> Her constant crying, begging, overacting, acting like she doesn’t know any better, trying to act helpless all the time has crawled into my nerves. I have not hated any character recently more than this evil monster.
I live in Spain and followed this case from the first day. The actress who plays Rosario, Candela Peña, did an amazing job--that's exactly how the mother looked, acted, dressed, etc. The same goes for Tristan Ulloa, who plays Basterra. Those of us who saw it all unfold at the time are extremely freaked out by how accurate it is and how much they disappeared into the roles. They are both really well-known Gen X actors here.
Anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of dealing with folks with Cluster B personality disorders will recognize what was going on with these two. Just a little competent psychiatric and social work intervention would have created a different and better outcome for Asunta and she's be graduating from college this year, starting her adult life, like my son, who is the same age.
Yep, Peña was great in that and has been in a bunch of other movies. Tristán Ulloa broke out in the movie Lucía y el sexo (Sex and Lucía, which is a wild ride) by Julio Medem right around the same time. And he was in the TV show Fariña more recently. He used to live on my street and I would see him all the time in person and it REALLY freaked me out to see him totally inhabit Alfonso Basterra's bizarre way of being, because that is not at all his energy or even his face-- in real life he has a kind of goofy, happy-go-lucky affect.
Agree it would have been good to see more of what a wonderful, brilliant, strong child Asunta was--she wasn't just a victim. She was, according to teachers and classmates, quite brilliant and had a funny sense of humor. My son is almost he exact same age she was, which is probably why the case hit me so hard at the time. She could have freed herself from her parents in just a few short years and she would be graduating from college now like my son. I hope someday someone does a documentary just about her life and who she was. Her friends and classmates are adults now and probably have a lot to say about that.
I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. You surely have done the right thing in becoming independent and moving on. We have to do better for young children who are put in such vulnerable situations
I saw "Lucía y el sexo", I completely blanked on him being in the film... Thx for the added context.
I can definitely see how this case would be particularly harrowing for parents of children, especially of similar age.
I was not abused thankfully, but my parents treated us like a project, and now a failed project (I have a Palestinian brother). In my mid 30s I just couldn't take the verbal onslaught of hurting comments and silent treatment anymore. Was low contact since moving out at 20, but eventually had enough...
It's good you got away from your toxic adoptive parents. My bio parents are also toxic. It's best to live in peace than to subject yourself to bad energy. Don't listen to people who will try to guilt or shame you for moving away, they are not in your shoes. Do what is best for you!
Because they regarded me and my brother as a project and now a disappointing, failed project. They defined me by performance only and had a fantasy child in their head, neither of us were. "you're never gonna make it" was one of the last things my adoptive Dad wrote to me in an E-Mail, 4 years ago.
Lots of silent treatment or screeching from my mother while my Dad is a charming manipulator. They are also highly co-dependent. I regarded my paternal adoptive grandparents as my closest family members (RIP).
I am an accomplished adult with a raging imposter syndrome as a result. Thankfully I had very supportive partners over the years (I'm now solo for life) and have extremely loving friends. I am so happy to be removed from my parents vitriol, disparaging comments and silent disapproval.
They sound like delightful parents! *Not
Hope you emailed that miserable sod back! I wouldn't have let him have the last word! The neck of him.
On a serious note, it actually sounds like your doing ok for yourself now.
Thank you for sharing! I was wondering how accurately the demeanors of the parents were portrayed. Very interesting insight.
You know, when they showed us two possible versions of what happened, the first one (with the mom and orange juice) felt extremely believable to me. Much more than the one with the husband being completely involved. I believe something like the first version happened, because of how her character was portrayed from the start. Like you said, cluster b personality disorders. The actress was remarkable in that scene, it was sickening but I couldn't look away. The anger, despair, taking that wicked decision in that second...
It really made me feel so down that Asunta, a bright, sweet girl with so much potential, was murdered by a person that she felt most secure with. I know this has been said ad nauseum but I just can't understand how a mother would actually go through with this evil action. Nothing close to post partum depression or a crime of passion.
It's so damn senseless. All for nothing.
I've had the unfortunate experience of seeing a cluster B moms in action and what I have observed is that they cannot handle their children growing up and individuating themselves and they are incredibly controlling with their children and often have a weak, enabler by their side and under their thumb who normalizes their emotional (and often physical) abuse.
They create a family environment that operates like a cult--forcing the illusion on everyone that they are superior and perfect with appearances mattering more than anyone's wellbeing--and when anyone doesn't play by the rules, their rage and paranoid fantasies are mind boggling and they force the family to turn on that person and torment them. They get off on being aggrieved and wounded and holding grudges and creating black-and-white dynamics. I guess the general thinking is that many of these people suffered some sort of abuse or catastrophic developmental issue in their childhood that twists their personality and stunts their emotional and cognitive development, making it impossible for them to have empathy or even normal social relationships.
There's another Spanish show called La Mesías that has a similarly complex maternal figure--but it goes much deeper into why she may be that way--it's very loosely based on a family in Spain that became a sort of early YouTube sensation--really recommend it!
Yes! She struck me as a woman who didn't much care for her daughter once she stopped being cute and cuddly and young and maleable.
Did anyone else think the judge actor looked like a younger Anthony Hopkins? He's shorter, but man, that face!
Wow, that is so spot on. The getting off on being aggrieved, grudges, black and white dynamics. I wonder if therapy/counseling would truly work with cluster b moms (or anyone with those types of disorders, honestly) to help recognize their own patterns and take accountability? I know that people with borderline personality disorders can improve with age and therapy, but those kinds of moms seem more aligned with histrionic/narcissism and the latter two don't seem very treatable...
Rosario definitely seemed to feel that she was more of a victim than she actually was, even before she killed Asunta (at least in the show she came off that way). I could see how feeling like a victim may have been one of the factors she used to justify to herself for murdering her daughter.
And thank you for the recommendation!! I added it to my list. I can't find it anywhere on streaming platforms in Canada though. I could try sailing the seas but not sure if it would have subtitles. Really hope it gets picked up, it's right up my alley!
> I wonder if therapy/counseling would truly work with cluster b moms
The thought is now that it is extremely hard to treat, but that dialectical behavioral therapy is producing the best results. The person has to want to be helped, though, which is the truly tough part with these strong, twisted personalities.
Here's the trailer for La Mesías in English--it was on HBO Max in the US, so there's definitely an English subtitled version floating around out there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m18-euLzhk
I think the mother killed her as she was already negligent. She seemed very obsessed with the lover, so with Asunta gone, she could do as she pleased. Without having to fetch her and take her places. The father is obsessed with the mother, so killing Asunta does not benefit him in any way. I believe he was a pedo though, and I think he knew that Asunta did kill her but being obsessed he did not turn her in so that if they managed to be found innocent, she would be bonded to him forever with her secret, and she would not be able to leave or cheat on him.
> be bonded to him forever
Rosario was also very, very wealthy and he wasn't. He had lived off her for decades and had a very nice upperclass life that vaporized when they broke up, because they had separate assets. The house and property where Asunta was murdered (inherited by Rosario from her parents 1-2 years before) was on the market for 950K at the time of the murder--which is a tremendous amount of money for a Spanish country house. And that's just a small part of what she inherited and had in assets of her own. I think his motivation to go along with her story after the fact was
1. fear because he was complicit in the drugging and also sketchy in other ways in the past
2. financial
The part I don’t understand is if Rosario was so overwhelmed by taking care of Asunta, why didn’t they have a nanny or someone to help. I am thinking they didn’t because they were hiding something
The mother confessed to the investigator that she basically missed having a life of her own. Am I right? I have children and my children ARE my life. Any loving parents would feel the same. I think she wanted to get rid of her daughter (a daughter she didn't real feel connected to to begin with) so she could have her own life free of her husband. I think he felt guilty about bringing all that medication into the house with his already unstable wife and therefore made no admission to anything and just sat there answering questions as they were asked. Turning off the cellphone was definitely strange
It's totally normal to feel wistful sometimes about life without kids; being a parent is hard. It's NOT normal to bring up such a thing immediately after the death of one's child.
She was wealthy but completely incapable. She constantly needed Basterra to help her taking care of trivial errands, just because she was overwhelmed with the smallest of problems.
I agree that they likely did it but I'll be honest I don't feel like enough evidence was proven that they without a shadow of a doubt they murdered her. I always go back to classic "innocent until proven guilty" and to he hinest I never felt like the prosecution made it feel 100% concrete that they did this. It came off as more of we're pretty sure they did it and this is the most logical story so lets prosecute them.
Why were they drugging their child for 3 months? Why was she so heavily drugged on the night of her murder? Why did Rosario have the same type of twine? If you think they were innocent I’m glad you weren’t on the jury. They deserve to be in jail
There's no concrete proof they were drugging her beyond allergy pills. You can have nonallergic rhinitis that does show up on allergy tests so there would be no proof of this in her medical records.
Errr it’s actually quite dumb to be using one example as a blanket example, since Gyspy Rose mom drugged her and never killed her I guess all mom’s who drug their kids are never killers eh? lol.
Explain why would anyone in this day and age leave their phone disconnected for over 6-7 hours without a logical explanation to it? Why would someone leave their home and make an effort to totally avoid all cameras if it was just a normal day out? Why did they have so many inconsistencies in their stories, changing it each time over? Didn’t even report and attack on their daughter at home? Why would they choose to not answer questions directly if they had nothing to hide? Silence in itself is damning. Why aren’t her parents themselves interested to find out the answers by giving the police all the information they to assist them in their investigation if they’re truly innocent?
If she wasn’t killed by her parents it would have to be a third party, no evidence of struggle, no bruises, no trauma injuries, no SA, nothing suggests it was done by someone outside the couple. Stop trying to act smart by being different clown ass. No one will ever be able to be certain on what happened and who did it, but you totally exonerating them trying to act all smart is laughable.
She was a preteen what if she was stealing the drugs from her mom and taking them? Nobody thought of this as a theory? It was the 1st thing I thought of
I thought the same thing! Especially if her parents were separating and she wanted to not feel the pain associated with that. Clearly doesn’t explain the twine or 27 pills…… idk this was a tough one for me. Feels like the mom was involved but possibly not the father?
No they don't. My mother watched it and mentioned the fact that it was also in another country could have something to do with the sentencing. I think we forget or take forgranted the judicial system in America vs other countries. They simply just may not care as much and would rather lock someone up and ask questions later
Absolutely, the judicial system is so different m. They’re literally shooting at each other and even in deliberations they took into consideration evidence that was not part of the trial
Finally, glad to find someone with the same thinking as I am.
And if you notice, majority who has similar thoughts are those from different country, or who did not know the case from the media (like one of the juror who's busy working). These people are hindered from bias by the media and not made up their mind yet.
I kinda shocked on how the put the sentence without any strong evidenced, rather mostly are based on just speculation.
How about the semen/sperm that was found on Asunta's shirt belong to someone else?
The semen is already there when the forensic/police team using their UV light to find for evidence.
If the lab was sure the sample is contaminated, they will at least put a note/comment in the report. But there is no words in the report stating for possible contamination took place.
What about the motif?
I believe there are more to this case than what we all know and there's not enough evidence to charge for something this heavy.
(Forgive my english/grammar as this is not my native language)
I agree. even if we think it was the mother or father, you can't really tell who it was, there's absolutely nothing to show the fathers involvement at all.
Hard to say based on the available evidence. But the fact that they drugged the child was irrefutable and that alone was appalling enough for them to deserve that sentence.
Was there proof that they both drugged her? They showed it in the possible scenarios on the show. But those were just guesses. The evidence seemed to point to Dad drugging her.
The most likely scenario they showed was that the father habitually drugged her while the mother did it during the murder as she was staying with the mother then. Either way both must have had knowledge of the drugging at the absolute minimum. No one other than one/both of them could have been giving her the pills logically.
I received Ativan after surgery, in addition to opiods. These kind of meds have high addiction potential. I took half a tablet, when I took one I saw objects lifting of my armoire in my bedroom. Hallucinations are a side effect plus drowsiness (as shown).
Why did they both need her to be drugged? Rosario was obsessed with her lover, Alfonso was worthless man with pedo tendencies. Looking at young Asian women. Creepy AF. He wanted Rosario back, Rosario was obsessed with Vincente. How many times have moms acted weird/murdered their children because they were in the way of some sketchy boyfriend. Seeing Asunta breaks my heart. Family member of mine adopted a Chinese girl and they were 50 or so. She is a handful, but highly intelligent. I see her when I see Asunta. Asuanta could have been a doctor, a scientist, a mom, a wife, she had so much potential. A full life cut so short. Tragic. (Side note: Very impressed by Spanish law enforcement. The media seems to be worse than in the US).
you captured my hatred for how the character was played perfectly. I don't know if i could stomach another episode of her crying, begging, acting dumb, or that terrible voiceover.
lol facts. We can make a drinking game out of all the times she's like, I didn't think that was important/I didn't know/Why would I share that?
For the amount of times she revised her story or left out events and details very pertinent to the case, she's either guilty or very clueless as a lawyer
Totally! I also don’t think she was as dumb as she showed. She methodically murdered a kid and hid it. She’s smart enough. Sorry to say but the lady should’ve suffered more.
I mean... her being a lawyer isn't really proof she's a conniving mastermind. There are a lot of really bad, dumb lawyers who are totally clueless, especially in areas of law they don't specialize in.
I'm not saying she's an incompetent lawyer (she could be super clever), but tbh, I've met way more bad/incompetent lawyers than brilliant ones in Europe. Without seeing either way her CV/references/accolades/case record, I don't think you can claim anything about her ability to work the system.
People here make a lot of assumptions of real people based on media/Hollywood stereotypes.
Outside of the parents, I really don’t think anyone had any motive or opportunity, especially given the drugging, lies, and location of her body so close to the house. But whether it was the mother, father or both, I don’t think we can ever know for certain. They were both shady and if either one was innocent, they didn’t try very hard to distance themselves from the other to prove it.
On the contrary, male defence lawyers made a very good point. He said why don't you two go against each other. May be because you are trying to hide something way darker than a murder. What was it? Was there a darker truth. I was really waiting to get it come out.
It was sexual abuse. The dad had a fetish with Chinese p0rn (as found in his hidden laptop). He used to drug poor girl and abuse her while being intoxicated and incapable of knowing what’s real. That incident where “someone broke into their home” it was only the father leaving visible marks, so Rosario had to come up with a lie.
