Alfonso Basterra Camporro was born on August 2, 1964, in Bilbao, Spain. He studied journalism at the University of the Basque Country and later moved to Santiago de Compostela, where he became a freelance journalist specializing in economic and tourism reporting. Throughout his career, he contributed to various local newspapers, national economic outlets, and regularly appeared on both radio and television.

In 1996, Alfonso married Rosario Porto Ortega, a well-known lawyer and the daughter of a distinguished university art historian and a French honorary consul in Galicia. Due to Rosario’s lupus condition, doctors advised against pregnancy, leading the couple to pursue international adoption. In 2001, they traveled to China and adopted a nine-month-old baby girl, Yong Fang, whom they renamed Asunta Basterra. The family lived a comfortable life, raising Asunta in Santiago de Compostela, where she excelled academically and artistically.

By early 2013, the marriage had deteriorated following Rosario’s affair. The couple separated and formally divorced on February 14, 2013, though they continued to co-parent and maintain close involvement in Asunta’s life. Despite their separation, Alfonso continued supporting Rosario financially and spent significant time caring for their daughter.

On September 21, 2013, Alfonso and Rosario reported their 12-year-old daughter missing late in the evening. Hours later, in the early morning of September 22, police discovered Asunta’s body on a rural roadside near Teo, Galicia. An autopsy revealed that she had ingested at least 27 lorazepam pills, more than nine times the adult dosage and died from asphyxiation. Investigators later uncovered that Asunta had been periodically drugged for months leading up to her death.

The investigation exposed inconsistencies in both parents’ statements, particularly concerning their movements on the day of the murder. Surveillance footage contradicted Rosario’s account of leaving Asunta home to do homework, showing the two traveling together toward the family’s country house in Teo. Toxicology findings confirmed deliberate sedation, and evidence showed Alfonso had been purchasing large amounts of lorazepam for Rosario. While direct proof of Alfonso’s presence at the crime scene was lacking, prosecutors successfully argued that he had actively participated in planning and facilitating the murder.

Alfonso was arrested on September 25, 2013, one day after Rosario’s arrest. Their trial began in October 2015 and lasted over four weeks, featuring testimony from 84 witnesses and 60 expert analysts. On October 30, 2015, a jury unanimously found both Alfonso and Rosario guilty of murdering their daughter. The court sentenced each to 18 years in prison, citing aggravating factors of kinship and abuse of parental authority.

In May 2016, the High Court of Justice of Galicia upheld the verdict, concluding that Rosario had physically carried out the suffocation but reaffirming Alfonso’s role as a co-conspirator. In November 2016, the Spanish Supreme Court also rejected appeals, confirming that the crime could not have been executed without Alfonso’s involvement.

Alfonso Basterra remains imprisoned in Spain, serving his sentence with an expected release in 2031, accounting for pre-trial detention and standard sentence reductions. Throughout his incarceration, he has consistently proclaimed his innocence, though the courts have repeatedly upheld his conviction for the murder of Asunta Basterra.