On the night of September 21, 2013, Spain learned the name of Asunta Basterra in the worst possible way. It was then that the twelve-year-old girl of Chinese origin, adopted by Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra, was found dead in some bushes in Teo, a town in the province of A Coruña. The extensive investigation ended up convicting the adoptive parents of murder, with Rosario committing suicide in prison in 2020 and Alfonso serving time until 2031.
This Friday, The Asunta Case, the true crime series based on real events starring Candela Peña and Tristán Ulloa, premiered on Netflix, which is why the murder has returned to the front page of the news. One of the many television programs that has been involved in its coverage has been TardeAR, who this Friday interviewed several shadow prisoners who shared time behind bars with Porto and Basterra.
Frank Blanco has been able to speak with Santiago, who was in the same module and even cell as Alfonso at various stages of his sentence. As he explained in the Telecinco magazine, the journalist seemed affected by the comments that reached the module about Rosario, who supposedly “fooled around” and had slept with other prisoners. He explained that his wife’s distancing from her affected him, since he always tried to get closer to her.
Santiago also commented how Alfonso used to talk to them about the investigation of the case, rather than the crime itself. An event that occurred more frequently at the beginning of his stay, and when he was angry with both the Civil Guard and the investigating judge, José Antonio Vázquez Taín. Likewise, he insisted on his innocence in the face of the murder accusations, ensuring that Asunta was his life and that he could not believe that something like that had been done to her.
A striking detail that Santiago revealed were the clashes that Basterra had with other prisoners. He considered himself a cultured and proud man, so he did not fit with other profiles of inmates, such as those with drug addiction problems. Such were his problems that he ended up receiving a “couple of slaps” in another module, before the prison decided to pair him with Santiago to keep him under control.
Returning to the murder itself, the ex-convict confessed to having heard Alfonso speak of the “third person,” with Asunta’s father ensuring that the true culprits of her death were still free. In his words, by mentioning that third person he understood that both Alfonso and Rosario must have known who he was, but instead they never managed to say it. Likewise, he confessed that the suicide of his mother was not surprising within the module.