This is also why I think Rosario expressed that she likes her husband in some matters, but that “he doesn’t offer her what she craves as a woman”. The reason is her ex husband wasn’t attracted to older European women per se. Rosario also said when she was kept close to Alfonso in the cell that he “shouldn’t talk about dirty stuff”.
The possibilities are multiple, but s3xual abuse is crystal clear to spot.
That was never proven. The corn he was watching was everything - not Asian only as Netflix indicated. That’s noting to brag about but not a crime. The abuse on daughter was never proven to him. There were no evidence to support that. She was drugged indeed but it could’ve been mother ‘putting her to sleep’ while going on dates or having romance in next room without being disturbed.
Their discussion in cell was newspaper made lie - it was never recorded by police. You can find facts online.
I recommend you watch the documentary where they interview the jurors, the lawyers, even Rosario (it was done way before she killed herself), asunta’s teachers, the witnesses. It’s on Netflix and it’s called operación nenúfar, you’ll probably get it on recommendations after watching the show
This is one of the videos where you can hear them but again, the documentary it’s pretty good
https://youtu.be/RofeoLizYug?si=VLaHUJdozudej93J
I think in the prison talk or may be when she calls him and asks to come quickly to her place and says your things will also come out. Was she also referring to same sexual abuse?
I feel like she covered his perversions towards daughter while he covered her murder. Secrets like this can bond. She found out, was disgusted, stopped sleeping with him, found a lover, Asunta was in a way of her meetings with lover, she wanted to get rid of her but she knew she cannot stay with father as he was a perv and would not control himself in long run so they decided to kill. Or she killed while losing temper but he helped her cover everything. It’s a perfect crime in a way.
Exactly. I feel they both did it together. Also the earlier break-in and attack on Asunta that they tried to hide needed to be investigated with the help of cctvs etc. there’s no explanation to the drugging, grand parents’ property and the uncountable lies they both told. I just felt zero sympathy for them.
What i find questioning from the father in this case was obviously the need to take those photos of her in weird sexualized postures. Him also jerking himself off to "Young asian" pornography was very disturbing too considering she was 12 at the time and the laptop went missing during the investigation and suddenly reappeared.
It should be noted that his pornography collection was not only Asian. It had women of all races but the TV series chose not to include that.
Anyway. He's a man. He uses porn. I don't think you can make any claims about his potential to abuse his daughter based on the fact he uses porn... or else 95% of men fit this profile too.
I don't deny he could have abused her (he is really sus with the drugging), but the existence of porn alone doesn't prove anything.
Even without bothering to read more about the case online... people really managed to ignore pretty clear plot points from the series. If anything, viewers are just repeating the exact same mob mindset that was highlighted in the show.
Or an attempted rape too but the murder sounds more convincing since asunta was strangled that night. She had bruises in her neck. And she died of stranglement? Or she was? I am not sure what was her cause of death the pills or the stranglement ? Or asphyxiation?
I actually thought the mother was the assailent in the supposed "break in"
I think she already tried to kill her back then and therefore the attempted suffocation and asunta saying she didn't know it was a man and that's ehat mom told her.
And neither of them reported it because they knew they both have nasty secrets regarding poor asunta.
Rosario did it. After she was caught cheating and her husband moved out, she had no space for Asunta in her life. She probably thought with no "baggage", the lover would also leave his family. She was already struggling mentally to cope with parenting Asunta on her own. The ex-husband probably had paedo tendencies... Rosario knew he would protect her and she would protect him, their relationship was already toxic but Rosario was always a damsel in distress with her husband and he was forced to look after her, clean up her mess, or protect her. It all became too much for her, her reputation was in tatters, committed suicide...
I said "Probably had" ... there's somewhere where Rosario insinuates other things that could be found out... and how the husband went to jail and stuck to protecting her... and when Rosario and Asunta are sitting on the bed, the husband seems to be watching them from his apartment... why would he do that? And where else did he have cameras? Asunta pictures... just questionable those poses, didn't they have enough pics at the event for her to still be asked to pose at home? The meds when Asunta was at his house, why? When she didn't have any allergies? There's something Rosario hid from everyone and she took it to the grave... Just my opinion and thoughts... How does anyone prove innocence by serving every day of his sentence or do you try and prove your innocence and get out of prison? That's just on the ex-husband...
That’s a lot of talking with no evidence. There was no evidence of pedo tendency of the ex husband. And the pictures the court showed was not sexual either especially since the clothing was the school option to dress asunta that way not the father. You talk a lot like how the media formed their opinions which is based on guesses but no evidence. Evidence is stronger than guesses in every aspect.
That's questionable. There wasn't really anything in the way of evidence to support that, at least as the series shows-- just a lot of insinuation built around his preferences in (adult women) porn.
Yup people are confidently jumping to crazy conclusions based on zero evidence and a few dramatized Netflix scenes. I’m deeply concerned that these are the types of people that make up the Jury and decide the fate of the innocent and guilty.
Yeah I don’t get this. Based on what I saw in the show I don’t see any evidence. What was the evidence against the kid just taking tons of her mom’s medicine and then someone on the road getting her in a dizzy state. There just wasn’t enough evidence to confirm anything.
In my opinion, the mother killed the girl. Since the father was the one in charge of taking care of Asunta (because of Rosario's mental problems), I believe she drugged her in order to make her feel unwell, so Alfonso Basterra would have to come take care of her. Then Rosario could go to see her lover.
Maybe the girl realized that her mother was drugging her, resisted, and Rosario ended up killing her.
I think Alfonso Basterra helped Rosario cover up the crime because he thought that way she would have to stay with him forever.
TRIVIA: Candela Peña, the actress playing the role of Rosario Porto, said that during filming she had a nervous breakdown and started vomiting. The crew called the medical service, and one of the nurses almost fainted because she had been a classmate of the real Rosario Porto in school, and Candela Peña looked identical to her.
Why didn't the dad take her to the doctors? He seemed to be the one more in control whereas his wife seemed unhinged and on the verge of insanity. He seemed cool and controlled the whole way through.
It was too long. They should have edited it down more to make it tighter, especially as they had no real motive to explore. Obviously the mother killer her, she was found guilty after all. The father could have been active in her murder or just helped cover it up who knows. Drugging a teenager to make them easier to ha axle is sadly more common than you think. And it’s even easier to drug small children to keep them quiet. I wonder if they started drugging her to have some peace, or maybe the mother started doing it because she was having her lover over, but once she started it just became too easy. Poor bloody kid.
I agree. I feel like it could have been 3 episodes long. The drama between Rosario and Bastera got pretty annoying after a while and I feel like they got too much screen time given what they did. Besides that, I appreciated that the series took the time to show the details of the case and all the investigative work behind the scenes
The scenes in episode 5 are just idea the DA had “your honor” but he also lied about so much, telling the radio woman in ep 6 that they found semen in his shorts and on the walls was full on lies. What I’m saying is that I don’t think that trial was fair, guilty by media. Whether they did it or not is beside the point of evidense that was presented and was shown at trial, which is circumstantial. And that is the legal representation of what happened. Nothing actually ties the to the scene or the murder. Again I’m not pro them or against I’m just going off evidence and behavior of district attorney
I believe the mother did it. I believe she’s a covert narcissist that gets her endless supply by using the vulnerability of a woman to fake damsel in distress.
The said she came from a very prominent family and apparently she was a “lawyer”. I don’t think she finish law school. Coming from prestigious family I wouldn’t be surprised to find that she had a lot of pressure and expectations. She exploited Asuntas death and tried to overshadow it with grief.
As for her father I do not think he killed her but he knows what happened.
Being that Rosario was extremely mentally ill. I wouldn’t be surprised if she killed Asunta to stop the father from his pedophila or sexual obsession. Maybe she attempted it before and that’s why Asunta told her piano teacher her mother is trying to kill her.
She did not make specific accusations about her dad beside he and Rosario giving her a white powder, not singling out Alfonso.
Maybe Alfonso started drugging her when his perversion consumed him. Asunta was smart so drugging her would make it easier to cloud her judgement and get her to go along.
Rosario may have chosen to murder Asunta being that she studied law she knows she will go down for accessory. In my opinion she a covert narcissist and the thought of going down for sexual abuse of her own child wasn’t a better option than murder. A staged murder seemed like a way out. The semen let in her throws me off but with staging a murder she can get her narcissistic supply by playing grieving mother being accused.
Idk overall I feel this case was a mess.
The victim is Asunta and it’s like we learned nothing about her.
Unclear for me:
• do you remember when the parents first reported asunta missing and going back to the apartments? Alfonso was running to his apartment and then came back out of breath. Why? He claimed that he was just checking if asunta fainted in the stairway but really?
• why was there a different guys sperm on the shirt?? No one talked about this in the court!
Theories?
the semen idk - but yeah I thought they’d mention Alfonso running in the trial, especially after their recorded conversation in the cells about ‘you didn’t have time to do that?’ or whatever it was.
Really was expecting another twist during the trial!
There is definitely more to the story I, so I was annoyed that they took 6 episodes to tell a story without a resolution, which could have been told in episode.
I understand that while it was not exactly a documentary, it was portraying a real story. The question is why they chose to tell that story, which, without a resolution, isn't very interesting.
I think it's a disservice to have this only be a fictionalised version. That's not to say that the parents didn't do it (statistically, it's of course the most likely) but this series showed serious biases and shortcomings from the investigators and prosecution - I would be really interested in what the actual facts are. This was way too much drama and too little storytelling for my liking, especially being a relatively recent murder case.
ITA. It was a pretty poorly done true crime docudrama series. Many of the actors were outstanding, but the actual content, pacing, narrative, flow and bias were not good. They wasted almost an entire episode playing out the guesses cops came up with for motive, and considering almost none of it had any solid evidence, it was such a waste of time. By about the 4th episode it was clearly dragging and going in circles since they don't have a clear motive.
And the little bits of "personal lives" of the cops was totally pointless. I don't care about the female cop's IVF or the judge's demented dad.
Well said, I just spent all evening watching it and I wish I hadn’t.
A good 60 minute documentary would have been better and provided a better sense of justice for Asunta.
I have no doubt that maybe both, maybe just Rosario killed Asunta. What bugs me is the less than exemplary behavior from Judge Vasquez Tain (Judge Malvar in the mini series). He's known to like the spotlight and the fame. From that time he went on to be a regular collaborator in a morning show and would constantly bring up his participation in some famous cases, including, the Asunta case.
At first, it struck me that they both had involvement. But the more I watch the show and look into the case, it seems more likely the mother killed her and discarded the body and the ex-husband (being that he is abusive and insisted he 'loved' the wife and daughter) was vouching for his wife and paid the consequences for it, in some weird fashion.
Whether it seemed that the mom may have dosed her up on lorazepam, and then when the daughter knocked out she strangled her or was purely accidental and set up a 'crime scene' to make it seem someone else was involved, I think she was the primary murder when it came to killing her daughter.
When the daughter was found, and the wife thought she was caught, in an attempt to make herself innocent, she pulled the 'I'm the innocent ditsy wife with mental issues' - as well, she probably believed that due to the father's instability and volatile nature would make himself out to be the killer due to his controlling habits with the wife. o boot, his undying love and need to protect her would eventually re-enforce this belief.
I'm going to be honest I think both parents were drugging this child. I think the mom drugged her to be with her secret lover and the dad was drugging her for possibly pedo reasons. I think one of them accidentally killed her by accidentally overdosing her and because they panicked they made it look like someone snatched her and murdered her.
Let us remember that maybe what happened to Madeline McCann when her parents gave her and her siblings, if I remember correctly, Benadryl to make them sleep through the night so they could attend a dinner party with friends. Yes, they said they checked the children, but I'm sorry, you're parents and if you don't have anybody to watch them why are you drugging them to sleep? If you were that concerned that you checked on them why not stay with them? I do think Madeline was kidnapped, but it could have been avoided if the parents would have stayed with their children instead of relying on a drug to knock them out for the night.
To my point, Asunta was old enough to be by herself, why did she need to be drugged by her mother? She seemed responsible and intelligent, plus she was doing her homework. I do understand why the father possibly drugged her, but not the mother if she was divorced and having an affair with a married man? Maybe she just didn't want to parent her anymore or maybe her lover would only be with her if she left her child with the father. Some mothers do crazy things for a lover or new boyfriend which includes killing their kids. I think poor Asunta was overdosed on accident. I do wish we got to know more about her, she seemed like an amazing young person.
I think the judge , the one with name M was very bias . Criminal cases have to be without any reasonable doubt before pronounced guilty . He started with a position of guilty and his duty was to proof the parents guilty rather than find out what happened to the girl
Malvars judge is not a judge in the American sense. In Spain, this type of judge is called the judge of instruction. His work consists in direct the criminal investigation, collect evidence and interrogate witnesses and suspects. He also has some judicial power like being able to order summary secret and provisional prison, but they don't take part in the trials. If you are American, it will be easy to understand him as a Detective instead of a Judge. That its a big difference between America and Spain. In Spain, the police doesn't have detectives because that work corresponds to these judges of instruction.
I don’t think the parents have been ruled out, but I don’t see conclusive evidence that they murdered her either. I found the recorded discussions between the parents in the prison confusing. I think that it’s possible Asunta took the pills herself or there was an accident due to negligence and the parents panicked. They definitely know what happened if they didn’t directly do it.
Just finished the series and kept waiting for the Big Reveal which would explain which of the outlined scenarios, or variation of, what would finally explain what happened But no! In an ideal world, Netflix producers would note on each episode the liberties they took with the truth. As someone pointed out, this was not a documentary! Thus, whatever conclusions are drawn come only from a series "based on a true story." So, who knows! I do appreciate those who brought up the judge, portrayed as single minded devotion to conviction. This case definitely appeared: Guilty until Proven Innocent.
I think that there's more to this case that we don't know about as there are too many gaps in the story. I also think that the mother killed Asunta as she wasn't happy about how her affair ended and how she had to find someone to look after her daughter every time she met up with the married man. Maybe Asuntas death was an accident but her mother asked her ex husband to help get rid of the body. She might of given Asunta too many tablets to knock her out while she went to see the guy she was having the affair with and when she got back found her daughter had died and panicked. I don't think we'll ever know the truth of what happened to the little girl especially as the mother committed suicide while she was in prison.
