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The girlfriend of a man charged over the alleged shooting murders of two Australian brothers and their friend in Mexico has told a court her boyfriend confessed to killing ‘three gringos’ during the botched robbery.
Callum and Jake Robinson, originally from Perth, were on a road trip with their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad around the west coast of Baja California on April 27 when they disappeared.
On Saturday, their remains were found near the city of Ensenada – about 2km away from their Airbnb in Rosarito – at the bottom of a well. Each had a single gunshot wound to the head.
Mexican nationals Jesus Gerardo, his girlfriend Ari Gisel Garcia Cota and Christian Alejandro Garcia were later arrested.
Gerardo, known as El Kekas, was charged with forced kidnapping but it could be upgraded to murder.
In an Ensenada court on Wednesday, Gisel revealed her boyfriend allegedly confessed to killing the Robinson brothers and Mr Rhoad when he returned from their blood-soaked campsite on April 27.
Callum Robinson, 33, (left) and his brother Jake (right) were travelling in the Baja California region when they disappeared on April 27
Ari Gisel García, 23, is one of three suspects arrested. She is reportedly the partner of fellow suspect Jesús Gerardo Garcia
Brothers Jesús Gerardo (pictured left) and Cristian Alejandro García were two of the three suspects arrested
According to Nine News, El Kekas said: ‘I f***ed up three gringos.’
Gisel asked: ‘What do you mean by that?’
El Kekas replied: ‘I killed them.’
She told the court he fitted her car with the tyres stolen from the victims’ white Chevrolet Colorado truck on April 28, the morning after the alleged murders.
The truck had been taken to Santo Tomás and set on fire, after which the wheels were removed.
Gisel fled to her mother’s house after the alleged murders and was arrested a few hours later.
Prosecutors told her that she had the right to silence but she ‘I don’t want to, I want to declare what I know’, explaining that she was the victim of domestic violence and wanted to protect her four-year-old son.
El Kekas is on remand until his matter is mentioned in court again, in November.
Pictured: The white Chevrolet Colorado truck that was found torched, with the wheels still on the vehicle
After the bodies were found on Saturday, Baja California’s state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez alleged the trio had intended to steal the tyres, but the situation allegedly turned violent because the men resisted.
However, questions remain because photographs of the burnt-out truck clearly show the tyres hadn’t been stolen because the wheels were still on the vehicle when it was set alight.
Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told Daily Mail Australia there are many potential explanations as to what happened, but he said it’s possible the alleged murders were the result of a botched robbery.
‘The logical theory is that it’s a robbery gone wrong and they’ve panicked and allegedly killed three people and they dispose of the bodies in a well,’ he said.
‘The fact that the tyres were still on the car seems to me to be about destroying evidence.’
He said the idea of allegedly shooting three people over a set of tyres ‘seems strange to Australians, but life is extremely cheap over there and people have killed for less’.
Mr Watson-Munro said he has travelled around the west coast of Mexico and knows others who went to the same region in Baja California, but they didn’t stop around Ensenada due to warnings of cartel violence.
Expert criminologist Tim Watson-Munro (pictured) said the situation could have been a robbery gone wrong
‘They made a decision to pass through and not to stop there because they were warned it’s like anarchy on steroids,’ he said.
‘That area in particular is lawless.’
He described the situation as a terrible tragedy, adding: ‘They’re just trying to have a surfing holiday and they paid the ultimate price.’
After the bodies were found on Saturday, Ms Ramírez told local reporters the alleged killers approached the men ‘with the intention of stealing their vehicle and taking the tires and other parts to put them on the older-model pickup they were driving’.
‘When [the tourists] came up and caught them surely they resisted, and these people, the assailants, took out a gun and first they killed the one who was putting up resistance against the vehicle theft.
‘Then others came along and joined the fight to defend their property and their companion who had been attacked, and they killed them too.’
The alleged killers have been charged with kidnapping.
Ms García, 23, allegedly had one of the missing men’s mobile phones.
Police were able to make the arrests when a phone belonging to one of the Australian brothers was turned on and pinged a mobile tower in the area.
Australian brothers Jake, 30, (right) and Callum Robinson, 32, (left) are pictured with their parents Debra and Martin
The alleged murders have not been linked to organised crime, but investigators have yet to rule it out.
Jake, who worked in Perth as a doctor, had flown to the US two weeks earlier to visit Callum, who was living in San Diego with his girlfriend Emily Horwath.
Their parents Martin and Debra Robinson broke down in tears as they spoke about their sons deaths from San Diego on Tuesday.
‘It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Callum and Jake have been murdered,’ Ms Robinson said.
‘Our hearts are broken and the world has become a darker place for us.’
‘Now it’s time to bring them home to family and friends – and the ocean waves in Australia. Please live bigger, shine brighter and love harder in their memory.’
