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The Asunta Case, Netflix's latest limited crime series was released on the platform on April 26, 2024. The series is based on the true story of the murder of 12-year-old Asunta Basterra. She was reported missing by her adoptive parents on September 21, 2013, and her body was found hours later on a road near Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Asunta was a Chinese-born orphan, who was adopted by a Spanish couple, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra, when she was nine months old. The chilling murder of Asunta and the case against her adoptive parents shocked the nation. It attracted widespread media interest, as it unfolded over many years.
This article will take a look at the details of the real case behind the Netflix show.
Disclaimer: This article will contain spoilers for The Asunta Case.
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Who was Asunta Basterra and what happened to her?
The Asunta Case is based on the murder of 12-year-old Asunta Yong Fang Basterra Porto. She was a Chinese-born Spanish girl adopted by a wealthy Spanish couple, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra, at nine months old from the Hunan province in China.
Asunta's disappearance was reported by her parents on the night of September 21, 2013. This was a few months after Rosario and Alfonso had divorced and were sharing her responsibility. Rosario Porto had left for her family's country home in Teo Parish, leaving Asunta alone at her apartment doing schoolwork. However, upon return, she found her daughter missing.
Rosario called her ex-husband and Asunta's friends, but couldn't find her. She finally reported her daughter's disappearance to the police, who found her corpse next to a road close to her mother's apartment.
The forensic report revealed that she had died of asphyxiation, and was given at least twenty-seven Lorazepam pills, a medicine taken to calm anxiety. The amount of the pills in her body was more than nine times the high dosage amount for an adult.
The police filed a report against the parents and took them into custody for the murder of their daughter. The trial began in October 2015, and the jury found Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra guilty of the murder.
Who killed Asunta Basterra in The Asunta Case?
What makes The Asunta Case peculiar is the ambiguous motive behind her murder, as both the suspects never confessed to the killing. Apart from the parents, an unidentified man who allegedly broke into their house was a suspect in the murder as well.
The hooded stranger had reportedly attacked Asunta in her sleep, a couple of months before her murder. He was chased away by Rosario when Asunta screamed as he was strangling her. Asunta had reportedly texted a photo of her neck with finger marks to a friend, saying that someone had tried to kill her.
Another peculiar thing that the police noticed was that the girl was being given a smaller dose of anti-anxiety Lorazepam pills for at least three months. A child can not have access to this kind of medication in such quantity, without the knowledge of her parents.
Asunta's music teachers also claimed that, months before her death, she was constantly feeling dizzy, and couldn't read sheet music, or even walk properly. One of the teachers Isabel Bello said that Asunta told her about the medication claiming that she "took some white powders," she said.
“I don’t know what they are giving me. No one tells me the truth," Asunta told another violin teacher.
There was widespread media speculation about The Asunta Case as the trial went on. The hooded stranger was considered a suspect, who wanted to finish the job, after the first failed attempt. This stranger could also have been the reason for Asunta's anti-anxiety medication. However, the quantity of that medication in her body was bizarre and it was believed that this wouldn't have been possible to hide from her parents.
The dramatic trial ended with Asunta's parents as the main suspects being incarcerated for the murder. The motive behind their action is still a mystery and is unlikely that this aspect of The Asunta Case would ever be solved.
What happened to Asunta's foster parents in The Asunta Case?
According to reports, Rosario Porto was arrested at Asunta's funeral. The arrest came after a CCTV camera at a gas station near their apartment showed her driving down the road with a girl. The footage contradicted Porto's statement that Asunta had been at home at the time.
Their neighbors even refuted the hooded strangler story. They claimed that it would be impossible to break into their house, without getting noticed by the guard dogs.
Both parents frequently changed their statements regarding their whereabouts at the time of the murder, making the authorities more suspicious. They were eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison. However, in 2020, Porto died by suicide in her prison cell while Basterra is still carrying out his sentence at Teixeiro.
Final Thoughts of The Asunta Case
The true story behind The Asunta Case remains a haunting and tragic chapter in Spanish criminal history. It served as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of children and the devastating consequences of familial betrayal. It also sparked conversations regarding international adoption laws, the importance of child welfare, and the need for greater support for children in crisis.
The verdict in The Asunta Case, which found adoptive parents guilty, shocked many in Spain and prompted discussions about the complexities of adoption and parental responsibility.
The Asunta Case was released on Netflix on April 26, 2024, and is available for streaming.