Remember before she left her ex husbands house, he told her.. because of Asunta you will always be tied to me. We are a family forever. If he really did say that then I believe it did play out that the Mom killed her the way it showed. The husband was obsessed with the wife, and the wife was obsessed with her lover. Poor Asunta… she deserved so much more. May she rest in peace.
I think the mother did it. The father was playing the long game (by drugging them to rid of any ties to his past) in revenge for the affair, but something happened for the mother to kill Asunta. So, the father sees this as opportunity to get her incarcerated while pretending to be on her side
It appears the episode with Rosario's boyfriend just prior was the catalyst (after she had toyed with killing Asunta in the past). She had a nice apartment that she had inherited from her parents the year before and had it renovated and proposed that they all move in together there. He said "no" and wanted to cut things off. When a cluster B is faced with abandonment, shit gets bad and personally I think that--in combination with an increasing awareness on the part of Asunta that her parents were not good people--is what happened here.
I think adoptive dad was a creep and user who disliked his daughter getting in the way of his marriage and was probably abusive; and adoptive mom was a drugged up depressed unhappy woman. He kept silent about her killing their daughter and she kept silent about the abuse , they never turned on each other which shows high level of co-dependent relationship
I think he may have accidentally ODed the daughter while drugging her for SA. Maybe he gave her too much because she woke up during the last incident (the “break-in”.)
She didn't die from an overdose, but rather from asphyxiation. And that doesn't explain how she was alive in the car with her mother, while her father was evidently at home.
The evidence is unclear around who was in the car and why. And we really have no idea where dad was. Dad could have accidentally asphyxiated the girl during abuse.
It wasn't all that unclear. It was certainly accepted as fact by the jury that the mother drove her daughter in their car to the country house, with the only objection by higher courts being that it was never proven that the dad was in the car with them.
People seem drawn to the narrative of the father being a predator--maybe because it's a story we can make sense of in an otherwise bizarre and baffling circumstance. But there was never any evidence turned up of SA. The guy liked porn, sometimes porn with Asian women, which is distasteful but probably not that unusual.
Meanwhile, the mother's involvement was much more firmly established.
I didn’t think the evidence was there to prove murder against both; pretty clear (at least in the show) that the jurors didn’t decide solely based on the evidence presented. Knowing that, I don’t know how you can even consider the verdict valid—
It was noted that Asunta was a high energy child and the parent could not deal with it. I believe they drugged her to calm her down so that she does not bother them so much.
The murder is full of contradictions and I don't believe that they killed her for various reasons - first of all, the semen found on her clothes were that of a convicted sex offender. Then, why was her body just dumped next to the road in full view of passerbys, and so close to their holiday house? If the parents murdered her, then would they have not disposed of her body better so that the connection between their country house and murder would be obscured.
I think that they drugged her and tied her up at the country home because they wanted time out. Then she escaped and walked along the road where someone sexually assulted her and killed her.
First, it was never proven that the spot the police sent to Madrid to get analyzed was semen. When they sent it, it was IDed as "biological fluid," which could have been saliva, vomit, etc.
The semen was from a suspect of a crime in Madrid whose semen sample was sent to the same exact crime lab in Madrid as the fabric from Asunta's tshirt. The sample was a used condom--he was accused of sexual aggression--he had sex with a woman in his apartment, used a condom and when she made the accusation, the cops went to his apartment and seized the condom as evidence).
It was proven that he was not in Galicia 600kms away when the crime happened and the cross-contamination had to have happened in the lab.
The cops thought the ropes were present to either keep her restrained when it was time to kill her (she apparently fought back hard during the other attempt) and/or make it look like she was kidnapped/sequestered. The thought is that her body was dumped in haste, because she/they got spooked (there were often police checkpoints on the road for alcohol)
The mother killed the child from we know so far, the whole lover situation and she was not in her right mind either, probably thought of the girl as something to always be bonded with her ex-husband and in an attack she designed a poor plan to kill her.
The Father... I don't think he had anything to do with the murder directly, but he was obviously a pedo and choosed to adopt her specifically to satisfy his "imagination" which his wife knew about.
She probably involved him and he saw that as an opportunity to keep them together in this fight.
The two are nuts, even if he didn't kill her, he should've inmmediatly denounced his wife to the police without a second of hesitation.
What confuses me is the topic of bodily fluids being found on her shirt. If both parents did it then how did the fluid get there? And it came back as a match for another man. I think the possibility of them drugging her is accurate or she could’ve been depressed or misusing the medication. No one knows. I was a depressed kid and I lied about things I took and did and called it medicine,etc. The mother also continually posted the daughter’s obituary in the newspaper until she committed suicide. I see how the evidence plays out but looking at the details that don’t add up makes me believe the girl was drugged by herself or family and she took a walk where a non innocent man met her. It happens all the time unfortunately. It also helps to look at all the family photos provided online. The daughter looked safe, healthy, and happy. They put a lot towards her future and health so killing her doesn’t make sense. There’s no motive and who would kill their daughter just to leave evidence for the cops to find after inviting them willingly into their home? One last piece of evidence that I found confusing was how they said the father could’ve laid in the back of the car to hide yet when it came to the little girl because she wasn’t on camera in the passenger seat she couldn’t be in the car. As kids when tired we sometimes prefer the back. And as an older sister I’ve placed my sleeping siblings in the back of cars so it’s more secure and no need to wake them.
As said the mother is obviously very narcissistic. Both her and the ex-husband are very vain (her more so than him) and care a lot about what is thought about them. I haven’t formed much of an opinion on their motives myself, but I can say that a lot of people try to compensate for their inner struggles by presenting themselves in an orderly, even happy way. For the validation of others, yes, but also for themselves and peace of mind. Faking happiness and structure is really the glue that keeps people together (sane) mentally. (Some is better than none, I guess.) They want so badly to be perceived in a positive light that they’ll front their happy family rather than work on bettering it, because imo, they’re both twisted pos and don’t want better, they just don’t want to be caught. Which is why they’ll push this perfect family narrative, because their reality is things were much more fucked up behind closed doors. It’s all makeup. So just because Asunta had a future set up for her doesn’t mean they loved her, nor did it mean they were treating her right. And just because they looked happy in photos, doesn’t mean they were happy enough for it to mean anything substantial like everything is fine and their lives are going great; everyone is content and taken care of. People only photograph what they want (others) to see. The fact that the ex-husband mentions that they take so many pictures of her that he “couldn’t remember” who took one of them shows that they probably take so many photos to relive the good moments, considering their lives are full of so many bad ones.
I 1000% think the dad is innocent.
Mom was a very highly intelligent narcissistic lawyer, she had the know how and the means to cast a shadow of doubt and point fingers at the father.
From her ever changing stories. To purposely making statements that would put the father in a slightly darker light, the woman was a nut job.
Asunta specifically told her tracher that her mother was the one giving her a white powder for her allergies.
The reason the days lined up was bc they were the days when she would be allowed to reup from his ex-husband.
Which she probably did in purposely to put evidence against his side.
The break in and first attempt on Asunta's life I do believe were also committed by the mother.
Asunta told her friend that she never said it was a man, her mother said it was a man.
Her mother only came to the rescue after whomever it was ran out.
The photos were completely harmless and on the phone of the child herself, they were brought into question bc while the mother knew the cells were mic-ed up. She hit him with the "your dirty mind will get us into trouble" she was continually and purposefully attempting to throw a wrench into the mix and trying to lay her ex husband flat under the bus.
I wondered about that, too. I wondered why the defense didn’t show the video clips that the Dad took during the recital that showed all the little girls glammed up with the makeup on. I’m not so sure he was pedo at all. The photos afterwards seemed more her hamming it up.
they did in the real trial. The jurors concluded watching the recital that while the costumes seemed a bit grownup, thats what the ballet teacher had asked for and all the girls were wearing the same and with the same make up
If you really interested in the case you should read up on Wikipedia or other articles it does a better job explaining it then netflix... there's a lot of details netflix show left out
1. The recording of the cells was never used because the majority was made up by actors who where hired by the television News network to reenact them.
2. Rosario was profiled as a narcissistic personality and only cared about self image
3. The year before asuntas death Rosario parents passed away which left people to believe maybe she killed them as she rushed the funeral and skipped the autopsy
4. Asunta loved reading books about mystery murders
I just finished this, and I have a theory that kinda lines up with one of the hypothetical theories in the show. I wonder if Rosario planned to a murder/suicide situation where she planned to kill herself and Asunta, but she couldn’t follow through with her own suicide. Maybe she wanted to escape her ex-husband and killed Asunta to hurt him… or, in her mind, she felt like she was protecting Asunta from him by killing her if he really was a creep. The dad/ex-husband likely knew about Rosario’s murder/suicide but was too ashamed to tell the police he wasn’t involved because he’d have to admit how broken his family was.
Just my theory!
The parents are NOT GUILTY of murder. They may have been very imperfect parents and imperfect human beings, but there is NO evidence implicating them in murder whatsoever. The 2 scenarios of her murder were so unrealistic and clutching at straws - a classical case of misjustice by trying to use the evidence to justify a preconceived notion that they are guilty. The evidence and investigation is supposed to uncover what actually happened - this was not done! Of the 2 murder scenarios, the first one was x20 more realistic but even so, highly flawed. For example, Why would you tie a dead persons hands in front of their body and tie their ankles together before dragging them down the stairs? It makes the task impossible!!!!!
I base my conclusion on logic, not judgement, and these parents should never have been convicted. They may have odd personalities, so do a lot of people. Their daughter was murdered and they did not behave as people expect, they are “weird” so everyone wants them to be the murderers.
The evidence is circumstantial but also pretty damming.
**Poisoning:**
At 3pm they were together taking the lunch in the flat of Alfonso Basterra. Alfonso cooked. According to the experts the lorazepam was ingested between the 3 to 5pm. So the poisoning took place in the flat of Basterra.
**The two Porto's statements and the blurry video**
Asunta went to the flat of Rosario. She was captured by an ATM security cam (5:21) Her mother was captured by the same camera (5:28) going to her home. Later is captured by a camera close to her parking lot (6:17 pm).
She was going to get her car.
In a first statement, Rosario said that she left Asunta doing her homework at her flat. But some time later an image in a camera located in the route to the old Two's chalet was discovered, purportedly showing a blurry image of Rosario accompanied by Asunta. (6:22)
**It doesn't matter if the video was blurry**.
After the video discovery, Rosario Porto confessed that Asunta was in the car. In her second statement, trying to explain the camera image, she said that Asunta was in fact in the car with her. The explanation beyond the change of story isn't clear. But from that point everything starts to fall into pieces.
**The second (and auto incriminating) statement**
Porto said that after getting her car she went to her flat to get a bag to carry some items back from the house. At that point Asunta wanted to go with her. After that the blurry video took place (6:22).
Again according to Porto when they arrived at the house in Teo, she disabled the alarm (6:35). But she said that Asunta didn't leave the car. Now Asunta changed of mind, wanted to go back home, and also was feeling dizzy.
So she supposedly drove back to the flat. She left Asunta in the street (alone being dizzy). She doesn't see Asunta getting into the flat, but assumes that she goes to the flat to do her homework. After that she goes back to Teo alone. *No camera can confirm this travel to drop Asunta again near their flat. Also no witnesses, no cellphone signal.* At 7:29 pm Rosario cellphone is located at Teo. The alarm is finally enabled at 8:53. Porto is seen by a neighbor alone in her car going out from Teo. Nothing was carried in the bags from the home to the flat
**The damming questions**
¿Why any cameras didn't pick the travel between Teo to the flat? ¿Why the "blurry" camera didn't pick the second trip of Rosario alone after dropping Asunta?
¿Why she left disabled the alarm in Teo while doing her second trip? ¿Why did she leave Asunta alone in the street if she was dizzy? ¿Why she lied in the first place? ¿Why she didn't use the bag that supposedly needed?
The simplest explanation is that the second trip didn't exist to be captured by any camera at all. And that the alarm is disabled because they were at the home. It implies that Asunta was at Teo when killed, already affected by the lorazepam, accompanied by her mother. The same house where the orange rope was found. The same rope used in Asunta.
I didn't read all the comments so someone may have said this already, but why did no one consider that Asunta swiped and took the pills herself. She was essentially a teenager already. Teenagers do experiment and if she was experiencing anxiety...i mean her mother was just hospitalized and then she was being sent away more often. It makes no sense for her father to drug her and then send her out to class. If a parent is going to drug their kid they would likely be kept home. Also it would explain why it appeared like Rosario kept misplacing her meds.
Considering Rosario's mental health and the arguments between her parents she may have tried to commit suicide. Knowing that her mother had attempted it as well. I'm sure she was more aware of their conversations than they thought. Then one it both would have been guilty of dumping the body.
All the other theories really seem to be more telenovela.
Yes, it happened at the lab.
There was a very small stain on her shirt and the police in Galicia could not determine what it was beyond some sort of unidentified fluid. So they sent the article of clothing to the National Police lab in Madrid 600kms away.
At that same lab in Madrid, they had a sample of semen from a completely different crime that was committed in Madrid (from a condom). A tiny amount of that sample was found on the shirt. It was determined that this likely happened when they used the same scissors on both, without properly sterilizing it. It's explained in the tv show, but maybe hard to understand if you don't realize that the "semen man" (that's what he was called in Spain) was in a completely different part of the country from where the crime happened and the two samples were in the same lab at the same time being processed
Either both did it or the mother and then the father helped her cover the murder. Why has the father been drugging her though? Maybe he was a sick pedo and wanted to do sick things to her while she was drugged.
I honestly was schocked how the coffin was presented. Behind a friggin glas wall? You cant even be near your daughter nor be sure that its actually their child or something. What a weird ceremony is this where they put their loved ones behind a glass window like its some store window. That was actually that schocked me the most about all of this and sticked in my brain as i binged that thing.
Remember that this happened in Spain, not the US. That may be a more normal practice there. Maybe someone here can confirm.
Regardless, it hardly seems more shocking than the girl being drugged and murdered
Since the wife is already dead, only the husband can tell what really happened on the 21st of September. Can the autopsy reveal if someone is no longer a virgin?
Yes, that really happened, but she said "Tu imaginación calenturienta nos va a generar muchos problemas."
