JUDGES trying the case of murdered 12-year-old Asunta Basterra, found dead in a woods near her late grandparents' luxury villa, have lifted the procedural secrecy or 'gagging order' surrounding the circumstances.
This means information about the investigations can be revealed publicly, as well as to the main suspects who had been pushing for the non-disclosure condition to be removed so they could prepare a proper defence.
Alfonso Basterra, a reporter, and Rosario Porto, a solicitor who is no longer practising, adopted Asunta Yong Fang from her native China as a baby.
They are separated, but lived next door to each other in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, and were both actively involved in their daughter's upbringing.
Both parents have been remanded in custody at the prison in Teixeiro (A Coruña province) charged with Asunta's murder.
According to the judge, evidence to date appears to show that the child, who would have turned 13 a week and a half after her death, had been drugged by her father with massive quantities of the strong tranquilliser Lorazepam.
Although enough of the drug was found in her system to cause her almost certain death, it is thought that her mother then suffocated her whilst she was unconscious.
The court says the child had scrape marks on her heels, and it is believed her mother dragged her body into the woods in Teo (A Coruña) where she was buried in a shallow grave.
Rosario Porto was charged based upon 'inconsistencies' in her statement, the case notes say.
She allegedly reported Asunta missing on September 21 at around 22.30hrs, claiming she had gone out at 19.00hrs and left her daughter at home, and that she was not there when she returned at 21.30hrs.
After CCTV evidence at a petrol station showed Asunta was with her mother in the car at precisely the moment Rosario claimed she had disappeared, Rosario allegedly changed her statement.
She said she and Asunta had gone to the house in Teo and then grocery shopping, and that she had lost sight of her daughter after dropping her off in a street near their home in Santiago.
A reconstruction of Asunta's last few hours concluded that she and her parents had lunch in her father's house before Rosario and Asunta went to the Rosario's late parents' home in Teo, arriving at around 18.30hrs.
It is thought she had been drugged whilst at her father's house, since police found Orfidal, a brand name of Lorazepam, in Alfonso Basterra's home.
Rosario Porto was also said to be on tranquillisers, mainly Diazepam.
A post-mortem has shown that Asunta was given massive quantities of the same drug in July this year, and one of Rosario's 'confusing' statements apparently claimed her ex-husband 'gave white powder' to the child 'without saying what it was for'.
Asunta's music teacher reports that the child once turned up for class extremely drowsy, disorientated and seemingly intoxicated, spending the entire lesson lying down and claiming her parents were 'trying to kill her'.
But the teacher did not report this at the time, since Asunta's mother had told her that the youngster was on very strong medication for asthma and other allergies which left her 'wiped out'.
Rosario had apparently called the teacher on previous occasions to say Asunta was too drowsy to go to class because of her medicine.
Yet Asunta's paediatrician has told the judge that the child had no known allergies and did not suffer from asthma.
Based upon evidence to date, the judge considers that the parents had been carefully planning to kill the child 'for about three months' by drugging her and then suffocating her when she was too weak to resist.
Alfonso Basterra and Rosario Porto both deny they had anything to do with Asunta's death.
Investigations have ruled out any involvement of a third person.
Initially, a Moroccan man involved in a union who had been tried for exploiting immigrants, a businessman who worked with Rosario and a third person whose details have not been revealed were thought to have been implicated, but the judge says they have all been cleared.
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