Man suspected of killing three surfers he confessed to his girlfriend: report

The man charged in the disappearance of three surfers found dead in Mexico is said to have told his girlfriend he was involved in their murders.

Jake Robinson, 30, of Perth, Australia, his older brother Callum Robinson, 33, who moved to San Diego from his native Australia, and their boyfriend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, also of San Diego, were last seen on April 27 while surfing and camping on the Mexican coast south of Ensenada.

PEOPLE previously reported that authorities searching for the missing men found their three bodies on May 3 at the bottom of a 50-foot-deep well in a deserted part of Santo Tomas, Baja California. All three had suffered gunshot wounds.

On Wednesday, May 8, a Mexican judge heard in court that 33-year-old Jesús Gerardo – identified only by his first and middle name due to the country’s laws – told his girlfriend that he had attacked “three gringos,” including the San Diego Union-Tribunethe BBC and The Independent reported.

According to the BBC, when she asked what he meant, he said: “I killed her.”

The suspect has been charged with enforced disappearance but is expected to face murder charges soon, media reports said.

His girlfriend, known only as Ari Gisel, 23, and another man were arrested over their alleged involvement, the BBC reported. Ari was not charged but spoke as a witness in a statement read out in court.

Per San Diego Union-TribuneAri told investigators that her partner committed the crime because of the tires on the victim’s Chevrolet.

The suspect’s girlfriend was arrested last week after police discovered she had a cellphone believed to belong to one of the victims, the outlet reported. She claimed her partner took possession of her Ford Ranger on April 27 and then returned in the victim’s car.

The outlet reported that Ari said the suspect told her he “screwed up three gringos” and that it was because “they had a lot of money, gadgets and the pickup.”

Ari claimed her partner said he was “going to get rid of the pickup truck to Santo Tomás,” where the victim’s vehicle was later found burned and without tires.

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He reportedly gave Ari the tires and told her, “Look what I brought you,” the outlet states.

Baja California state Constitutional Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.

Earlier this week, Jake and Callum’s distraught parents made their first public statement following their sons’ deaths. “The world has become a darker place for us,” said her mother, Debra Robinson, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“We also mourn the loss of (Jack) Carter Rhoad, a close friend. They were young men who enjoyed their passion for surfing together,” she added.