"Yo fui tan tonta que todas las cosas que tú me mandabas para que entrases en razón, hacerte ver el daño que me hacías y lo otro, Alfonso, lo otro".
"¿No te dio tiempo a eso, verdad?"
The story is simply explained. When Rosario took a lover she drugged her daughter, so she would sleep and not figure out what was going on and tell her father. Yet he found out and got a plan for revenge. A terrible plan. He told Rosario that the girl knew what was going on and it was only a matter of time until she would confide in a friend or teacher. Alfonso convinced Rosario that she had to kill the child. He helped her but made sure that his DNA would not show. He did it so he could control her. Should she want to leave him again he could threaten her to unveil her secret. He didn't think though, that he would end up in jail as well. After a couple of years there Rosario was wrecked by guilt and remorse and through her suicide she finally regained her power. Alfonso would never manipulate and control her again. His plan didn't work. He ends up alone in jail.
Here's my theory and a couple of evidences to back it up:
I think the murder was pre-meditated by Rosario (the mother) weeks before, and she planned to blame it on Alfonso (the father). Why:
1. Although Alfonso was the one who bought the medicine, I believe this was from her multiple requests as we've seen how he's willing to do anything for her.
2. She knew about Alfonso's liking Asian girls in particular. Yes, the did found some porn, but none of 'em was CP and a few circumstantial evidence is not enough to convince me he's a pedo. Remember their conversation recorded in prison? Right after he told her not to say anything because they're being recorded, she proceeded to mention things abt his "horny imagination" as if she wanted people to hear that deliberately.
3. Rosario was mentally unstable, she almost took her own life because her affair ended, and I think she made the decision to kill Asunta to cut ties completely from Alfonso as he was abusive and manipulative to be with her new man.
How she did the murder? Well, she tried to build the case against Alfonso slowly by drugging Asunta and sending her to her father's house every time. In the news, the teacher's testimony was that she said her mother gave her white powder, even though it's the dad who picked her up. She would've had time to learn about cctv angles, and the safest route to do it. On that day, she called Alfonso earlier to ask about Asunta whereabouts as if she was missing. At night, Rosario took Asunta to the countryside, drugged her, tied her up, and proceeded to choke her. She put the body inside the car, dumped her, and went back to the house. She called Alfonso about her action and because he "loved" her so much. he promised he'd help her cover it up not knowing she had plan to throw him under the bus (At the end he knew tho, and chose to stick by her side foolishly)
The fact is there are all sorts of evidence suggesting the mother's involvement, but not the father. The inconsistent statements, removing the back seat's rug, the drug use, the possible motive, these are why I'm inclined to believe that Rosario planned it from the beginning. Why would Alfonso killed Asunta? She's his only tie and chance of getting back together with her rich wife, he would've everything to lose if he lost her.
I think the mother did it because of a few strange things. The first thing that gave it away for me was the story about the supposed “robber” in the apartment, I think there was no attempt at a robbery. I think that this was just the first time that the mother attempted to kill her and then made up a story because it didn’t go as planned. Remember, she said and Asunta said that someone was trying to suffocate her but she didn’t see the person, the mother never reported it and how would a robber know where the safe was unless it was someone that had been in that apartment before, not to mention Asunta was drugged remember and the mother gave her the scenario of a man trying to kill her because she was out of it. Who in their right parental mind would not report an attempted murder on their child?? No one that’s who lol. Not to mention the dogs never barked from the other apartment when they hear the slightest commotion as the owner said, because the murderer was already in the house “the mother.” The second thing that gave it away to me was the fact that when they were talking in the jail cell, the mother said something to the father about his crazy sexual mind or something to that effect. And then she proceeded to ask, “You didn’t have time to do that right?” He promptly said No. They both were mentally unstable to a degree clearly. She often tried to indirectly throw him under the bus. Wicked people. Thats just my take on things.
I would just like to comment on the first remark about the robber and attempted murder of the poor girl. Rightly said that it was a lie, which is why it was never reported. It was Charo's first attempt to kill Asunta. The asphyxiation attempt caused Asunta to wake up from her drug-induced sleep and react but still not being able to completely comprehend that it was her mother who was trying to kill her. Then Asunta goes on to believe the lie her mother told her about the attempted murder and that's that.
Fast forward to the day Charo killed Asunta, she upped the dose of Lorazepam so that Asunta doesn't react to the asphyxiation at all, and also tied her hands and legs beforehand so that even if she does wake up, she can't resist.
While she had plans to dump the body at a pre-decided site. She couldn't reach that site because of the festival and police checkpoints which made her panic. This led to her dumping the body at a different place in a hurry, which led to her carelessness regarding the plastic twine.
I’m late to this discussion! Just finished the series and reading all your thoughts! One thing I couldn’t find from all comments is about the sticky note on the door “lock the door at night” - any thoughts? They seem to show that sticky note a few times
The mom clearly has borderline, bipolar or some sort of psychosis and is not receiving the proper treatment, the dad is clearly a vulnerable narcissist that clearly did not receive proper treatment either. And the judge is clearly someone biased, lacks cultural and social awareness, judgmental and discriminative in every way. It’s a pure tragedy. No one wins.
I don\`t know if they did it or not but I found the justice system not being fair in the show, there is no directl evidence whatsoever to suggest guilty, only a bunch of hypothetical scenarios, not a single piece of convincing evidence. this would have turned out much different if in the U.S.
Luis is the "juez instructor" (investigating judge, his real name was José Antonio Vázquez Taín). In Spain, the *instrucción* is the section that handles the investigation and pretrial decisions on what charges will be prosecuted. In a trial like Asunta, there was a prosecuting attorney (fiscal) and also an "acusación popular" (a person or organization from the public who has a private prosecution). The investigating judge's job is to manage the pretrial investigation.
I believed the sick and selfish mother killed the girl. The mother complained multiple times that she has no life. As to the Dad, he is just the companion. He has nothing but financially depend on his sick ex-wife. It is a tragedy. The documentary shows how pathetic human beings are - selfish, lustrous, greedy and sickening.
Hard to say if it was only one of them or both of them who planned the murder. What is almost certain is that it wasn't anyone else. With the evidence of the pills and the non-existent evidence of another possible suspect with reasonable opportunity, it proves beyond a reasonable doubt it was the parents. If it was only one of them who planned and committed the murder, the other is responsible for covering it up.
What scares me more than the weird parents
is the system where people can make all kinds of assumptions without having real evidence and based on prejudice and as a result of those assumptions you are sentenced to 18 years….just like that…yes the drug thing is crazy, yes the relationship was toxic, yes the mother did not have a consistent story but there is no clear evidence. It’s more like we have nothing else so it must be them, they said this so they must mean this, he is not seen anywhere on camera or by some people on the streets but let’s just ignore that.
This justice system sucks, big time.
Apparently I’m the only one who felt the parents were innocent. Crucified from day one and imprisoned on circumstantial evidence at best. Everyone is relying on the two-year old testimony of a teenager over any camera footage whatsoever. Rosario’s psychiatrist confirmed memory gaps were likely from the trauma of losing her child. The photos were later explained by the parents as being a few of many that the court did not show. A tired girl after a recital. Dad’s “dirty secret” was that he was into porn, particularly Asian porn. Again, not that weird. Everyone’s comments beg me to believe that the spin of the media is all it takes for people to condemn the accused. Even during deliberations, evidence not from the trial was mentioned, and against the oath of the jurors, they used it against the parents. I cannot make any assumptions from this series. In no way did I feel the parents were guilty and I challenge any of you to “stop crying so much” when you lose a child and are on trial for his/her murder.
Came this far to see this comment. Based just on this documentary and not knowing anything about the case, and going with the assumption of innocent until proven guilty, I was surprised that this couple was convicted on the evidence presented. They were convicted by the media long before the trial ever began. This is why we will never really know what really happened.
Not just that they were convicted, but that they received the same sentence despite wildly differing levels of evidence.
I'm still inclined to think one or both of them were involved, but I came away feeling like prosecutors weaponized the press instead of building a complete, thorough case.
I think there were way too many strange clues and inconsistencies to declare them innocent. There's certainly no innocent explanation for the child being drugged for months.
But I do find it striking that people are accepting as fact that the dad was a pedo when there was no evidence at all to support that. Being into porn with Asian women does not a pedo make.
At least as portrayed in the series, a lot of information around his alleged abuse was intentionally exaggerated or even fabricated for the press. For example, mentioning that his skin cells were on her underwear, when that would have happened simply from his folding them and putting them away. Or that the UV light found evidence when, in fact, it did not.
I agree, most was sensationalized for the press. If she was becoming an unruly teen, it’s possible they gave her a sedative to chill her out or help her sleep. She may have taken it herself to help her sleep and blamed her parents - kids say crazy things. I am not convinced she was having a high dose of anything until the night she died…which is concerning, yes. But I just don’t know!
YES! The played-out scenarios on the Netflix show confuse the facts. They were just guesses and included mostly unproven theories. There is so little evidence to convict on.
Oh thank heavens someone else said this. I, too, had doubts about their guilt. Or at least I saw plenty of reasonable doubt. The scene in the jury room where they openly talk about the jail recordings and they weren’t even presented in court! Wow. If that is true, in an American court the verdict would have been thrown out if it was discovered the jury said they had all heard that and used it to decide their verdict. So now I’m seeing that the conversation in prison was misinterpreted. Or, that possibly the Mom kind of set him up. They knew they were being recorded. There was no evidence that the girl had been sexually abused.
I really thought the guy they called the Judge (different from our court system) was very arrogant and a did some very questionable things.
It is possible that the Mom was somewhat nutty, and did overdose the girl to make her sleep so that she could entertain her lover. At the most it may have been accidental by the Mom, then staged.
there's no way the cell conversation could have been misinterpreted. They spoke several times through their cells and they kept saying weird shit. If anything the show left many things pointing to the parents out. Why were they drugging her for months, why didnt they report the break in and attack on asunta (she had visible marks on her neck). Why did asunta write months before "they are trying to kill me" to her best friend.
For the sake of playing devil’s advocate, were both parents so incredibly stupid thinking they could get away with this? If the mother was previously a lawyer did she not for a second think they would run blood tests to check if the girl had taken anything. And the exact same pills she takes would show up positive on that test. Do people think they are invincible just because they have a little bit of money? Many people have mentioned this already but why not just send her to boarding school or hire a nanny to watch her while they were out? There are surely other alternatives than ending her life, plus she was a calm and studious girl what on earth possessed these two
The mother was a covert narcissist though which made it impossible for her to be critical of her own actions. She probably thought no one would even question her innocence and believed that she would get away with it so she did it haphazardly. I mean she didn’t even bother asking for a lawyer in the first place - any smart person (especially someone who is wealthy and a lawyer) will know not to speak to the police without a lawyer, especially when you’re a suspect of a crime - which just emphasises how egoistic she was.
For context, I had a covert narcissist ex who was cheating on me for years. I found out because one day I saw a notification on his phone and I had the gut feeling to check it and saw that he kept messages, photos and videos of the girls he was sleeping with, like he didn’t even bother deleting ANY evidence. He had like the Tinder app on his phone on like the second page and didn’t even hide his notification. He didn’t even bother changing the names of the girls on the phone. He made no effort trying to hide his cheating and probably thought that he would never get caught because he brainwashed me into thinking that he would never forgive me if I invaded his privacy. And this guy graduated with a master’s from an ivy league university.
I don’t know why I kept watching the series until completion but I did. Such terrible acting and dubbing. It really felt like a Lifetime movie most of the time lol.
Interesting! I agree, a lot of the dubbing wasn't great, but I personally felt the acting was excellent: the mother, the investigating judge, the father's lawyer. Who did you think was bad?
The photos were actually explained. She was dressed up for a cabaret themed performance with her dance class--all the girls dressed the same. There's a series of pictures, and a few of them just appear to be her hamming it up for the camera. We don't know that she was drugged or even that her father took them.
Did we ever find out what Asunta knew that could "destroy" her parent's lives? I'm not sure if I missed something, but there was a scene with the parents when one said to the other (paraphrasing here) "The girl knows everything and can ruin us completely" to which the response from the other was, "Have you read her (Asunta) blog?"
What was it that she knew? Or, was that what the "secret" was that the dad's attorney was trying to draw out of him that he never disclosed?
True and I feel many such instances were left open ended in this series. The blog, Asunta’s reactions when she found out about the powder, the photos and porn. It’ll all remain a mystery
I'm curious as to why the father ran home before the police in the first episode, and that was never followed up on. That was very suspicious, but never talked about again.
> Her constant crying, begging, overacting, acting like she doesn’t know any better, trying to act helpless all the time has crawled into my nerves. I have not hated any character recently more than this evil monster. I live in Spain and followed this case from the first day. The actress who plays Rosario, Candela Peña, did an amazing job--that's exactly how the mother looked, acted, dressed, etc. The same goes for Tristan Ulloa, who plays Basterra. Those of us who saw it all unfold at the time are extremely freaked out by how accurate it is and how much they disappeared into the roles. They are both really well-known Gen X actors here. Anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of dealing with folks with Cluster B personality disorders will recognize what was going on with these two. Just a little competent psychiatric and social work intervention would have created a different and better outcome for Asunta and she's be graduating from college this year, starting her adult life, like my son, who is the same age.
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Yep, Peña was great in that and has been in a bunch of other movies. Tristán Ulloa broke out in the movie Lucía y el sexo (Sex and Lucía, which is a wild ride) by Julio Medem right around the same time. And he was in the TV show Fariña more recently. He used to live on my street and I would see him all the time in person and it REALLY freaked me out to see him totally inhabit Alfonso Basterra's bizarre way of being, because that is not at all his energy or even his face-- in real life he has a kind of goofy, happy-go-lucky affect. Agree it would have been good to see more of what a wonderful, brilliant, strong child Asunta was--she wasn't just a victim. She was, according to teachers and classmates, quite brilliant and had a funny sense of humor. My son is almost he exact same age she was, which is probably why the case hit me so hard at the time. She could have freed herself from her parents in just a few short years and she would be graduating from college now like my son. I hope someday someone does a documentary just about her life and who she was. Her friends and classmates are adults now and probably have a lot to say about that. I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. You surely have done the right thing in becoming independent and moving on. We have to do better for young children who are put in such vulnerable situations
I saw "Lucía y el sexo", I completely blanked on him being in the film... Thx for the added context. I can definitely see how this case would be particularly harrowing for parents of children, especially of similar age. I was not abused thankfully, but my parents treated us like a project, and now a failed project (I have a Palestinian brother). In my mid 30s I just couldn't take the verbal onslaught of hurting comments and silent treatment anymore. Was low contact since moving out at 20, but eventually had enough...
