A truck driven by two Australian brothers shot dead by bandits in Mexico still had its wheel on when the vehicle was set alight, despite claims its tires were the target of their alleged killers.
Callum and Jake Robinson, originally from Perth, were on a road trip with their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad along the west coast of Baja California on April 27 when they disappeared.
On Saturday, his remains were found near the city of Ensenada – about 2 kilometers from his Airbnb in Rosarito – at the bottom of a well. Each had a single gunshot wound to the head.
Jesús Gerardo García Cota, Ari Gisel García Cota and Christian Alejandro García were later arrested and accused of driving the men’s white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck to Santo Tomás and setting it on fire.
Baja California State Prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez alleged that the trio intended to steal the tires, but the men died because they resisted the theft.
However, photographs of the burned truck clearly showed that the tires had not been stolen because they were still on the vehicle when it was set on fire.
Callum Robinson, 33 (left) and his brother Jake (right) were traveling in the Baja California region when they disappeared on April 27.
In the photo: The white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck that was found burned, with the wheels still on the vehicle.
Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told Daily Mail Australia there are many potential explanations for what happened, but said it is possible the alleged murders were the result of a botched robbery.
“The logical theory is that it was a robbery gone wrong and they panicked and supposedly killed three people and dumped the bodies down a well,” he said.
‘The fact that the tires were still on It seems to me that the purpose of the car is to destroy evidence.
He said the idea of allegedly shooting three people over a set of tires “seems strange to Australians, but life is extremely cheap there and people have killed for less.”
Watson-Munro said he has traveled the west coast of Mexico and knows other people who went to the same region in Baja California, but did not stop in Ensenada because of warnings of cartel violence.
“They made the decision to go through and not stop there because they were warned it was like anarchy on steroids,” he said.
“That particular area is illegal.”
Expert criminologist Tim Watson-Munro (pictured) said the situation could have been a robbery gone wrong.
Ari Gisel García Cota, 23, is one of the three suspects arrested. Apparently he is the partner of the also suspect Jesús Gerardo García Cota.
The brothers Jesús Gerardo García Cota and Cristian Alejandro García were two of the three suspects arrested
He described the situation as a terrible tragedy and added: “They’re just trying to have a surf vacation and they paid the ultimate price.”
After the bodies were found on Saturday, Ms. Ramírez told local reporters that the alleged killers approached the men.with the intention of stealing their vehicle and removing the tires and other parts to put them on the old model truck they were driving.’
‘When [the tourists] He approached and caught them, they surely resisted, and these people, the assailants, pulled out a weapon and first killed the person who was resisting the theft of the vehicle.
“Then others came and joined the fight to defend their properties and their companion who had been attacked, and they also killed them.”
The alleged killers have been charged with kidnapping.
Mrs. García Cota, 23 years old, supposedly had one of the mobile phones of the missing people.
Police were able to make the arrests when a phone belonging to one of the Australian brothers turned on and pinged a cell 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 related to organized crime, but investigators have not yet ruled it out.
Jake, who worked in Perth as a doctor, had flown to the United States 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 children’s deaths in San Diego on Tuesday.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Callum and Jake have been murdered,” Mrs Robinson said.
“Our hearts are broken and the world has become a darker place for us.”
‘Now is the time to bring them home, to family and friends, and to the waves of the ocean in Australia. Please live bigger, shine brighter and love stronger in her memory.’