Three on Trial in Mexico Surfer Murders

Debra Robinson, the brothers' mother, stared at the accused in the courtroom before bursting into tears.

"It's about representing our sons, being here for them. I know they want us to be here," her partner Martin Robinson told reporters before the hearing. "We want to find out what happened. We want to find out why."

Rhoad was killed a few months before he was set to marry. His fiancée told the court, "He was my safety in the world. My life is now a nightmare," the BBC reported.

What a Witness Told the Court

One of Monday's three witnesses was the stepson of a defendant, who described his stepfather as violent. Testifying from an adjoining room with his face concealed, he said he went with the accused to the scene and waited nearby when the "commotion" started.

"I heard a lot of noise," he said, adding that he ran off and rejoined the group after they called him. He said they warned him that "the same thing that happened to the gringos would happen to him" if he talked.