Spanish couple guilty of murdering adopted Chinese daughter

A court in the Spanish Community of Galicia on Friday found guilty a Spanish couple accused of murdering their 12-year-old adopted Chinese daughter.

After four days of deliberation, a nine-person jury accepted the prosecution arguments that Rosario Porta and her former husband Alfonso Basterra had killed the 12-year-old, Asunta, who they had adopted when she was a baby, by drugging her with a sedative called Orfidal before Porta asphyxiated her.

Prosecution lawyers alleged that both Porta and Basterra had planned Asupta's death, but it had been Porta who had killed her.

Now Porta, a former lawyer, and Basterra, a journalist, face a maximum of 20 years each in prison.

No motive has been given for why the couple should have wanted to end the life of Asunta, who was described as a friendly and intelligent child.

Asunta had been given Orfdial on an off for a period of around three months prior to her death and as a result the court said in a statement: "the jury judged the victim would not have been able to defend herself."

After she was killed, Asunta's body was dumped in the woods, where it was later discovered close to the city of Santiago de Compostela.

The trial lasted over a month with over 100 witnesses called to give evidence. Endit