a crime amounting to kidnapping, although this occurred before the bodies were found. The charge is expected to be upgraded to murder soon.

Prosecutors said he had prior convictions for drug trafficking, vehicle theft and domestic violence, among other crimes. He has not yet entered a plea to the charges related to the three men’s disappearances.

According to Australian news channel ABC, Jesus, also known as “El Kekas,” appeared in a court in the Mexican city of Ensenada on Wednesday.

He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and white sneakers, and his hands and feet were handcuffed and tied to the ground, the outlet reported.

The judge read the state’s case, in which Jesus’ then-girlfriend Ari appeared as a prosecution witness. Prosecutors allege Ari Gisell, whose last name was also suppressed, told authorities that her then-partner admitted to killing the three men.

The court heard she told investigators her former partner arrived at her house on Sunday and told her: “I screwed three gringos.” She said: “What do you mean?” to which he replied: “I do I killed her.”

Prosecutors alleged he then gave her a cellphone and said, “Look what I got you,” before taking her outside to show her the new tires on her car. They were allegedly stolen from the trio’s vehicle.

Mexican authorities had previously said they believed the tires, as well as cash and electronic valuables, were aimed at the three men.

Senior prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez said Sunday she believes the killers drove by and saw the pickup truck and the surfers’ tents and wanted to steal the tires. But “when (the foreigners) showed up and caught them, they certainly resisted,” she added.

After the murders, the suspected thieves went to a location she described as “extremely difficult to access” and dumped the bodies into a well they knew and covered the hole with boards.

“It was literally almost impossible to find it,” said Ms. Andrade Ramírez. She added that it took two hours to remove the bodies from the well.

A fourth body was found with the young men. They are believed to be the remains of a rancher who owned the property and who had disappeared two weeks earlier. His death is not believed to be related to the case, authorities said.

Ms. Andrade Ramírez said investigators did not rule out the possibility that the same suspects threw the fourth body into the well as part of an earlier crime.

On Tuesday, Callum and Jake’s mother, Debra Robinson, gave a moving tribute to her sons on a beach in San Diego.

“Our hearts are broken and the world has become a darker place for us,” Ms. Robinson said, fighting back tears. “They were young men who enjoyed their passion for surfing together.”

She noted that her son Callum “considered the United States his second home” and that Jake loved surfing so much that he enjoyed working as a doctor in hospitals near beaches.

“Jake’s passion was surfing and it was no coincidence that many of the hospitals he worked at were near surfing beaches,” she said.

Choking back tears, Ms. Robinson delivered a final message consistent with her sons’ adventurous lifestyle. “Live bigger, shine brighter and love stronger in her memory,” she said.