Man charged in surfer deaths told girlfriend he killed ‘3 gringos,’ court hears

globalnews.ca:

A man accused of killing three men who were on a surfing trip in Mexico allegedly confessed the crime to his girlfriend, according to testimony read in court Wednesday.

The man, identified as Jesús Gerardo “N,” who also goes by the alias “El Kekas” — a slang word for quesadillas — was charged with the forced disappearance of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, shortly before the missing men were found dead. Murder charges are expected to be filed soon by prosecutors. Mexican authorities do not release the last names of people involved in pending criminal cases.

The three men were found with gunshot wounds to the head at the bottom of a 15-metre well, about six kilometres from their campsite. They had been surfing and camping together on the coast of Baja California when they were last heard from on April 27. A land and sea search was launched and lasted for nearly a week before their bodies were found.

Prosecutors believe they were the victims of a violent carjacking.

The key witness in the prosecution’s case is El Kekas’ girlfriend, whose testimony was read aloud in court Wednesday. She told investigators that he left home on the night of April 27 in her Ford Ranger pickup and returned in a different vehicle — the victims’ pickup, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

El Kekas told her that he had “f—ked up three gringos,” when she pressed him on what that meant, he said he had “killed them,” according to reports from the BBC and 1News.

He then allegedly gave her a cellphone, which belonged to one of the men, and left to dispose of the victims’ vehicle. The pickup was later found by investigators burned and without any tires. El Kekas allegedly returned home and