Forensic scientist details gunshot wounds of three surfers killed during Baja beach trip

ENSENADA, Mexico (CN) — In a brief day of the trial over the killings of three surfers in Mexico on Tuesday, a forensic medical expert for the Ensenada State Court said the majority of the bullet wounds suffered by all three victims indicated they were shot from behind.The defendants, Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús are accused of aggravated homicide, aggravated robbery, violent robbery and grand theft auto in the killings of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend, Jack Carter Rhoad.Before the hearings on Tuesday, Martin Robinson, father of Jake and Callum, declined to comment on the trial so far.The forensics expert also described the wounds of a fourth victim found in the same makeshift well as the victims, but the defendants are not being charged for this killing. The judge has asked names of investigators testifying the case not be disclosed.The expert described the May 4, 2025, autopsy he conducted of the four bodies.“Can I use my hands to show where the bullets entered?” the witness asked the judge.The judge agreed but also made sure to ask Martin and Debra Robinson, parents of two of the victims if they wanted to be present during the witness testimony.“Yes, we want to stay,” said Martin Robinson.The three defendant’ sat very near them, with their heads shaved in orange jumpsuits and shackles flanked by two courtroom security guards.“The first body came covered in mud, with only black boxers, size large, no tattoos,” said the forensics expert.The only three without tattoos, the first body was identified as Jake Callum by the prosecution team who spoke to Courthouse News after the day’s hearing.The forensics expert pointed to his right thigh and then took his hand up behind his left ear and gesticulated with his other hand where the bullet exited from the right cheek.“This was the cause of death, the bullet impact in the right part of the skull,” said the witness to the court.The expert witness also described an abdomen bullet wound that entered from the left side and exited from the right, but did not affect any major organs, because it entered the victim’s belly.He described the second body as having long hair with a black tattoo of a cartoon surfer on his left forearm. This victim has been identified as Callum due to his physical characteristics, including known tattoos.Callum was similarly shot in the head. The expert found two bullet fragments inside his skull.A translator, on behalf of the judge, asked the last victim’s mother, Paige Rhoad— if she wanted to stay on the video link for the forensic descriptions of her son’s body.Having fielded these questions in the previous week’s hearing she gave an emphatic, x"yes I want to stay" before the translator could even finish his question.“The third body had a red mustache, three tattoos: one that read ‘Hallelujah’, a map, a signature on his arm and another design on his buttocks,” said the witness.Carter was shot in the right arm and also in the same place as the other two—behind the left ear, which exited out of his right temple.Though the state so far has pointed to the motive of the killings as a crazed robbery for tires gone bad, testimony from Gerardo’s then-girlfriend, Ari Giselle — who said she was high on cocaine and methamphetamines when she told Gerardo to rob the surfers in testimony on Sept. 14 — have led some to believe these killings don’t seem like just an amateur slip-up.“These types of gunshots, in these areas of the skull, are signs of someone who knows what they’re doing,” said Esaul Reyes, a resident of forensic medicine at the Mexico City Institute of Forensic Sciences. “Unfortunately, these types of shootings are done to someone who most likely has been made to submit and the killers — in my experience — have some type of experience.”Reyes, who is not involved with the trial, said that, based on the anonymous forensic expert testimony given to him by Courthouse News, the killers may not necessarily be experts or high-up in any form of organized crime, but they are most likely part of a cell who have been trained to kill.Reyes also said that the trial has gone on as is expected but wondered why Mexican victims aren’t given the same treatment.“I’m very interested in this case, though I deal with an overwhelming amount of bodies here for autopsy,” he said, referring to his offices in Mexico City.A redacted document obtained by Courthouse News from an anonymous source states the defendants have links to the Sinaloa Cartel, whose modus operandi is to steal trucks for the use of the cartel.The defense vigorously questioned the witness on Tuesday if they could tell, based on the forensic evidence, how many people could have been involved in the crimes.The witness said he could not tell or answer any questions as to the location of the crimes.The topic of the defendants’ criminal history has not been brought up in trial, other than during first-hand witness testimony.Giselle told the court on Sept 14. that her then-boyfriend, Gerardo, was a practiced hitman who kept a list of names he intended kill. Both Giselle and he are in the same prison in Ensenada.The defendants have not been directly connected to the crime by first-hand witness testimony or DNA other than Gerardo’s stepson, Ramón. It is also unclear as to who of the three defendants are responsible for what actions, including planning the crimes.Ramón testified about criminal ambitions on the first day of trial, Sept. 7, including donning a ski mask in order to carry out his first job. He said he became scared when he realized he was on his way to commit a crime and ran to his family’s house to hide and then testified against his stepfather.He will be called back by the end of the trial, which is expected to wrap up on Sept. 30, with sentencing up to 48 hours after.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads