She set up three surfers visiting Mexico to be robbed, investigators say. All were found dead in a well
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- A 23-year-old woman was sentenced to 20 years in connection with the murders of two Australian brothers and their American friend.
- The woman admitted in court that she urged her boyfriend and two others to rob the men.
- The three victims were killed during a surfing trip in Baja California in April 2024.
A Mexican woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in last year’s killing of two Australian brothers and an American friend during a surfing trip in Baja California.
The Baja California state attorney general’s office said in a written statement that the woman, identified as Ary Gisell Silva Raya, 23, pleaded guilty to committing robbery and vehicle theft with violence.
Prosecutors said Raya admitted in court that she urged her boyfriend and two other suspects to rob the three men. The victims were later found dead in a well after an extensive search.
A Mexican court sentenced the woman on Wednesday after she waived her right to a trial. She was also ordered to pay 54,000 pesos, an amount equivalent to nearly $3,000. Prosecutors said the court warned that the sentencing was related to the thefts that led to the slayings and that she could face additional penalties in the case.
Australian brothers Callum Robinson, 33, and Jake, 30, along with their American friend Jack Rhoad, 30, were killed during a surfing trip in Baja California in April 2024.
State prosecutors said the killings occurred in a remote area known as Punta San Jose, about 20 miles south of Ensenada.
An investigation conducted by the Mexican state attorney general’s Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in Crimes Against Life determined that Raya arrived at the location the night of April 27 and befriended the men. She also noticed their valuables.
Luis Donaldo Colosio, the 1994 presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, was shot twice during a rally in the northern Mexican city of Tijuana.
Hours later, between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. the following day, three thieves showed up at the site and robbed the victims before killing them.
The families reported the men missing to the local authorities that same day after they determined that the men never checked into their Airbnb in Rosarito Beach.
Their disappearance prompted a massive search that involved the authorities, the Mexican marines and the FBI.
The bodies of the three men were discovered in a well on May 2. Authorities said each of them had been shot in the head. Authorities later arrested Raya and three other suspects in connection with the deadly robberies.
The suspects, under Mexican law, have been identified by their first names only as Jesús “El Kekas” Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús.
Mexican authorities said the three remain in custody awaiting trial.
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