The Ensenada court sentenced 23-year-old Ary Gisell Silva to 20 years after prosecutors said she instigated a robbery that led to the April 2024 killings of Australians Jake and Callum Robinson and U.S. citizen Jack Carter Rhoad. Silva admitted participating in the theft and urged accomplices after noticing valuables; she later testified that a boyfriend told her he had killed the men. The victims were reported missing on April 27 and found dead on May 3; the other suspects face separate murder trials.
Woman Sentenced to 20 Years Over Fatal Robbery of Three Surfers in Baja California
The Ensenada court sentenced 23-year-old Ary Gisell Silva to 20 years after prosecutors said she instigated a robbery that led to the April 2024 killings of Australians Jake and Callum Robinson and U.S. citizen Jack Carter Rhoad. Silva admitted participating in the theft and urged accomplices after noticing valuables; she later testified that a boyfriend told her he had killed the men. The victims were reported missing on April 27 and found dead on May 3; the other suspects face separate murder trials.
06:20 PM, 11/21/2025Security
A Mexican court in Ensenada has sentenced 23-year-old Ary Gisell Silva to 20 years in prison for her role in the April 2024 deaths of two Australian brothers and an American surfer at a popular surfing spot in Baja California.
The victims were Jake Robinson, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, from Australia, and 30-year-old U.S. citizen Jack Carter Rhoad. The three men had been camping in a remote beachside area when attackers targeted them in what investigators say began as an attempt to steal their pickup truck.
Court records show Silva admitted during the trial that she instigated and took part in the robbery of the tourists' belongings. Prosecutors say she encouraged her accomplices after noticing valuables, allegedly saying, 'They have good phones and good tires,' referring to the victims' truck.
The judge found Silva guilty of offenses related to violent robbery, based on evidence that she first approached the surfers and then urged her boyfriend and two other men to carry out the theft that preceded the killings.
'They have good phones and good tires.'
Silva also testified that her boyfriend later returned home and told her he had 'done something to three gringos' and then said, 'I killed them,' according to the court record. Her statements and other evidence supported the conviction for robbery-related charges; the other three suspects have been arrested and face separate murder prosecutions.
The surfers were reported missing on April 27, 2024, after traveling to Ensenada to surf. Their bodies were discovered hidden in a cliff on May 3, 2024. Prosecutors say the attackers surprised the campers and shot them, resulting in their deaths.
The killings sparked widespread grief in the victims' home countries and an intense search effort on social media and in traditional outlets. Callum Robinson had played professional lacrosse in the United States and was affectionately known as 'the big koala' by family and friends; the lacrosse community expressed sorrow at the loss.
Violent attacks on foreign travelers have occurred previously in Mexico's Pacific region, including the 2015 murders of two Australian surfers in Sinaloa. Authorities say this case has renewed concerns about safety in remote coastal areas frequented by tourists.