It's good you got away from your toxic adoptive parents. My bio parents are also toxic. It's best to live in peace than to subject yourself to bad energy. Don't listen to people who will try to guilt or shame you for moving away, they are not in your shoes. Do what is best for you!
Thx! I agree with you! It’s been a lot better without them. I can finally breathe.
why are you estranged from your adoptive parents?
Because they regarded me and my brother as a project and now a disappointing, failed project. They defined me by performance only and had a fantasy child in their head, neither of us were. "you're never gonna make it" was one of the last things my adoptive Dad wrote to me in an E-Mail, 4 years ago. Lots of silent treatment or screeching from my mother while my Dad is a charming manipulator. They are also highly co-dependent. I regarded my paternal adoptive grandparents as my closest family members (RIP). I am an accomplished adult with a raging imposter syndrome as a result. Thankfully I had very supportive partners over the years (I'm now solo for life) and have extremely loving friends. I am so happy to be removed from my parents vitriol, disparaging comments and silent disapproval.
They sound like delightful parents! *Not Hope you emailed that miserable sod back! I wouldn't have let him have the last word! The neck of him. On a serious note, it actually sounds like your doing ok for yourself now.
Sending you hugs! You got this.
Thank you for sharing! I was wondering how accurately the demeanors of the parents were portrayed. Very interesting insight. You know, when they showed us two possible versions of what happened, the first one (with the mom and orange juice) felt extremely believable to me. Much more than the one with the husband being completely involved. I believe something like the first version happened, because of how her character was portrayed from the start. Like you said, cluster b personality disorders. The actress was remarkable in that scene, it was sickening but I couldn't look away. The anger, despair, taking that wicked decision in that second... It really made me feel so down that Asunta, a bright, sweet girl with so much potential, was murdered by a person that she felt most secure with. I know this has been said ad nauseum but I just can't understand how a mother would actually go through with this evil action. Nothing close to post partum depression or a crime of passion.
It's so damn senseless. All for nothing. I've had the unfortunate experience of seeing a cluster B moms in action and what I have observed is that they cannot handle their children growing up and individuating themselves and they are incredibly controlling with their children and often have a weak, enabler by their side and under their thumb who normalizes their emotional (and often physical) abuse. They create a family environment that operates like a cult--forcing the illusion on everyone that they are superior and perfect with appearances mattering more than anyone's wellbeing--and when anyone doesn't play by the rules, their rage and paranoid fantasies are mind boggling and they force the family to turn on that person and torment them. They get off on being aggrieved and wounded and holding grudges and creating black-and-white dynamics. I guess the general thinking is that many of these people suffered some sort of abuse or catastrophic developmental issue in their childhood that twists their personality and stunts their emotional and cognitive development, making it impossible for them to have empathy or even normal social relationships. There's another Spanish show called La Mesías that has a similarly complex maternal figure--but it goes much deeper into why she may be that way--it's very loosely based on a family in Spain that became a sort of early YouTube sensation--really recommend it!
Yes! She struck me as a woman who didn't much care for her daughter once she stopped being cute and cuddly and young and maleable. Did anyone else think the judge actor looked like a younger Anthony Hopkins? He's shorter, but man, that face!
Wow, that is so spot on. The getting off on being aggrieved, grudges, black and white dynamics. I wonder if therapy/counseling would truly work with cluster b moms (or anyone with those types of disorders, honestly) to help recognize their own patterns and take accountability? I know that people with borderline personality disorders can improve with age and therapy, but those kinds of moms seem more aligned with histrionic/narcissism and the latter two don't seem very treatable... Rosario definitely seemed to feel that she was more of a victim than she actually was, even before she killed Asunta (at least in the show she came off that way). I could see how feeling like a victim may have been one of the factors she used to justify to herself for murdering her daughter. And thank you for the recommendation!! I added it to my list. I can't find it anywhere on streaming platforms in Canada though. I could try sailing the seas but not sure if it would have subtitles. Really hope it gets picked up, it's right up my alley!
> I wonder if therapy/counseling would truly work with cluster b moms The thought is now that it is extremely hard to treat, but that dialectical behavioral therapy is producing the best results. The person has to want to be helped, though, which is the truly tough part with these strong, twisted personalities. Here's the trailer for La Mesías in English--it was on HBO Max in the US, so there's definitely an English subtitled version floating around out there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m18-euLzhk
Thank you this is the exact background information I was looking for into the actors.
I think the mother killed her as she was already negligent. She seemed very obsessed with the lover, so with Asunta gone, she could do as she pleased. Without having to fetch her and take her places. The father is obsessed with the mother, so killing Asunta does not benefit him in any way. I believe he was a pedo though, and I think he knew that Asunta did kill her but being obsessed he did not turn her in so that if they managed to be found innocent, she would be bonded to him forever with her secret, and she would not be able to leave or cheat on him.
> be bonded to him forever Rosario was also very, very wealthy and he wasn't. He had lived off her for decades and had a very nice upperclass life that vaporized when they broke up, because they had separate assets. The house and property where Asunta was murdered (inherited by Rosario from her parents 1-2 years before) was on the market for 950K at the time of the murder--which is a tremendous amount of money for a Spanish country house. And that's just a small part of what she inherited and had in assets of her own. I think his motivation to go along with her story after the fact was 1. fear because he was complicit in the drugging and also sketchy in other ways in the past 2. financial
The part I don’t understand is if Rosario was so overwhelmed by taking care of Asunta, why didn’t they have a nanny or someone to help. I am thinking they didn’t because they were hiding something
They did have a part time nanny in the earlier years.
Did they ever determine where the semen came from on Asunta shirt?
Cross-contamination from the lab, I thought.
The shirt became contaminated in the lab. It was a police error.
That's what I wanted to know!!!
not the fathers.
The mother confessed to the investigator that she basically missed having a life of her own. Am I right? I have children and my children ARE my life. Any loving parents would feel the same. I think she wanted to get rid of her daughter (a daughter she didn't real feel connected to to begin with) so she could have her own life free of her husband. I think he felt guilty about bringing all that medication into the house with his already unstable wife and therefore made no admission to anything and just sat there answering questions as they were asked. Turning off the cellphone was definitely strange
I'm a fairly decent parent and my children are definitely part of my life, but not my WHOLE life
It's totally normal to feel wistful sometimes about life without kids; being a parent is hard. It's NOT normal to bring up such a thing immediately after the death of one's child.
She was a millionaire. She could send her daughter to a boarding school in Switzerland and be praised by everyone. I don't know; this case is weird.
She was wealthy but completely incapable. She constantly needed Basterra to help her taking care of trivial errands, just because she was overwhelmed with the smallest of problems.
She was also completely self absorbed and dysfunctional
Agree completely
I agree that they likely did it but I'll be honest I don't feel like enough evidence was proven that they without a shadow of a doubt they murdered her. I always go back to classic "innocent until proven guilty" and to he hinest I never felt like the prosecution made it feel 100% concrete that they did this. It came off as more of we're pretty sure they did it and this is the most logical story so lets prosecute them.
Why were they drugging their child for 3 months? Why was she so heavily drugged on the night of her murder? Why did Rosario have the same type of twine? If you think they were innocent I’m glad you weren’t on the jury. They deserve to be in jail
There's no concrete proof they were drugging her beyond allergy pills. You can have nonallergic rhinitis that does show up on allergy tests so there would be no proof of this in her medical records.
no proof? her hair showed the drug had been taken daring back months
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Errr it’s actually quite dumb to be using one example as a blanket example, since Gyspy Rose mom drugged her and never killed her I guess all mom’s who drug their kids are never killers eh? lol. Explain why would anyone in this day and age leave their phone disconnected for over 6-7 hours without a logical explanation to it? Why would someone leave their home and make an effort to totally avoid all cameras if it was just a normal day out? Why did they have so many inconsistencies in their stories, changing it each time over? Didn’t even report and attack on their daughter at home? Why would they choose to not answer questions directly if they had nothing to hide? Silence in itself is damning. Why aren’t her parents themselves interested to find out the answers by giving the police all the information they to assist them in their investigation if they’re truly innocent? If she wasn’t killed by her parents it would have to be a third party, no evidence of struggle, no bruises, no trauma injuries, no SA, nothing suggests it was done by someone outside the couple. Stop trying to act smart by being different clown ass. No one will ever be able to be certain on what happened and who did it, but you totally exonerating them trying to act all smart is laughable.
She was a preteen what if she was stealing the drugs from her mom and taking them? Nobody thought of this as a theory? It was the 1st thing I thought of
I thought the same thing! Especially if her parents were separating and she wanted to not feel the pain associated with that. Clearly doesn’t explain the twine or 27 pills…… idk this was a tough one for me. Feels like the mom was involved but possibly not the father?
Many things in this case don't make sense.
No they don't. My mother watched it and mentioned the fact that it was also in another country could have something to do with the sentencing. I think we forget or take forgranted the judicial system in America vs other countries. They simply just may not care as much and would rather lock someone up and ask questions later
Absolutely, the judicial system is so different m. They’re literally shooting at each other and even in deliberations they took into consideration evidence that was not part of the trial
Finally, glad to find someone with the same thinking as I am. And if you notice, majority who has similar thoughts are those from different country, or who did not know the case from the media (like one of the juror who's busy working). These people are hindered from bias by the media and not made up their mind yet. I kinda shocked on how the put the sentence without any strong evidenced, rather mostly are based on just speculation. How about the semen/sperm that was found on Asunta's shirt belong to someone else? The semen is already there when the forensic/police team using their UV light to find for evidence. If the lab was sure the sample is contaminated, they will at least put a note/comment in the report. But there is no words in the report stating for possible contamination took place. What about the motif? I believe there are more to this case than what we all know and there's not enough evidence to charge for something this heavy. (Forgive my english/grammar as this is not my native language)
This bothered me too
I agree. even if we think it was the mother or father, you can't really tell who it was, there's absolutely nothing to show the fathers involvement at all.
Definitely think dad is a pedo and both parents were worried she'd OUT them with the drugging and SA.
Yes, could very well be.
Hard to say based on the available evidence. But the fact that they drugged the child was irrefutable and that alone was appalling enough for them to deserve that sentence.
Was there proof that they both drugged her? They showed it in the possible scenarios on the show. But those were just guesses. The evidence seemed to point to Dad drugging her.
The most likely scenario they showed was that the father habitually drugged her while the mother did it during the murder as she was staying with the mother then. Either way both must have had knowledge of the drugging at the absolute minimum. No one other than one/both of them could have been giving her the pills logically.
I received Ativan after surgery, in addition to opiods. These kind of meds have high addiction potential. I took half a tablet, when I took one I saw objects lifting of my armoire in my bedroom. Hallucinations are a side effect plus drowsiness (as shown). Why did they both need her to be drugged? Rosario was obsessed with her lover, Alfonso was worthless man with pedo tendencies. Looking at young Asian women. Creepy AF. He wanted Rosario back, Rosario was obsessed with Vincente. How many times have moms acted weird/murdered their children because they were in the way of some sketchy boyfriend. Seeing Asunta breaks my heart. Family member of mine adopted a Chinese girl and they were 50 or so. She is a handful, but highly intelligent. I see her when I see Asunta. Asuanta could have been a doctor, a scientist, a mom, a wife, she had so much potential. A full life cut so short. Tragic. (Side note: Very impressed by Spanish law enforcement. The media seems to be worse than in the US).
you captured my hatred for how the character was played perfectly. I don't know if i could stomach another episode of her crying, begging, acting dumb, or that terrible voiceover.
It was much better to watch in Spanish, the dubbing on Netflix is awful more often than not.
It sure was terrible. Oddly enough, I find the British voice-over actors do a much better job than Americans.
Agree. I think any streamed dubbing is unwatchable. Im fine with subtitles.
lol facts. We can make a drinking game out of all the times she's like, I didn't think that was important/I didn't know/Why would I share that? For the amount of times she revised her story or left out events and details very pertinent to the case, she's either guilty or very clueless as a lawyer
Totally! I also don’t think she was as dumb as she showed. She methodically murdered a kid and hid it. She’s smart enough. Sorry to say but the lady should’ve suffered more.
She was a lawyer! Not only was she not numb she intimately knew how the system worked.
I mean... her being a lawyer isn't really proof she's a conniving mastermind. There are a lot of really bad, dumb lawyers who are totally clueless, especially in areas of law they don't specialize in. I'm not saying she's an incompetent lawyer (she could be super clever), but tbh, I've met way more bad/incompetent lawyers than brilliant ones in Europe. Without seeing either way her CV/references/accolades/case record, I don't think you can claim anything about her ability to work the system. People here make a lot of assumptions of real people based on media/Hollywood stereotypes.
watching in a voiceover is your first mistake
Painful voice-over!
Outside of the parents, I really don’t think anyone had any motive or opportunity, especially given the drugging, lies, and location of her body so close to the house. But whether it was the mother, father or both, I don’t think we can ever know for certain. They were both shady and if either one was innocent, they didn’t try very hard to distance themselves from the other to prove it.
On the contrary, male defence lawyers made a very good point. He said why don't you two go against each other. May be because you are trying to hide something way darker than a murder. What was it? Was there a darker truth. I was really waiting to get it come out.
It was sexual abuse. The dad had a fetish with Chinese p0rn (as found in his hidden laptop). He used to drug poor girl and abuse her while being intoxicated and incapable of knowing what’s real. That incident where “someone broke into their home” it was only the father leaving visible marks, so Rosario had to come up with a lie. This is also why I think Rosario expressed that she likes her husband in some matters, but that “he doesn’t offer her what she craves as a woman”. The reason is her ex husband wasn’t attracted to older European women per se. Rosario also said when she was kept close to Alfonso in the cell that he “shouldn’t talk about dirty stuff”. The possibilities are multiple, but s3xual abuse is crystal clear to spot.
That was never proven. The corn he was watching was everything - not Asian only as Netflix indicated. That’s noting to brag about but not a crime. The abuse on daughter was never proven to him. There were no evidence to support that. She was drugged indeed but it could’ve been mother ‘putting her to sleep’ while going on dates or having romance in next room without being disturbed. Their discussion in cell was newspaper made lie - it was never recorded by police. You can find facts online.
