Netflix continues to dominate the true crime genre, and The Asunta Case, covers a disturbing real-life case from Spain. The mini-series chronicles the events that transpired when two parents reported their 12-year-old daughter Asunta Basterra was missing. However, the story takes many twisted turns, and the investigation sets its sights on the troubled parents played in the series by Candela Pena and Tristan Ulloa.
What happened in The Asunta Basterra Case?
Spain was shocked by the murder of twelve-year-old Asunta Basterra in September 2013. The young Chinese girl was adopted by Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra. Although a weak child when she was brought to Spain from China, Asunta would grow into a special young girl, who excelled in school, was incredibly smart, spoke six languages, and was keen to play musical instruments and study ballet. Her mother Porto was known to have many plans for the gifted child including sending her to the UK to study, but on September 21st her parents reported their adopted daughter missing, and soon the body of Asunta was found bound next to a road outside Santiago de Compostela.
It was determined that the the child died from asphyxiation, and huge amounts of a drug named Lorazepam was found in her system. The police investigation would lead to the parents, and by October 30th, 2015, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra were found guilty of murdering Asunta and were sentenced to eighteen years in jail. Throughout the trial, the parents would plead their innocence.
Where are Alfonso Basterra and Rosario Porto now?
While in jail Rosario Porto would be found dead, hanging in her cell in the Brieva Penitentiary in Avila. It was reported that she had taken her own life. Although little is known about the exact whereabouts of Alfonso Basterra, reports indicate he is still serving time in prison.
Is ‘The Asunta Case’ on Netflix be based on real events?
The Netflix series is a dramatization of the horrific case. According to Netflix, the series is a “fiction limited series produced by Bambú Producciones” in Spain. The show features six episodes and covers the real-life case.
Why did Asunta’s parents kill her?
Cracks in the relationship between Alfonso and Rosario had been showing, and at the start of 2013, they had agreed to divorce. Previously Porto had been seeing a psychiatrist, but never attended all the appointments that had been made.
In June of 2013, Rosario had a breakdown that resulted in her hospitalization. Her estranged husband would visit her in the hospital, helping her to return home, and to regain her life again. However, Porto was allegedly already involved with another man, and Alfonso now had a flat of his own. It was apparent that a reconciliation was not on the cards.
Investigators would eventually conclude that after adopting Asunta, the couple had become weary of their adopted daughter after raising her for a decade. They surmised that the couple had planned the killing, systematically drugging the child, a charge that was authenticated by teachers of Asunta who would testify that they had witnessed her behavior at school being sluggish and not normal. When they asked her what was wrong, she told them that she had been given a white powder at home.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors would say that Alfonso was more of an accomplice to the murder, with the spotlight being thrown onto Porto. Evidence such as Porto’s story being debunked by CCTV, and a ball of twine similar to the one used to tie Asunta up being found in a waste bin at the family home, was used against her. Prescribed and non-prescribed drugs used by Porto also became relevant to the prosecutors who stated that Asunta had been found with what amounted to twenty-seven crushed-up tablets in her system when she had died.
The jury would deliberate for three days before guilty verdicts for both accused were handed down.
