The “The Asunta Case,” a thriller miniseries, is the latest addition to his long list of productions Netflix based on true crimes. Created by Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira, Jon de la Cuesta and David Orea Arribas, the plot is based on the true story of the murder of Asunta Basterra.
The key roles in the series are played by Candela Peña as Rosario Porto, Tristán Ulloa as Alfonso Basterra and Iris Whu as Asunta. The series also stars Javier Gutiérrez, Carlos Blanco, María León, Francesc Orella, Alicia Borrachero, Raúl Arévalo and Ricardo de Barreiro. “The Asunta Case” tells the true story of how the little girl was murdered and will be available on Netflix from April 26.
So what is the real story behind the Netflix series ‘The Asunta Case’?
Her murder Asunta Basterra took place in September 2013 in Spain. The 12-year-old girl was found dead in a wooded area near Santiago de Compostela. Her adoptive parents, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra, were later arrested and charged with her murder. During the investigation, various evidence showed that Asunta had been drugged with a powerful drug before she died of suffocation. Both Porto and Basterra were found guilty of the murder in 2015 and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Who is this family?
Asunta Basterra was born Fang Yong in 2000 in Yongzhou, Hunan, China. He was adopted by Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra when he was nine years old. The family lived in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Rosario Porto came from an illustrious Galician family and was an honorary consul of France. Alfonso Basterra was a journalist. They were both well known in their community.
When Alfonso found out that Rosario was cheating on him, the couple decided to get a divorce. During this time, Rosario suffered from lupus flares and depression. The couple agreed that Alfonso would take care of Asunta and Rosario, and in return, she would help him financially. The duo lived nearby and Asunta split her time between the two homes.
The death of the little girl
Asunta was first reported missing by her parents on September 21, 2013. Her body was discovered on September 22, 2013 at the side of a small mountain road in the parish of San Simón de Ons, Cacheiras. The same type of orange rope with which Asunta’s limbs were tied was found in a trash can at Rosario Porto’s country house in Montouto, about 5 kilometers from the crime scene. When asked about the details of Asunta’s disappearance, Rosario kept changing her story depending on what the police brought to light.
The research that followed
Suspicion fell on Asunta’s adoptive parents, who were arrested and charged with her murder. Evidence showed that Porto and Basterra gave their daughter up to twenty-seven Lorazepam pills on the day of her death, nine times the high-dose amount for an adult. He had died of suffocation. 135 witnesses testified that they saw the parents behaving strangely at the time of Asunta’s death. The real story surrounding this investigation will be featured in the Netflix documentary, “The Asunta Case.”
The Asunta Case: The trial and the final verdict
The trial began in 2015 and lasted several weeks. Prosecutors presented evidence that implicated Porto and Basterra in the murder. The trial revealed disturbing details about the family dynamics and the mental state of the parents.
In October 2015, Porto and Basterra were found guilty of murder by a jury in Santiago de Compostela. They were sentenced to 18 years in prison each. It was revealed that Alfonso Basterra was responsible for buying the drugs. The parents supplied them to Asunta at least three months before the death, three times in July and once on September 18.
On the day of her death, the parents ate with Asunta at the father’s house and gave her a quantity of Lorazepam, which later helped them to choke her. The Supreme Court of Galicia agreed that Rosario was the one who drowned her daughter.
What happened next?
Despite being in the same prison, Asunta’s parents never met again, except in court. Rosario Porto steadfastly maintained her innocence until she took her own life on November 18, 2020. The possible motive for the murder was never discovered.