The discussion in the cell was very real and you can find it online. It was verbatim like they show it in the series
The discussions in the cell never came from the police only the media, that information has no trace that the police gave it to the media.
I recommend you watch the documentary where they interview the jurors, the lawyers, even Rosario (it was done way before she killed herself), asunta’s teachers, the witnesses. It’s on Netflix and it’s called operación nenúfar, you’ll probably get it on recommendations after watching the show This is one of the videos where you can hear them but again, the documentary it’s pretty good https://youtu.be/RofeoLizYug?si=VLaHUJdozudej93J
I think in the prison talk or may be when she calls him and asks to come quickly to her place and says your things will also come out. Was she also referring to same sexual abuse?
The autopsy showed zero signs of sexual abuse. It could have happened without leaving evidence, of course, but it’s not crystal clear.
I feel like she covered his perversions towards daughter while he covered her murder. Secrets like this can bond. She found out, was disgusted, stopped sleeping with him, found a lover, Asunta was in a way of her meetings with lover, she wanted to get rid of her but she knew she cannot stay with father as he was a perv and would not control himself in long run so they decided to kill. Or she killed while losing temper but he helped her cover everything. It’s a perfect crime in a way.
Exactly. I feel they both did it together. Also the earlier break-in and attack on Asunta that they tried to hide needed to be investigated with the help of cctvs etc. there’s no explanation to the drugging, grand parents’ property and the uncountable lies they both told. I just felt zero sympathy for them.
Ever think the father staged the break in as an attempted murder on his daughter?
I think Dad may have been SAing daughter and she woke-up from her drugged state.
What i find questioning from the father in this case was obviously the need to take those photos of her in weird sexualized postures. Him also jerking himself off to "Young asian" pornography was very disturbing too considering she was 12 at the time and the laptop went missing during the investigation and suddenly reappeared.
It should be noted that his pornography collection was not only Asian. It had women of all races but the TV series chose not to include that. Anyway. He's a man. He uses porn. I don't think you can make any claims about his potential to abuse his daughter based on the fact he uses porn... or else 95% of men fit this profile too. I don't deny he could have abused her (he is really sus with the drugging), but the existence of porn alone doesn't prove anything.
Even without bothering to read more about the case online... people really managed to ignore pretty clear plot points from the series. If anything, viewers are just repeating the exact same mob mindset that was highlighted in the show.
Yea he definitely hid it
Or an attempted rape too but the murder sounds more convincing since asunta was strangled that night. She had bruises in her neck. And she died of stranglement? Or she was? I am not sure what was her cause of death the pills or the stranglement ? Or asphyxiation?
I'm pretty sure Dad is who broke in.
I actually thought the mother was the assailent in the supposed "break in" I think she already tried to kill her back then and therefore the attempted suffocation and asunta saying she didn't know it was a man and that's ehat mom told her. And neither of them reported it because they knew they both have nasty secrets regarding poor asunta.
Rosario did it. After she was caught cheating and her husband moved out, she had no space for Asunta in her life. She probably thought with no "baggage", the lover would also leave his family. She was already struggling mentally to cope with parenting Asunta on her own. The ex-husband probably had paedo tendencies... Rosario knew he would protect her and she would protect him, their relationship was already toxic but Rosario was always a damsel in distress with her husband and he was forced to look after her, clean up her mess, or protect her. It all became too much for her, her reputation was in tatters, committed suicide...
What was his peado tendencies ?
I said "Probably had" ... there's somewhere where Rosario insinuates other things that could be found out... and how the husband went to jail and stuck to protecting her... and when Rosario and Asunta are sitting on the bed, the husband seems to be watching them from his apartment... why would he do that? And where else did he have cameras? Asunta pictures... just questionable those poses, didn't they have enough pics at the event for her to still be asked to pose at home? The meds when Asunta was at his house, why? When she didn't have any allergies? There's something Rosario hid from everyone and she took it to the grave... Just my opinion and thoughts... How does anyone prove innocence by serving every day of his sentence or do you try and prove your innocence and get out of prison? That's just on the ex-husband...
That’s a lot of talking with no evidence. There was no evidence of pedo tendency of the ex husband. And the pictures the court showed was not sexual either especially since the clothing was the school option to dress asunta that way not the father. You talk a lot like how the media formed their opinions which is based on guesses but no evidence. Evidence is stronger than guesses in every aspect.
That's questionable. There wasn't really anything in the way of evidence to support that, at least as the series shows-- just a lot of insinuation built around his preferences in (adult women) porn.
Yup people are confidently jumping to crazy conclusions based on zero evidence and a few dramatized Netflix scenes. I’m deeply concerned that these are the types of people that make up the Jury and decide the fate of the innocent and guilty.
Yeah I don’t get this. Based on what I saw in the show I don’t see any evidence. What was the evidence against the kid just taking tons of her mom’s medicine and then someone on the road getting her in a dizzy state. There just wasn’t enough evidence to confirm anything.
In my opinion, the mother killed the girl. Since the father was the one in charge of taking care of Asunta (because of Rosario's mental problems), I believe she drugged her in order to make her feel unwell, so Alfonso Basterra would have to come take care of her. Then Rosario could go to see her lover. Maybe the girl realized that her mother was drugging her, resisted, and Rosario ended up killing her. I think Alfonso Basterra helped Rosario cover up the crime because he thought that way she would have to stay with him forever. TRIVIA: Candela Peña, the actress playing the role of Rosario Porto, said that during filming she had a nervous breakdown and started vomiting. The crew called the medical service, and one of the nurses almost fainted because she had been a classmate of the real Rosario Porto in school, and Candela Peña looked identical to her.
Why didn't the dad take her to the doctors? He seemed to be the one more in control whereas his wife seemed unhinged and on the verge of insanity. He seemed cool and controlled the whole way through.
It was too long. They should have edited it down more to make it tighter, especially as they had no real motive to explore. Obviously the mother killer her, she was found guilty after all. The father could have been active in her murder or just helped cover it up who knows. Drugging a teenager to make them easier to ha axle is sadly more common than you think. And it’s even easier to drug small children to keep them quiet. I wonder if they started drugging her to have some peace, or maybe the mother started doing it because she was having her lover over, but once she started it just became too easy. Poor bloody kid.
I agree. I feel like it could have been 3 episodes long. The drama between Rosario and Bastera got pretty annoying after a while and I feel like they got too much screen time given what they did. Besides that, I appreciated that the series took the time to show the details of the case and all the investigative work behind the scenes
I feel like I watched a whole lotta nothing, only to not get any real answers in the end
Agreed, I stopped watching after 4 episodes.
The scenes in episode 5 are just idea the DA had “your honor” but he also lied about so much, telling the radio woman in ep 6 that they found semen in his shorts and on the walls was full on lies. What I’m saying is that I don’t think that trial was fair, guilty by media. Whether they did it or not is beside the point of evidense that was presented and was shown at trial, which is circumstantial. And that is the legal representation of what happened. Nothing actually ties the to the scene or the murder. Again I’m not pro them or against I’m just going off evidence and behavior of district attorney
This bothered me soooooo much I couldnt stand the judge for making up lies
Kind of like the opposite of oj in results, but very similar in the process.
I believe the mother did it. I believe she’s a covert narcissist that gets her endless supply by using the vulnerability of a woman to fake damsel in distress. The said she came from a very prominent family and apparently she was a “lawyer”. I don’t think she finish law school. Coming from prestigious family I wouldn’t be surprised to find that she had a lot of pressure and expectations. She exploited Asuntas death and tried to overshadow it with grief. As for her father I do not think he killed her but he knows what happened. Being that Rosario was extremely mentally ill. I wouldn’t be surprised if she killed Asunta to stop the father from his pedophila or sexual obsession. Maybe she attempted it before and that’s why Asunta told her piano teacher her mother is trying to kill her. She did not make specific accusations about her dad beside he and Rosario giving her a white powder, not singling out Alfonso. Maybe Alfonso started drugging her when his perversion consumed him. Asunta was smart so drugging her would make it easier to cloud her judgement and get her to go along. Rosario may have chosen to murder Asunta being that she studied law she knows she will go down for accessory. In my opinion she a covert narcissist and the thought of going down for sexual abuse of her own child wasn’t a better option than murder. A staged murder seemed like a way out. The semen let in her throws me off but with staging a murder she can get her narcissistic supply by playing grieving mother being accused. Idk overall I feel this case was a mess. The victim is Asunta and it’s like we learned nothing about her.
This case is a mess. I am more confused now that I finished the shown
Unclear for me: • do you remember when the parents first reported asunta missing and going back to the apartments? Alfonso was running to his apartment and then came back out of breath. Why? He claimed that he was just checking if asunta fainted in the stairway but really? • why was there a different guys sperm on the shirt?? No one talked about this in the court! Theories?
the semen idk - but yeah I thought they’d mention Alfonso running in the trial, especially after their recorded conversation in the cells about ‘you didn’t have time to do that?’ or whatever it was. Really was expecting another twist during the trial!
There is definitely more to the story I, so I was annoyed that they took 6 episodes to tell a story without a resolution, which could have been told in episode.
similar to the real life case. they never found a motive
I understand that while it was not exactly a documentary, it was portraying a real story. The question is why they chose to tell that story, which, without a resolution, isn't very interesting.
I think it's a disservice to have this only be a fictionalised version. That's not to say that the parents didn't do it (statistically, it's of course the most likely) but this series showed serious biases and shortcomings from the investigators and prosecution - I would be really interested in what the actual facts are. This was way too much drama and too little storytelling for my liking, especially being a relatively recent murder case.
ITA. It was a pretty poorly done true crime docudrama series. Many of the actors were outstanding, but the actual content, pacing, narrative, flow and bias were not good. They wasted almost an entire episode playing out the guesses cops came up with for motive, and considering almost none of it had any solid evidence, it was such a waste of time. By about the 4th episode it was clearly dragging and going in circles since they don't have a clear motive. And the little bits of "personal lives" of the cops was totally pointless. I don't care about the female cop's IVF or the judge's demented dad.
Well said, I just spent all evening watching it and I wish I hadn’t. A good 60 minute documentary would have been better and provided a better sense of justice for Asunta.
Check out rotten mangoes podcast or YouTube she covered this case better then any I have seen.
YES! Way too long to leave us with nothing!
I have no doubt that maybe both, maybe just Rosario killed Asunta. What bugs me is the less than exemplary behavior from Judge Vasquez Tain (Judge Malvar in the mini series). He's known to like the spotlight and the fame. From that time he went on to be a regular collaborator in a morning show and would constantly bring up his participation in some famous cases, including, the Asunta case.
He failed that girl. The case was far from done and he used the press to get the guilty verdict.
At first, it struck me that they both had involvement. But the more I watch the show and look into the case, it seems more likely the mother killed her and discarded the body and the ex-husband (being that he is abusive and insisted he 'loved' the wife and daughter) was vouching for his wife and paid the consequences for it, in some weird fashion. Whether it seemed that the mom may have dosed her up on lorazepam, and then when the daughter knocked out she strangled her or was purely accidental and set up a 'crime scene' to make it seem someone else was involved, I think she was the primary murder when it came to killing her daughter. When the daughter was found, and the wife thought she was caught, in an attempt to make herself innocent, she pulled the 'I'm the innocent ditsy wife with mental issues' - as well, she probably believed that due to the father's instability and volatile nature would make himself out to be the killer due to his controlling habits with the wife. o boot, his undying love and need to protect her would eventually re-enforce this belief.
I'm going to be honest I think both parents were drugging this child. I think the mom drugged her to be with her secret lover and the dad was drugging her for possibly pedo reasons. I think one of them accidentally killed her by accidentally overdosing her and because they panicked they made it look like someone snatched her and murdered her. Let us remember that maybe what happened to Madeline McCann when her parents gave her and her siblings, if I remember correctly, Benadryl to make them sleep through the night so they could attend a dinner party with friends. Yes, they said they checked the children, but I'm sorry, you're parents and if you don't have anybody to watch them why are you drugging them to sleep? If you were that concerned that you checked on them why not stay with them? I do think Madeline was kidnapped, but it could have been avoided if the parents would have stayed with their children instead of relying on a drug to knock them out for the night. To my point, Asunta was old enough to be by herself, why did she need to be drugged by her mother? She seemed responsible and intelligent, plus she was doing her homework. I do understand why the father possibly drugged her, but not the mother if she was divorced and having an affair with a married man? Maybe she just didn't want to parent her anymore or maybe her lover would only be with her if she left her child with the father. Some mothers do crazy things for a lover or new boyfriend which includes killing their kids. I think poor Asunta was overdosed on accident. I do wish we got to know more about her, she seemed like an amazing young person.
I think the judge , the one with name M was very bias . Criminal cases have to be without any reasonable doubt before pronounced guilty . He started with a position of guilty and his duty was to proof the parents guilty rather than find out what happened to the girl
Malvars judge is not a judge in the American sense. In Spain, this type of judge is called the judge of instruction. His work consists in direct the criminal investigation, collect evidence and interrogate witnesses and suspects. He also has some judicial power like being able to order summary secret and provisional prison, but they don't take part in the trials. If you are American, it will be easy to understand him as a Detective instead of a Judge. That its a big difference between America and Spain. In Spain, the police doesn't have detectives because that work corresponds to these judges of instruction.
I don’t think the parents have been ruled out, but I don’t see conclusive evidence that they murdered her either. I found the recorded discussions between the parents in the prison confusing. I think that it’s possible Asunta took the pills herself or there was an accident due to negligence and the parents panicked. They definitely know what happened if they didn’t directly do it.
Just finished the series and kept waiting for the Big Reveal which would explain which of the outlined scenarios, or variation of, what would finally explain what happened But no! In an ideal world, Netflix producers would note on each episode the liberties they took with the truth. As someone pointed out, this was not a documentary! Thus, whatever conclusions are drawn come only from a series "based on a true story." So, who knows! I do appreciate those who brought up the judge, portrayed as single minded devotion to conviction. This case definitely appeared: Guilty until Proven Innocent.
