A Spanish couple accused of drugging and suffocating their 12-year-old adopted Chinese daughter reiterated their innocence in a widely publicised trial.
12-year-old Asunta Yong Fang
A spanish couple, Rosario Porto, a former lawyer, and her ex-husband, journalist Alfonso Basterra, are accused of murdering Asunta Yong Fang Basterra Porto, whom they adopted when she was a baby.
The couple are accused of drugging 12-year-old Asunta with the sedative Orfidal periodically for three months and finally asphyxiating her in September 2013, when the child's body was found in a wood near northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela.
The case shocked Spain and drew international attention when it came to light, prompting a statement of concern by the Chinese foreign ministry.
The couple, Alfonso Basterra and Rosario Porto
Prosecutors on Thursday told the nine members of the jury that Porto, 46, suffocated Asunta on her own in a plan developed with her ex husband.
At the time of the girl's death, the couple were separated but were raising their adopted daughter together.
Over 100 witnesses and experts testified at the trial, which got underway at the end of September.
Public prosecutors have asked that both Porto and Basterra each get prison sentences of 18 years.
The couple and their adopted daughter