Surfers killed in Mexico: Suspect said he 'did something' to 'three gringos,' girlfriend alleges
LOS ANGELES - A man arrested in connection with the murders of two Australian brothers and their American friend while on a surfing trip in Mexico allegedly confessed to his girlfriend he was responsible, according to court testimony.
The BBC reports Jesús Gerardo Garcia Cota allegedly showed up at his girlfriend Ari Gisel Garcia Cota’s house on April 28 and told her he did something to "three gringos," the girlfriend testified on Wednesday.
Garcia Cota told her "I killed them," she said in court. After the stunning admission, he then took her outside to her car, which was reportedly outfitted with the tires that were allegedly stolen from the victims' truck. Authorities had previously said the surfers were likely targeted because of their truck's tires.
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He made the grisly confession on April 28 - the day after Callum Robinson, Jake Robinson, and Jack Carter Rhoad, were last seen alive. The three surfers were reported missing after they did not show up at their accommodation last weekend. The trio were on a camping and surfing trip along a stretch of coast south of the city of Ensenada, posting idyllic photos on social media of waves and isolated beaches, before they went missing.
Mexican prosecutors allege the three men were killed trying to fight off the suspects.
"When they (the foreigners) came up and caught them, surely, they resisted," she said. "And these people, the assailants, took out a gun and first they killed the one who was putting up resistance against the vehicle theft, and then others came along and joined the fight to defend their property and their companion who had been attacked, and they killed them too," Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez said.
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The bodies were found in a remote well about 50 feet deep in a rugged hillside area near the popular tourist town of Ensenada, about 90 minutes south of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Garcia Cota, his girlfriend, and his brother Cristian Alejandro were arrested.
Garcia Cota will be prosecuted for the crime of "disappearance committed by private individuals," and homicide charges are expected to be filed later, the state prosecutor's office said.
The prosecution has said it is gathering evidence to charge two other suspects, who remain in custody for alleged possession of methamphetamine.
In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez — from the Baja peninsula. Authorities said they were victims of highway bandits. Three suspects were arrested in that case.
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In 2022 alone, there were 66 million international visitors, including nearly 34 million U.S. tourists, according to Mexico's ministry of tourism.
The Associated Press and FOX News contributed to this report.