Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder and death. Reader discretion is advised.
In September 2013, authorities discovered the dead body of a 12-year-old girl named Asunta Fong Yang. Reports suggested that her body was found lying on a bed of pine needles. Moreover, there were mud stains on her sweatpants, with her T-shirt pulled above her stomach. During the investigation, police found startling details and ultimately focused their attention on Asunta’s adoptive parents—Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra—as the prime suspects. The case of Asunta Fong Yang’s brutal murder has recently been explored in Netflix’s latest series, The Asunta Case.
Investigators sent her body for an autopsy and found high levels of lorazepam in her urine and blood, reported Forbes. The outlet noted that lorazepam was the main ingredient of the medicine Porto was consuming for her anxiety attacks. Subsequently, authorities found substantial evidence that led to the arrest of Rosario Porto. In the CCTV footage obtained by the police, Porto was seen driving her car with a girl sitting beside her. As a result, police apprehended Porto on the day of Asunta’s funeral.
One day after Porto’s arrest, police arrested her ex-husband, Alfonso Basterra, for killing Asunta Fong Yang. In October 2015, the trial began, and the prosecution team presented evidence that pointed to Asunta’s parents being responsible for her death. During the trial, the jury found Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra guilty of slaying Asunta Fong Yang.
According to TODAY, Basterra is currently booked at the Penitentiary Center of Teixeiro in northwestern Spain. Meanwhile, Porto died by suicide at Brieva Penitentiary in Avila.
Asunta Fong Yang’s murder case explored
Police interrogated Rosario Porto after discovering Asunta Fong Yang’s body. During the interrogation, she told the investigators that she left her daughter at her apartment in the evening while she went to the family’s country house. Citing her statement, Forbes reported that Porto revealed that Asunta was nowhere to be seen when she returned home. However, the police acquired CCTV footage which showed Porto driving her car with a girl sitting beside her. The timestamp on the video proved that Porto lied about her movements.
During the trial, Porto failed to give a convincing answer when the prosecutors questioned her about her false statements. The Guardian reported that neither of the parents couldn’t give a convincing reason for how their daughter consumed around 27 ground-up pills on the day of her murder. Moreover, the outlet stated that Basterra was able to get hold of over 170 Orfidal (or lorazepam) pills for 10 weeks, some of which were obtained without his wife’s prescription.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors also claimed that one of Asunta’s acquaintances saw the victim with her adoptive father on the day of her death. Forbes reported that Basterra initially told the police that he was alone in the house.
Per The Guardian, the jury deliberated for three-and-a-half days to deliver a guilty verdict. The court sentenced Rosario Porto to 18 years in prison for Asunta’s killing, while Basterra received the same sentence.
The Asunta Case is available to stream on Netflix.
