Netflix is set to send shivers down the spines of UK viewers with its latest harrowing true-crime acquisition, 'The Asunta Case' (El caso Asunta). This Spanish-language limited series meticulously reconstructs one of the most perplexing and tragic criminal cases in recent European history, which culminated in a verdict that stunned the world.
The story begins not with a crime, but with a picture of privilege. Rosario Porto, a successful lawyer from a renowned family, and Alfonso Basterra, a journalist, appeared to be the perfect couple. They adopted a baby girl from China, Asunta Yong Fang, and provided her with a life of luxury in Santiago de Compostela, filled with violin lessons and private tutors.
A Web of Deceit and a Chilling Discovery
Beneath the polished surface, however, lay a web of marital strife and dark secrets. The couple had separated but continued to live together, orchestrating an elaborate facade. The truth violently erupted on September 21st, 2013, when Asunta's body was discovered on a roadside near a wooded area. She had been suffocated.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on the last people to see her alive: her own parents. Evidence began to paint a damning picture. Investigators found sedatives in Asunta's system and discovered that Rosario Porto had purchased a large quantity of the same drug. Perhaps most damningly, a roll of industrial-strength tape identical to that found at the crime scene was discovered in the family's home.
The Shocking Trial and a Forbidden Narrative
The subsequent trial captivated Spain. Prosecutors argued that the motive was a twisted form of liberation. They alleged that Porto and Basterra saw their gifted daughter as an obstacle to their separate love affairs and desired lives. In a case built on compelling circumstantial evidence, both parents were found guilty of murder and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Rosario Porto, the central figure whose changing testimony and erratic behaviour drew intense scrutiny, ultimately took her own life in prison in 2020. Alfonso Basterra remains incarcerated, maintaining his innocence.
The series, starring Candela Peña and Tristán Ulloa, promises to be a deep and uncomfortable character study, exploring the psychology of the perpetrators and the unthinkable betrayal at the heart of this tragedy. It's a stark reminder that the most terrifying monsters are not always strangers.
