If there’s one thing Netflix producers always get right, it’s scary adaptations of real-life events. As the streaming service continues to dominate the true crime genre, its new series, The Asunta Case, tackles a disturbing real-life case straight from Spain.
The miniseries chronicles the events that occurred when the adoptive parents reported the disappearance of their twelve-year-old daughter, Asunta Basterra. Shortly after, her body was found on the side of a road.
The Asunta case: watch the true story of the Netflix series
In 2001, a wealthy couple from Santiago de Compostela, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra, adopted a Chinese girl named Asunta Fong Yang. Although she was a fragile child when she arrived in Spain, she Asunta grew up to be a young woman who excelled in school, spoke six languages and loved playing musical instruments, such as the piano and violin, and dancing ballet.
Twelve years after her adoption, on September 21, 2013, Asunta’s parents reported her missing. Authorities initially suspected a kidnapping, but the next day Asunta’s body was found tied up near a road on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela.
The investigation determined that the child died from asphyxiation, with large amounts of a drug called Lorazepam in his system. This drug is a benzodiazepine that causes drowsiness and is the main active ingredient in Orfidal, which Rosario took for anxiety.
Hair tests showed that Asunta had been forced to take this drug periodically in the three months preceding her death. Furthermore, some of her teachers claimed that she seemed drowsy in the last weeks of her life, with one witness claiming that she had said: “my mother is trying to kill me”.
While the investigation was taking place, Spanish police arrested the couple for the murder. During the trial, investigations revealed that Alfonso had obtained 175 Orfidal tablets over a 10-week period. Thus, on October 30, 2015, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra were found guilty of the murder of Asunta and sentenced to eighteen years in prison. However, throughout the trial, the couple maintained their innocence.
The prosecution put forward the hypothesis that Rosario and Alfonso had tired of taking care of Asunta, which is why they began to drug her before committing the murder. It is also believed that Rosario was the mastermind behind the plan. Many other factors contributed to the theory, including the couple’s divorce, which occurred in January 2013 after Alfonso discovered Rosario was cheating on him.
Although the couple went to court to have the sentence overturned, these attempts were rejected. In 2020, after numerous failed attempts, Rosario took his own life while serving his sentence. For his part, Alfonso remains in prison in Spain.
“The Asunta Case” on Netflix is based on a true story
The Netflix series is a dramatization of the case, and according to Netflix, the series is a “limited fiction series”, produced by Bambú Producciones, Spain. The series consists of six episodes and deals with the real case, with Candela Peña, Tristán Ulloa and Iris Whu in the roles of Rosario, Alfonso and Asunta respectively.
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Source: Olhar Digital
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
