Prosecutors present ’80 percent gun’ in Baja murder trial

Prosecution is still yet to link the gun or the suspects directly to the murder of three foreign surfers — though more ballistic experts are on the way.ENSENADA, Mexico (CN) — While cruise ship vacationers took tequila tours and vendors hawked shirts with obscene slogans in downtown Ensenada on Wednesday, a ballistics expert in the coastal destination’s courthouse unwrapped a 9mm semi-automatic Glock-style pistol from an evidence envelope.The expert with the State Prosecutor’s Office of Baja California presented the gun as an exhibit in the murder trial of three foreign surfers whose bodies were found at the bottom of a dry makeshift well on the beach on May 3, 2024 after being shot methodically.“Based on my knowledge and expertise, I am in a place to say that I know from what gun a particular bullet and bullet casing came from,” said the ballistics expert Wednesday. The judge has asked names of investigators testifying the case not be disclosed.The ballistics expert testified in the third week of trial at the Ensenada criminal courthouse near a scrap yard, connected by a parking lot to the state prison where defendants, Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús — accused of aggravated homicide, aggravated robbery, violent robbery and grand theft auto in the killings — are detained during trial.An investigator for the Prosecutor’s Office of Baja California found the black and silver handgun in the left side pocket of a white Ford Ranger connected with Jesús Gerardo.The ballistics expert described the weapon as an “80 percent” — a kind of gun sold incomplete, requiring users to add necessary parts to make it fireable. They are sold legally in certain states of the United States as a blank piece of polymer, without a serial number as they are not legally required to have them.The gun in was made in the United States and had had insignias of “P80, LF19, Made in the US.” These insignias denote that this weapon combines a manually customized Polymer frame with an LF 19 slide.Ari Giselle, former-girlfriend of defendant Jesús Gerardo, testified previously he had a 9mm handgun with him at all times, and was a hitman who kept a list of people he intended to kill.But the 9mm pistol doesn’t happen to match any of the casings the expert described that were found at the scene. Both casings — one from the well area where the bodies were ditched and another from a burned camping area — are from a .45-caliber weapon.When asked about why so much time was paid to .45 casings found on the ground not relevant to a 9mm handgun and bullets that were not found in the victims’ bodies, a member of the prosecution team told Courthouse News, “tomorrow you will find out how the 9 was used.”More ballistics experts are expected to testify their findings on Thursday, the final day of hearings this week.The families of the two murdered Australian brothers and their American friend appeared in court and via video link on Wednesday.Martin Robinson, father of Jake and Callum Robinson, wore a collared shirt reading “live bigger, shine brighter, love harder” — the slogan of the foundation founded after the brothers’ deaths.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