Guatemalan murder-accused Diego Novella is expected to appear in the Western Cape High Court on Friday, for a pre-trial conference in connection with the murder of his American girlfriend Gabriela Kabrins Alban.
The 42-year-old was denied bail in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court in May when Magistrate Grant Engel deemed him a flight risk and in October, Western Cape High Court Judge Andre le Grange dismissed his bail appeal.
Defence lawyer William Booth brought an application for leave to appeal the bail ruling, and argued that the magistrate had erred in his findings as Novella had demonstrated his willingness to be placed under “unique circumstances”.
These included payment of R100,000 bail, reporting to the local police station, and being monitored by both a private security company and a tracking device.
However, at the time Le Grange was unconvinced that the magistrate was wrong in his findings. “Moreover, the State’s case, although circumstantial, points prima facie strongly to the guilt of the accused”.
Novella faces a charge of murder for allegedly killing his American marketing executive girlfriend Gabriela Kabrins Alban on July 28 last year.
The couple had booked into a boutique hotel in Camps Bay on July 26, 2015. According to papers already before the court and statements provided to police, no person other than the couple stayed in the room, and no staff entered the room the night before Alban’s body was discovered.
It was only when staff enquired where Alban was that Novella reportedly answered she was dead. The police were called and Novella was immediately arrested.
The crime scene was strewn with food and clothes. Police seized a substantial amount of foreign currency, iphones and tablets.
A forensic pathologist found that Alban had been strangled and also showed signs of blunt head injury.
Novella was subsequently examined by a forensic psychiatrist hired by his legal team, who found him fit to stand trial.
Before the murder, Novella booked into a retreat in Magaliesburg for a week in May “to undergo spiritual treatment”. There, he took a natural psychoactive substance called Ibogaine to help with his addiction difficulties.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