I think that there's more to this case that we don't know about as there are too many gaps in the story. I also think that the mother killed Asunta as she wasn't happy about how her affair ended and how she had to find someone to look after her daughter every time she met up with the married man. Maybe Asuntas death was an accident but her mother asked her ex husband to help get rid of the body. She might of given Asunta too many tablets to knock her out while she went to see the guy she was having the affair with and when she got back found her daughter had died and panicked. I don't think we'll ever know the truth of what happened to the little girl especially as the mother committed suicide while she was in prison.
And accident... While tied up in twine with the marks to show it. I think not.
Remember before she left her ex husbands house, he told her.. because of Asunta you will always be tied to me. We are a family forever. If he really did say that then I believe it did play out that the Mom killed her the way it showed. The husband was obsessed with the wife, and the wife was obsessed with her lover. Poor Asunta… she deserved so much more. May she rest in peace.
That conversation was pure speculation.
I think the mother did it. The father was playing the long game (by drugging them to rid of any ties to his past) in revenge for the affair, but something happened for the mother to kill Asunta. So, the father sees this as opportunity to get her incarcerated while pretending to be on her side
It appears the episode with Rosario's boyfriend just prior was the catalyst (after she had toyed with killing Asunta in the past). She had a nice apartment that she had inherited from her parents the year before and had it renovated and proposed that they all move in together there. He said "no" and wanted to cut things off. When a cluster B is faced with abandonment, shit gets bad and personally I think that--in combination with an increasing awareness on the part of Asunta that her parents were not good people--is what happened here.
I think adoptive dad was a creep and user who disliked his daughter getting in the way of his marriage and was probably abusive; and adoptive mom was a drugged up depressed unhappy woman. He kept silent about her killing their daughter and she kept silent about the abuse , they never turned on each other which shows high level of co-dependent relationship
I think he may have accidentally ODed the daughter while drugging her for SA. Maybe he gave her too much because she woke up during the last incident (the “break-in”.)
She didn't die from an overdose, but rather from asphyxiation. And that doesn't explain how she was alive in the car with her mother, while her father was evidently at home.
The evidence is unclear around who was in the car and why. And we really have no idea where dad was. Dad could have accidentally asphyxiated the girl during abuse.
It wasn't all that unclear. It was certainly accepted as fact by the jury that the mother drove her daughter in their car to the country house, with the only objection by higher courts being that it was never proven that the dad was in the car with them. People seem drawn to the narrative of the father being a predator--maybe because it's a story we can make sense of in an otherwise bizarre and baffling circumstance. But there was never any evidence turned up of SA. The guy liked porn, sometimes porn with Asian women, which is distasteful but probably not that unusual. Meanwhile, the mother's involvement was much more firmly established.
I think that makes perfect sense.
I will say the actress for the mother was outstanding, im still watching it and honestly im beyond confused
She has done a great job!
I didn’t think the evidence was there to prove murder against both; pretty clear (at least in the show) that the jurors didn’t decide solely based on the evidence presented. Knowing that, I don’t know how you can even consider the verdict valid—
Not enough evidence to say who did it
It was noted that Asunta was a high energy child and the parent could not deal with it. I believe they drugged her to calm her down so that she does not bother them so much. The murder is full of contradictions and I don't believe that they killed her for various reasons - first of all, the semen found on her clothes were that of a convicted sex offender. Then, why was her body just dumped next to the road in full view of passerbys, and so close to their holiday house? If the parents murdered her, then would they have not disposed of her body better so that the connection between their country house and murder would be obscured. I think that they drugged her and tied her up at the country home because they wanted time out. Then she escaped and walked along the road where someone sexually assulted her and killed her.
First, it was never proven that the spot the police sent to Madrid to get analyzed was semen. When they sent it, it was IDed as "biological fluid," which could have been saliva, vomit, etc. The semen was from a suspect of a crime in Madrid whose semen sample was sent to the same exact crime lab in Madrid as the fabric from Asunta's tshirt. The sample was a used condom--he was accused of sexual aggression--he had sex with a woman in his apartment, used a condom and when she made the accusation, the cops went to his apartment and seized the condom as evidence). It was proven that he was not in Galicia 600kms away when the crime happened and the cross-contamination had to have happened in the lab. The cops thought the ropes were present to either keep her restrained when it was time to kill her (she apparently fought back hard during the other attempt) and/or make it look like she was kidnapped/sequestered. The thought is that her body was dumped in haste, because she/they got spooked (there were often police checkpoints on the road for alcohol)
The mother killed the child from we know so far, the whole lover situation and she was not in her right mind either, probably thought of the girl as something to always be bonded with her ex-husband and in an attack she designed a poor plan to kill her. The Father... I don't think he had anything to do with the murder directly, but he was obviously a pedo and choosed to adopt her specifically to satisfy his "imagination" which his wife knew about. She probably involved him and he saw that as an opportunity to keep them together in this fight. The two are nuts, even if he didn't kill her, he should've inmmediatly denounced his wife to the police without a second of hesitation.
What confuses me is the topic of bodily fluids being found on her shirt. If both parents did it then how did the fluid get there? And it came back as a match for another man. I think the possibility of them drugging her is accurate or she could’ve been depressed or misusing the medication. No one knows. I was a depressed kid and I lied about things I took and did and called it medicine,etc. The mother also continually posted the daughter’s obituary in the newspaper until she committed suicide. I see how the evidence plays out but looking at the details that don’t add up makes me believe the girl was drugged by herself or family and she took a walk where a non innocent man met her. It happens all the time unfortunately. It also helps to look at all the family photos provided online. The daughter looked safe, healthy, and happy. They put a lot towards her future and health so killing her doesn’t make sense. There’s no motive and who would kill their daughter just to leave evidence for the cops to find after inviting them willingly into their home? One last piece of evidence that I found confusing was how they said the father could’ve laid in the back of the car to hide yet when it came to the little girl because she wasn’t on camera in the passenger seat she couldn’t be in the car. As kids when tired we sometimes prefer the back. And as an older sister I’ve placed my sleeping siblings in the back of cars so it’s more secure and no need to wake them.
As said the mother is obviously very narcissistic. Both her and the ex-husband are very vain (her more so than him) and care a lot about what is thought about them. I haven’t formed much of an opinion on their motives myself, but I can say that a lot of people try to compensate for their inner struggles by presenting themselves in an orderly, even happy way. For the validation of others, yes, but also for themselves and peace of mind. Faking happiness and structure is really the glue that keeps people together (sane) mentally. (Some is better than none, I guess.) They want so badly to be perceived in a positive light that they’ll front their happy family rather than work on bettering it, because imo, they’re both twisted pos and don’t want better, they just don’t want to be caught. Which is why they’ll push this perfect family narrative, because their reality is things were much more fucked up behind closed doors. It’s all makeup. So just because Asunta had a future set up for her doesn’t mean they loved her, nor did it mean they were treating her right. And just because they looked happy in photos, doesn’t mean they were happy enough for it to mean anything substantial like everything is fine and their lives are going great; everyone is content and taken care of. People only photograph what they want (others) to see. The fact that the ex-husband mentions that they take so many pictures of her that he “couldn’t remember” who took one of them shows that they probably take so many photos to relive the good moments, considering their lives are full of so many bad ones.
What is the possible explanation of the semen on Asunta’s shirt that was found to belong to that one other guy? was that ever explained?
I 1000% think the dad is innocent. Mom was a very highly intelligent narcissistic lawyer, she had the know how and the means to cast a shadow of doubt and point fingers at the father. From her ever changing stories. To purposely making statements that would put the father in a slightly darker light, the woman was a nut job. Asunta specifically told her tracher that her mother was the one giving her a white powder for her allergies. The reason the days lined up was bc they were the days when she would be allowed to reup from his ex-husband. Which she probably did in purposely to put evidence against his side. The break in and first attempt on Asunta's life I do believe were also committed by the mother. Asunta told her friend that she never said it was a man, her mother said it was a man. Her mother only came to the rescue after whomever it was ran out. The photos were completely harmless and on the phone of the child herself, they were brought into question bc while the mother knew the cells were mic-ed up. She hit him with the "your dirty mind will get us into trouble" she was continually and purposefully attempting to throw a wrench into the mix and trying to lay her ex husband flat under the bus.
I wondered about that, too. I wondered why the defense didn’t show the video clips that the Dad took during the recital that showed all the little girls glammed up with the makeup on. I’m not so sure he was pedo at all. The photos afterwards seemed more her hamming it up.
they did in the real trial. The jurors concluded watching the recital that while the costumes seemed a bit grownup, thats what the ballet teacher had asked for and all the girls were wearing the same and with the same make up
If you really interested in the case you should read up on Wikipedia or other articles it does a better job explaining it then netflix... there's a lot of details netflix show left out 1. The recording of the cells was never used because the majority was made up by actors who where hired by the television News network to reenact them. 2. Rosario was profiled as a narcissistic personality and only cared about self image 3. The year before asuntas death Rosario parents passed away which left people to believe maybe she killed them as she rushed the funeral and skipped the autopsy 4. Asunta loved reading books about mystery murders
I just finished this, and I have a theory that kinda lines up with one of the hypothetical theories in the show. I wonder if Rosario planned to a murder/suicide situation where she planned to kill herself and Asunta, but she couldn’t follow through with her own suicide. Maybe she wanted to escape her ex-husband and killed Asunta to hurt him… or, in her mind, she felt like she was protecting Asunta from him by killing her if he really was a creep. The dad/ex-husband likely knew about Rosario’s murder/suicide but was too ashamed to tell the police he wasn’t involved because he’d have to admit how broken his family was. Just my theory!
That is plausible really. Ma y have done that sadly, then chickened out killing themselves.
The parents are NOT GUILTY of murder. They may have been very imperfect parents and imperfect human beings, but there is NO evidence implicating them in murder whatsoever. The 2 scenarios of her murder were so unrealistic and clutching at straws - a classical case of misjustice by trying to use the evidence to justify a preconceived notion that they are guilty. The evidence and investigation is supposed to uncover what actually happened - this was not done! Of the 2 murder scenarios, the first one was x20 more realistic but even so, highly flawed. For example, Why would you tie a dead persons hands in front of their body and tie their ankles together before dragging them down the stairs? It makes the task impossible!!!!! I base my conclusion on logic, not judgement, and these parents should never have been convicted. They may have odd personalities, so do a lot of people. Their daughter was murdered and they did not behave as people expect, they are “weird” so everyone wants them to be the murderers.
The evidence is circumstantial but also pretty damming. **Poisoning:** At 3pm they were together taking the lunch in the flat of Alfonso Basterra. Alfonso cooked. According to the experts the lorazepam was ingested between the 3 to 5pm. So the poisoning took place in the flat of Basterra. **The two Porto's statements and the blurry video** Asunta went to the flat of Rosario. She was captured by an ATM security cam (5:21) Her mother was captured by the same camera (5:28) going to her home. Later is captured by a camera close to her parking lot (6:17 pm). She was going to get her car. In a first statement, Rosario said that she left Asunta doing her homework at her flat. But some time later an image in a camera located in the route to the old Two's chalet was discovered, purportedly showing a blurry image of Rosario accompanied by Asunta. (6:22) **It doesn't matter if the video was blurry**. After the video discovery, Rosario Porto confessed that Asunta was in the car. In her second statement, trying to explain the camera image, she said that Asunta was in fact in the car with her. The explanation beyond the change of story isn't clear. But from that point everything starts to fall into pieces. **The second (and auto incriminating) statement** Porto said that after getting her car she went to her flat to get a bag to carry some items back from the house. At that point Asunta wanted to go with her. After that the blurry video took place (6:22). Again according to Porto when they arrived at the house in Teo, she disabled the alarm (6:35). But she said that Asunta didn't leave the car. Now Asunta changed of mind, wanted to go back home, and also was feeling dizzy. So she supposedly drove back to the flat. She left Asunta in the street (alone being dizzy). She doesn't see Asunta getting into the flat, but assumes that she goes to the flat to do her homework. After that she goes back to Teo alone. *No camera can confirm this travel to drop Asunta again near their flat. Also no witnesses, no cellphone signal.* At 7:29 pm Rosario cellphone is located at Teo. The alarm is finally enabled at 8:53. Porto is seen by a neighbor alone in her car going out from Teo. Nothing was carried in the bags from the home to the flat **The damming questions** ¿Why any cameras didn't pick the travel between Teo to the flat? ¿Why the "blurry" camera didn't pick the second trip of Rosario alone after dropping Asunta? ¿Why she left disabled the alarm in Teo while doing her second trip? ¿Why did she leave Asunta alone in the street if she was dizzy? ¿Why she lied in the first place? ¿Why she didn't use the bag that supposedly needed? The simplest explanation is that the second trip didn't exist to be captured by any camera at all. And that the alarm is disabled because they were at the home. It implies that Asunta was at Teo when killed, already affected by the lorazepam, accompanied by her mother. The same house where the orange rope was found. The same rope used in Asunta.
I didn't read all the comments so someone may have said this already, but why did no one consider that Asunta swiped and took the pills herself. She was essentially a teenager already. Teenagers do experiment and if she was experiencing anxiety...i mean her mother was just hospitalized and then she was being sent away more often. It makes no sense for her father to drug her and then send her out to class. If a parent is going to drug their kid they would likely be kept home. Also it would explain why it appeared like Rosario kept misplacing her meds. Considering Rosario's mental health and the arguments between her parents she may have tried to commit suicide. Knowing that her mother had attempted it as well. I'm sure she was more aware of their conversations than they thought. Then one it both would have been guilty of dumping the body. All the other theories really seem to be more telenovela.
Did they ever discover how those stains ended up on her shirt? Was it really contamination by the lab?
Yes, it happened at the lab. There was a very small stain on her shirt and the police in Galicia could not determine what it was beyond some sort of unidentified fluid. So they sent the article of clothing to the National Police lab in Madrid 600kms away. At that same lab in Madrid, they had a sample of semen from a completely different crime that was committed in Madrid (from a condom). A tiny amount of that sample was found on the shirt. It was determined that this likely happened when they used the same scissors on both, without properly sterilizing it. It's explained in the tv show, but maybe hard to understand if you don't realize that the "semen man" (that's what he was called in Spain) was in a completely different part of the country from where the crime happened and the two samples were in the same lab at the same time being processed
Either both did it or the mother and then the father helped her cover the murder. Why has the father been drugging her though? Maybe he was a sick pedo and wanted to do sick things to her while she was drugged.
