A Mexican forensics expert walked a Baja California courtroom through graphic evidence Thursday of how three young surfers died on an idyllic beach — shot, burned, and dumped in a well with their bodies stacked 50 feet down.
Claudia Cecilia Alvarado Murillo testified on the fourth day of trial in Ensenada about discovering Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad at the bottom of a makeshift well on May 3, 2024. The three had vanished during a surf trip near Punta San José.
The judge warned family members they could leave before prosecutors displayed the photos. Three defendants in orange jumpsuits — Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and a third suspect — watched blank-faced as images appeared on the courtroom monitor.
What Forensics Found at the Campsite
Alvarado Murillo, a forensics specialist for Baja California’s prosecutor’s office, documented a burned campsite that told the story of violence. “This is a close-up photo of damaged burned material. In this area, we found blood, a tooth fragment, and a blood trail,” she testified.
Another photograph showed the Pacific Ocean in the background — the waves the surfers had traveled thousands of miles to ride. In the foreground: a bullet casing, gunshot materials, and a blood-stained shirt.
The bodies were found at the bottom of a well, a discovery that made international headlines and rattled the surf community that has long treated Baja’s remote beaches as a second home.
Trial Proceeds as Rally Fills Hotels
The grim testimony unfolded as downtown Ensenada bustled with the Baja 400, an annual off-road rally race. Hotels filled with spectators and participants celebrating adventure tourism — the same draw that brought the three young men to Mexico’s Pacific coast.
The contrast wasn’t lost on anyone in courtroom three of the Ensenada criminal courthouse, which sits atop a hill facing the state prison. Outside, engines roared. Inside, a prosecutor methodically built a murder case.
The trial continues with three defendants shackled and facing Mexican justice for killings that shocked two countries and left families an ocean away waiting for answers that came from the bottom of a well.
Key Points
- Forensics specialist detailed blood evidence, tooth fragment, bullet casings at burned campsite
- Australian brothers and American friend found in well near Punta San José in May 2024
- Three defendants stood trial as off-road rally filled Ensenada hotels with tourists
https://www.courthousenews.com/experts-testify-to-discovery-of-three-bodies-in-a-well-on-mexico-beach/ – September 11, 2026
