The Asunta Case
This documentary investigates the chilling murder of Asunta Basterra Porto, exploring the deep-seated family dynamics and societal issues that surrounded her life and untimely death. It provides an in-depth look at the police work and trial that captivated a nation, highlighting the media’s role in shaping public perception of the case.
What Is ‘The Asunta Case’ About?
The six-episode miniseries retells thetrue storybeginning with Rosario Porto (Candela Peña) and Alfonso Basterra (Tristán Ulloa) adopting a Chinese-born girl named Asunta, becoming the first coupleto adopt a child from China in Santiago, Spain. As they began to live together as a family, close friends would view them as picture-perfect. The girl became a stand-out in school, even skipping a grade, and was involved in various extracurricular activities. There was no reason to suspect that the parents didn’t feel proud of their daughter or that they resented the decision to go through with the adoption. Yet,what was supposed to be a happily ever after for them ended up in tragedy years later when the 13-year-old was found lying dead on the side of a road near her home.
With bruises on her wrists and ankles, the police believed that she was tied up with the ropes that were found next to her body, and an autopsy confirmed that the child was strangled to death. Earlier that night, the couple went to the authorities to report that their daughter was missing and were later notified that she was murdered. Although at first glance it seemed like Asunta was kidnapped and killed by a stranger,Rosario and Alfonso soon became the primary suspects for the crime over inconsistencies in their retelling of events leading up to the girl’s death. In addition, a lot of evidence suggested that they might’ve had reasons to get rid of her. As Judge Luis Malvar (Javier Gutiérrez) and agents Christina Cruces (María Léon) and Javier Rios (Carlos Blanco) take on the case, they are determined to prove that the adoptive parents were indeed to blame.
Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra Were the Primary Suspects In Asunta’s Murder
Like what is shown in the Netflix original, the police found footage from a gas station that showed Rosario and her daughter in the car on the way to their countryside house on the night of the murder. This video became proof that the mother lied when she was questioned the first time, which soon led to her arrest. When forensic scientists tested the girl’s blood,they identified that she was given high dosages of lorazepam(a medication that Rosario took regularly). Months before her death, Asunta told a music teacher that her parents gave her a “white powder,” which reflected on her ability to concentrate in class or even stand up still. There were also pharmacy records of Alfonso buying 170 pills over ten weeks, and 27 of them were found in the girl’s system upon her death. More evidence gave further clues to the couple’s connection to the murder,including pictures found on Alfonso’s laptop(which was hidden from his home for weeks before the police took possession of it). Among the 500,000 deleted files that were obtained, there were many sexually suggestive images and shots of his daughter in provocative clothing.
Some of the reasons why the police and the public believed the adoptive parents had to kill Asunta were that they were eyeing the inheritance left to her by Rosario’s parents. They both died suddenly and left millions to both their daughter and their grandchild. Another motive would be that Rosario was divorced from Alfonso but couldn’t move on with her life orcontinue her relationship with Vicente Garciadespite their split because of their daughter. Getting rid of her child would set her free from her ex-husband forever, which could’ve influenced her to commit the murder. The last theory that people had was that the couple simply regretted adopting her in the first place and were planning to kill her for months, thus drugging her regularly and forging a break-in that almost cost Asunta’s life (she told a family friend that someone tried to choke her at night, but the incident was never reported to the police by Rosario or Alfonso).None of these speculations were proven to be true by the couple, but the Netflix show does reenact some of them in Episode 5 for dramatic purposes.
In Court, The Couple Was Declared Guilty and Were Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison
The Netflix series ends with the conviction, though the credits reveal the additional details of the time since. When the investigation came to an end and a trial was held in Spain,the jury declared that both Rosario and Alfonso were responsible for killing Asunta and were sentenced to 18 years in prison. After trying to kill herself on multiple occasions, Rosario died of suicide in November 2020 while in her cell. As of now, Alfonso is 11 years into his sentence at Texeiro prison in Spain and still claims innocence. The verdict was passed beforethe Spanish law implemented life sentencesfor people found guilty of murdering children.
According to The Guardian, several measures have been added to the Chinese adoption process for people in Galicia as a result of this case. The adoption numbers have also lowered significantly around the world since its peak in 2004 of 45,288, three years after the couple met and signed the papers to become Asunta’s legal guardians.
The Asunta Caseis available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
