The premiere on April 26 of The Asunta Case on Netflix has once again brought the crime that ended the life of Asunta Basterra Porto to the forefront of the media. The project, announced as a fiction ”based on real events”, has given a lot of talk in recent days, as it makes a close and intimate portrait of the murder of the girl at the hands of her parents while presenting information and nuances about the case until now invisible.
They say that reality is stranger than fiction, which is why this work is achieving great success in countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel. It has also gained so much attention thanks to the great cast of actors that make up the cast: Carlos Blanco, Raúl Arévalo, Alicia Borrachero, Candela Peña, Tristán Ulloa, Francesc Orella, Javier Gutiérrez, etc.
In the series you can see how, after a tough investigation phase, the girl’s parents spend two years in provisional prison accused of having murdered their daughter. Once the trial arrives (legal phase in which both declare and insist on their innocence), both Porto and Basterra are sentenced to 18 years in prison.
In 2020, after seven years of deprivation of liberty and several failed attempts to end her life, Rosario Porto committed suicide in her cell at the Brieva prison, Ávila. The woman hanged herself without having acknowledged responsibility for the crime that ended the life of her daughter.
Currently, Basterra has been serving his sentence in the Teixeiro penitentiary center for more than ten years. After so long, the journalist has not admitted the murder nor has he shown any type of remorse for the events.
As has been reported and reported by some media outlets such as Las Provincias, Basterra’s behavior in prison has been conflictive and he has even been caught smuggling contraband with other inmates. Due to different scenes and inappropriate behavior with teammates and guards, the Basque has spent several stages in isolation.
As reported by some media such as Antena 3 or ABC, last January, Basterra requested the third degree of prison, which would allow him to replace prison with a social reintegration center where he would only have to go to sleep.
Despite his clear intention, Penitentiary Institutions decided to reject his request. The prison agency decided to deny said permission for different reasons: the man has not shown remorse for the murder of his daughter and has not openly admitted it, his release would cause great social alarm, etc. If there are no substantial changes in his behavior and/or speech, Basterra will serve the full sentence and will be released from prison in 2031.