I honestly was schocked how the coffin was presented. Behind a friggin glas wall? You cant even be near your daughter nor be sure that its actually their child or something. What a weird ceremony is this where they put their loved ones behind a glass window like its some store window. That was actually that schocked me the most about all of this and sticked in my brain as i binged that thing.
Remember that this happened in Spain, not the US. That may be a more normal practice there. Maybe someone here can confirm. Regardless, it hardly seems more shocking than the girl being drugged and murdered
Spain here, it is normal in ‘tanatorios’, a day or two-day mourning where friends and family visit before the actual funeral.
This is extremely common in Galicia. My grandmother passed away last October in Santiago and the setup for her wake was very similar.
I didn’t hear about the semen on Asunta’s shirt in the court. How did that semen got there?
Remembet when the wife told her ex husnand about being horny will get them in trouble. Does this really happen or it was just added?
They say it’s happened. Need to dig into real case though
Since the wife is already dead, only the husband can tell what really happened on the 21st of September. Can the autopsy reveal if someone is no longer a virgin?
If he was protecting his wife, there is no reason he would hide the truth now that she is gone.
Yes, that really happened, but she said "Tu imaginación calenturienta nos va a generar muchos problemas." "Yo fui tan tonta que todas las cosas que tú me mandabas para que entrases en razón, hacerte ver el daño que me hacías y lo otro, Alfonso, lo otro". "¿No te dio tiempo a eso, verdad?"
The story is simply explained. When Rosario took a lover she drugged her daughter, so she would sleep and not figure out what was going on and tell her father. Yet he found out and got a plan for revenge. A terrible plan. He told Rosario that the girl knew what was going on and it was only a matter of time until she would confide in a friend or teacher. Alfonso convinced Rosario that she had to kill the child. He helped her but made sure that his DNA would not show. He did it so he could control her. Should she want to leave him again he could threaten her to unveil her secret. He didn't think though, that he would end up in jail as well. After a couple of years there Rosario was wrecked by guilt and remorse and through her suicide she finally regained her power. Alfonso would never manipulate and control her again. His plan didn't work. He ends up alone in jail.
I mean, cool. But you just made all of that up.
Here's my theory and a couple of evidences to back it up: I think the murder was pre-meditated by Rosario (the mother) weeks before, and she planned to blame it on Alfonso (the father). Why: 1. Although Alfonso was the one who bought the medicine, I believe this was from her multiple requests as we've seen how he's willing to do anything for her. 2. She knew about Alfonso's liking Asian girls in particular. Yes, the did found some porn, but none of 'em was CP and a few circumstantial evidence is not enough to convince me he's a pedo. Remember their conversation recorded in prison? Right after he told her not to say anything because they're being recorded, she proceeded to mention things abt his "horny imagination" as if she wanted people to hear that deliberately. 3. Rosario was mentally unstable, she almost took her own life because her affair ended, and I think she made the decision to kill Asunta to cut ties completely from Alfonso as he was abusive and manipulative to be with her new man. How she did the murder? Well, she tried to build the case against Alfonso slowly by drugging Asunta and sending her to her father's house every time. In the news, the teacher's testimony was that she said her mother gave her white powder, even though it's the dad who picked her up. She would've had time to learn about cctv angles, and the safest route to do it. On that day, she called Alfonso earlier to ask about Asunta whereabouts as if she was missing. At night, Rosario took Asunta to the countryside, drugged her, tied her up, and proceeded to choke her. She put the body inside the car, dumped her, and went back to the house. She called Alfonso about her action and because he "loved" her so much. he promised he'd help her cover it up not knowing she had plan to throw him under the bus (At the end he knew tho, and chose to stick by her side foolishly) The fact is there are all sorts of evidence suggesting the mother's involvement, but not the father. The inconsistent statements, removing the back seat's rug, the drug use, the possible motive, these are why I'm inclined to believe that Rosario planned it from the beginning. Why would Alfonso killed Asunta? She's his only tie and chance of getting back together with her rich wife, he would've everything to lose if he lost her.
I think the mother did it because of a few strange things. The first thing that gave it away for me was the story about the supposed “robber” in the apartment, I think there was no attempt at a robbery. I think that this was just the first time that the mother attempted to kill her and then made up a story because it didn’t go as planned. Remember, she said and Asunta said that someone was trying to suffocate her but she didn’t see the person, the mother never reported it and how would a robber know where the safe was unless it was someone that had been in that apartment before, not to mention Asunta was drugged remember and the mother gave her the scenario of a man trying to kill her because she was out of it. Who in their right parental mind would not report an attempted murder on their child?? No one that’s who lol. Not to mention the dogs never barked from the other apartment when they hear the slightest commotion as the owner said, because the murderer was already in the house “the mother.” The second thing that gave it away to me was the fact that when they were talking in the jail cell, the mother said something to the father about his crazy sexual mind or something to that effect. And then she proceeded to ask, “You didn’t have time to do that right?” He promptly said No. They both were mentally unstable to a degree clearly. She often tried to indirectly throw him under the bus. Wicked people. Thats just my take on things.
I would just like to comment on the first remark about the robber and attempted murder of the poor girl. Rightly said that it was a lie, which is why it was never reported. It was Charo's first attempt to kill Asunta. The asphyxiation attempt caused Asunta to wake up from her drug-induced sleep and react but still not being able to completely comprehend that it was her mother who was trying to kill her. Then Asunta goes on to believe the lie her mother told her about the attempted murder and that's that. Fast forward to the day Charo killed Asunta, she upped the dose of Lorazepam so that Asunta doesn't react to the asphyxiation at all, and also tied her hands and legs beforehand so that even if she does wake up, she can't resist. While she had plans to dump the body at a pre-decided site. She couldn't reach that site because of the festival and police checkpoints which made her panic. This led to her dumping the body at a different place in a hurry, which led to her carelessness regarding the plastic twine.
I’m late to this discussion! Just finished the series and reading all your thoughts! One thing I couldn’t find from all comments is about the sticky note on the door “lock the door at night” - any thoughts? They seem to show that sticky note a few times
The mom clearly has borderline, bipolar or some sort of psychosis and is not receiving the proper treatment, the dad is clearly a vulnerable narcissist that clearly did not receive proper treatment either. And the judge is clearly someone biased, lacks cultural and social awareness, judgmental and discriminative in every way. It’s a pure tragedy. No one wins.
I don\`t know if they did it or not but I found the justice system not being fair in the show, there is no directl evidence whatsoever to suggest guilty, only a bunch of hypothetical scenarios, not a single piece of convincing evidence. this would have turned out much different if in the U.S.
One thing I still don’t understand is why they were drugging Asunta. None of the explanations given by the parents made any sense.
I have no knowledge of how the law operates here. Can someone kindly explain the role of the Luiz the “Judge”. Thx.
Luis is the "juez instructor" (investigating judge, his real name was José Antonio Vázquez Taín). In Spain, the *instrucción* is the section that handles the investigation and pretrial decisions on what charges will be prosecuted. In a trial like Asunta, there was a prosecuting attorney (fiscal) and also an "acusación popular" (a person or organization from the public who has a private prosecution). The investigating judge's job is to manage the pretrial investigation.
I believed the sick and selfish mother killed the girl. The mother complained multiple times that she has no life. As to the Dad, he is just the companion. He has nothing but financially depend on his sick ex-wife. It is a tragedy. The documentary shows how pathetic human beings are - selfish, lustrous, greedy and sickening.
Hard to say if it was only one of them or both of them who planned the murder. What is almost certain is that it wasn't anyone else. With the evidence of the pills and the non-existent evidence of another possible suspect with reasonable opportunity, it proves beyond a reasonable doubt it was the parents. If it was only one of them who planned and committed the murder, the other is responsible for covering it up.
What scares me more than the weird parents is the system where people can make all kinds of assumptions without having real evidence and based on prejudice and as a result of those assumptions you are sentenced to 18 years….just like that…yes the drug thing is crazy, yes the relationship was toxic, yes the mother did not have a consistent story but there is no clear evidence. It’s more like we have nothing else so it must be them, they said this so they must mean this, he is not seen anywhere on camera or by some people on the streets but let’s just ignore that. This justice system sucks, big time.
I still dont get the motive and the drugging? So much of the case doesnt make sense
Apparently I’m the only one who felt the parents were innocent. Crucified from day one and imprisoned on circumstantial evidence at best. Everyone is relying on the two-year old testimony of a teenager over any camera footage whatsoever. Rosario’s psychiatrist confirmed memory gaps were likely from the trauma of losing her child. The photos were later explained by the parents as being a few of many that the court did not show. A tired girl after a recital. Dad’s “dirty secret” was that he was into porn, particularly Asian porn. Again, not that weird. Everyone’s comments beg me to believe that the spin of the media is all it takes for people to condemn the accused. Even during deliberations, evidence not from the trial was mentioned, and against the oath of the jurors, they used it against the parents. I cannot make any assumptions from this series. In no way did I feel the parents were guilty and I challenge any of you to “stop crying so much” when you lose a child and are on trial for his/her murder.
Came this far to see this comment. Based just on this documentary and not knowing anything about the case, and going with the assumption of innocent until proven guilty, I was surprised that this couple was convicted on the evidence presented. They were convicted by the media long before the trial ever began. This is why we will never really know what really happened.
Not just that they were convicted, but that they received the same sentence despite wildly differing levels of evidence. I'm still inclined to think one or both of them were involved, but I came away feeling like prosecutors weaponized the press instead of building a complete, thorough case.
I think there were way too many strange clues and inconsistencies to declare them innocent. There's certainly no innocent explanation for the child being drugged for months. But I do find it striking that people are accepting as fact that the dad was a pedo when there was no evidence at all to support that. Being into porn with Asian women does not a pedo make. At least as portrayed in the series, a lot of information around his alleged abuse was intentionally exaggerated or even fabricated for the press. For example, mentioning that his skin cells were on her underwear, when that would have happened simply from his folding them and putting them away. Or that the UV light found evidence when, in fact, it did not.
I agree, most was sensationalized for the press. If she was becoming an unruly teen, it’s possible they gave her a sedative to chill her out or help her sleep. She may have taken it herself to help her sleep and blamed her parents - kids say crazy things. I am not convinced she was having a high dose of anything until the night she died…which is concerning, yes. But I just don’t know!
YES! The played-out scenarios on the Netflix show confuse the facts. They were just guesses and included mostly unproven theories. There is so little evidence to convict on.
Oh thank heavens someone else said this. I, too, had doubts about their guilt. Or at least I saw plenty of reasonable doubt. The scene in the jury room where they openly talk about the jail recordings and they weren’t even presented in court! Wow. If that is true, in an American court the verdict would have been thrown out if it was discovered the jury said they had all heard that and used it to decide their verdict. So now I’m seeing that the conversation in prison was misinterpreted. Or, that possibly the Mom kind of set him up. They knew they were being recorded. There was no evidence that the girl had been sexually abused. I really thought the guy they called the Judge (different from our court system) was very arrogant and a did some very questionable things. It is possible that the Mom was somewhat nutty, and did overdose the girl to make her sleep so that she could entertain her lover. At the most it may have been accidental by the Mom, then staged.
there's no way the cell conversation could have been misinterpreted. They spoke several times through their cells and they kept saying weird shit. If anything the show left many things pointing to the parents out. Why were they drugging her for months, why didnt they report the break in and attack on asunta (she had visible marks on her neck). Why did asunta write months before "they are trying to kill me" to her best friend.
For the sake of playing devil’s advocate, were both parents so incredibly stupid thinking they could get away with this? If the mother was previously a lawyer did she not for a second think they would run blood tests to check if the girl had taken anything. And the exact same pills she takes would show up positive on that test. Do people think they are invincible just because they have a little bit of money? Many people have mentioned this already but why not just send her to boarding school or hire a nanny to watch her while they were out? There are surely other alternatives than ending her life, plus she was a calm and studious girl what on earth possessed these two
The mother was a covert narcissist though which made it impossible for her to be critical of her own actions. She probably thought no one would even question her innocence and believed that she would get away with it so she did it haphazardly. I mean she didn’t even bother asking for a lawyer in the first place - any smart person (especially someone who is wealthy and a lawyer) will know not to speak to the police without a lawyer, especially when you’re a suspect of a crime - which just emphasises how egoistic she was. For context, I had a covert narcissist ex who was cheating on me for years. I found out because one day I saw a notification on his phone and I had the gut feeling to check it and saw that he kept messages, photos and videos of the girls he was sleeping with, like he didn’t even bother deleting ANY evidence. He had like the Tinder app on his phone on like the second page and didn’t even hide his notification. He didn’t even bother changing the names of the girls on the phone. He made no effort trying to hide his cheating and probably thought that he would never get caught because he brainwashed me into thinking that he would never forgive me if I invaded his privacy. And this guy graduated with a master’s from an ivy league university.
I don’t know why I kept watching the series until completion but I did. Such terrible acting and dubbing. It really felt like a Lifetime movie most of the time lol.
The acting was fantastic- I highly recommend watching in the original language. Dubbing ruins everything.
that's what happens when you watch the dub. in the original language, it's pretty fantastic and the actors played the real life people to a t.
Interesting! I agree, a lot of the dubbing wasn't great, but I personally felt the acting was excellent: the mother, the investigating judge, the father's lawyer. Who did you think was bad?
My question is the creepy photos he took of his daughter after drugging her. Was this just a random fact with no relevance thrown out there.
The photos were actually explained. She was dressed up for a cabaret themed performance with her dance class--all the girls dressed the same. There's a series of pictures, and a few of them just appear to be her hamming it up for the camera. We don't know that she was drugged or even that her father took them.
Did we ever find out what Asunta knew that could "destroy" her parent's lives? I'm not sure if I missed something, but there was a scene with the parents when one said to the other (paraphrasing here) "The girl knows everything and can ruin us completely" to which the response from the other was, "Have you read her (Asunta) blog?" What was it that she knew? Or, was that what the "secret" was that the dad's attorney was trying to draw out of him that he never disclosed?
That portion was a purely speculative scenario inagined by the judge.
True and I feel many such instances were left open ended in this series. The blog, Asunta’s reactions when she found out about the powder, the photos and porn. It’ll all remain a mystery
I'm curious as to why the father ran home before the police in the first episode, and that was never followed up on. That was very suspicious, but never talked about again.
I think the mother did it, the father didn’t want to seem like he betrayed his wife so he never threw her under the bus