Jake and Callum Robinson Mexico Trial: What We Know

This opening-days account uses reporting available through September 10, 2026; the courtroom evidence covered here runs through ABC’s reporting on trial day two, September 9, 2026. It is not a full account of the trial.

The trial in Mexico over the deaths of Jake Robinson, Callum Robinson, and Jack Carter Rhoad has begun with the families’ search at its center.

The three friends had gone camping and surfing near Punta San José on Baja California’s Pacific coast. Jake was a doctor from Perth. Callum was an accomplished lacrosse player who had lived in the United States. Carter was married to Natalie Weirtz. His mother said he loved Mexico and spoke Spanish.

Now, more than two years later, a judge in Ensenada is hearing the case against three defendants.

They have been charged. They are presumed innocent. A charge is an accusation, not a finding that someone committed a crime.

Here is what the court has heard so far, what prosecutors allege, and what remains unproven.

Jake, Callum, and Carter disappeared after their last contact around April 27, 2024, while camping and surfing near Punta San José. Their bodies were later recovered from a well or shaft several miles from the campsite, according to ABC News and the Associated Press.

The judge-only trial began on September 7 in Ensenada, Baja California. That means a judge, not a jury, will decide the case. It does not mean the result is known in advance.

The case has drawn wide attention. But the court is still in its early days. What witnesses say in court is testimony. The judge must weigh it with the rest of the evidence and any defense response.

Current reports identify three defendants. Their names are Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco, and Ángel Jesús. This report uses the most limited names now in public reporting.

ABC News reported the court’s fuller list of charges. It included aggravated homicide, aggravated robbery, robbery with violence, and motor-vehicle theft. The Associated Press called the live charges murder and aggravated robbery.

The charging document itself was not available in the reporting reviewed for this article. That is why the fuller list is attributed to ABC’s courtroom report.

The key point is simple: all three men are accused, not convicted. Prosecutors still have to prove their case in court.

On day one, a protected witness testified that he traveled with Jesús Gerardo to the Punta San José area. The witness said he later saw Ángel Jesús and Irineo Francisco with another man. He said he stayed in a vehicle, heard a gunshot and sounds of fighting, then left.

The witness also said he was later warned not to speak, according to ABC’s report. Prosecutors told the court that two witnesses had been intimidated by people connected to the accused. The judge temporarily removed the defendants during protected testimony.

Those are claims made in testimony and by prosecutors. They are not a verdict.

On day two, a friend and colleague told the court what he did when messages went unanswered. He contacted lodging and family members. He said he then joined a search party and used Carter’s phone location as a guide.

The witness said the group found a burned campsite area. He named recognizable property, possible blood, and a shell casing. ABC reported that Mexican officials then treated the area as a crime scene.

That witness also told the court that the FBI cooperated with Mexican authorities in locating the bodies. ABC said it asked local authorities to confirm that point but did not get confirmation. For now, it is the witness’s account, not an independent finding.

Martin Robinson testified about learning the men were missing and then traveling to Mexico. He also spoke about identifying his son and giving DNA or blood samples and documents. Page Rhoad testified by video about the search and identification.

ABC reported that Page Rhoad offered a non-expert description of the scene. ABC also reported that autopsy evidence had not yet been presented.

Prosecutors say the deaths followed an attempt to steal a pickup truck, tires, and belongings.

Prosecutors and investigators said the friends were shot. They said the bodies were placed in a well or shaft. They said the vehicle and campsite were burned, and tires were missing. Those are claims the trial must test.

One major point remains unresolved in public reporting: prosecutors did not know who fired the fatal shots as of November 2025. This article does not assign a shooter.

The public reporting also does not establish whether the allegations will be proven. It does not give a confirmed verdict date.

Earlier court-document reporting described alleged links for two defendants. But prosecutors said there was no evidence that the deaths were cartel-motivated, according to ABC’s November 2025 report.

That is an important limit. There is no basis in the current trial reporting to describe this as a cartel case or to make broad claims about Baja California or Mexico.

ABC reported that Ari Gisell received 20 years in November 2025 for violent vehicle robbery and robbery with violence. She was not convicted of murder.

Her case does not decide whether the three current defendants are guilty. Each case must be decided on its own evidence.

The Guardian, citing AFP, reported that the case was expected to last more than four weeks. It may run through the end of September. That is an expectation, not a fixed court calendar or a verdict date.

More testimony and evidence may follow. The Baja California court portal did not show an indexed schedule for this case in checks through September 6.

For the families of Jake, Callum, and Carter, the testimony has returned attention to the search that began in 2024. The court has a narrower task. It must hear the evidence, test it, and decide the case under the law.

We will update this guide when material, sourced trial reporting becomes available.

Jake Robinson, Callum Robinson, and Carter Rhoad disappeared while camping and surfing near Punta San José in April 2024. Their bodies were later recovered from a well or shaft several miles from the campsite. The Ensenada trial concerns three defendants who have been charged and are presumed innocent.

Carter Rhoad was the third friend on the trip. He was married to Natalie Weirtz. His mother said he loved Mexico and spoke Spanish.

Current reporting identifies them as Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco, and Ángel Jesús. They are accused and presumed innocent.

ABC reported that the court described charges including aggravated homicide, aggravated robbery, robbery with violence, and motor-vehicle theft. The Associated Press summarized the charges as murder and aggravated robbery. The charging document was not available in the reporting reviewed here.

The first two days included testimony from a protected witness, a friend involved in the search, and family members. The court has not publicly heard all of the evidence, and testimony is not a verdict.

Prosecutors allege the deaths followed an attempt to steal a pickup truck, tires, and belongings. That allegation still must be proved in court.

Earlier reporting described alleged links for two defendants. Prosecutors said there was no evidence that the deaths were cartel-motivated. Current reporting does not support a broader cartel claim.

As of September 10, the judge-only trial had begun. Reporting expected it to last more than four weeks, but there was no confirmed verdict date.

ABC reported that Ari Gisell received 20 years in November 2025 for violent vehicle robbery and robbery with violence, not murder. Her case does not determine the current defendants’ guilt.

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What should a fair guide to the first days of a trial explain better: the evidence, the charges, or what comes next? Reply and tell us.