In Asunta’s murder case, the investigating judge, Judge Malvar, played by Luis Malvar, becomes convinced that Asunta’s parents killed her.
Judge Malvar is assigned to Asunta’s case. Rosario, Asunta’s mother who is a lawyer herself, knows him from college.
However, as soon as Judge Malvar suspects Rosario, he refuses to give her any favorable treatment or even treat her like an acquaintance.
Judge Malvar’s perspective on the case
Once the police find evidence linking Rosario to Asunta’s death and discover that she lied in her initial statement, Judge Malvar becomes convinced that Rosario killed Asunta.
From then on, he is unsympathetic towards Rosario, even asking the detectives to arrest her during the funeral.
Then, it is revealed that Asunta was drugged for months using Lorazepam, which Alfonso bought for Rosario. Now, even Alfonso becomes a suspect in his eyes.
Judge Malvar does not hesitate to provoke Alfonso and have him arrested. All the while, sensitive details related to the investigation keep getting leaked to the media.
Judge Malvar does nothing about the leaks and refuses to open an internal investigation, as the leaks benefit the case he is building against the parents.
Judge Malvar is almost too confident about his suspicions, even when the DNA of a sex offender, Carlos Murillo, is found on Asunta’s T-shirt.
Soon after, Murillo’s alibi checks out, and it is concluded that the samples were contaminated, which greatly pleases Judge Malvar.
If Murillo’s alibi had not checked out, it would have ruined Judge Malvar’s case and put him in a tough spot.
Judge Malvar claims that he became a judge to pursue the truth. He is determined to see Alfonso, whom he sees as the mastermind behind Asunta’s murder, punished.
While the detectives on the case believe that Rosario killed Asunta and Alfonso only helped her hide the crime, Judge Malvar believes Alfonso is the mastermind.
He has his own theory after seeing photographs taken by Alfonso, surmising that Alfonso drugged and sexualized Asunta.
Judge Malvar does not miss the opportunity to imply that while questioning Alfonso, after which he takes the case to trial.
According to Judge Malvar’s theory, Alfonso realized that Asunta might talk to someone about this, so he decided to kill her and convinced Rosario to be his accomplice.
Alfonso hid in the backseat of the car and accompanied Rosario and Asunta to the country house, where Alfonso and Rosario killed Asunta.
He even finds a witness to support his theory, willingly ignoring gaps in the witness’s testimony.
Proving Alfonso and Rosario’s guilt
If the prosecutor cannot prove Alfonso’s involvement in the case, it might all fall apart because it will be hard to convince the jury that Rosario acted alone.
The prosecutor points out to Judge Malvar that not everyone is aware of the claims they have come to believe about Alfonso.
Judge Malvar does not hesitate to use tactics that can be considered improper to shape the outcome of the case.
He shares the photographs of Asunta taken by Alfonso with a journalist and portrays him to her as a predator, which is how Alfonso is then presented in the media.
During this case, Judge Malvar faces personal problems as well. His father is sick, and his behavior drives away the help he employs.
Judge Malvar cannot send his father to a nursing home or to his siblings’ house, as his father refuses to be separated from him and his siblings are unwilling to take responsibility.
Judge Malvar continues to work on the case while taking care of his father. When the case goes to trial, his father passes away, yet he closely follows the proceedings.
Eventually, Alfonso and Rosario are both found guilty and sentenced to prison, which is upheld by higher courts. However, the fact that Alfonso was with Rosario in the house is never proven.
Also Read: The evidence against Rosario and Alfonso in The Asunta Case