Novella denies rumours in court
GUATEMALAN murder accused Diego Novella has quashed rumours that he had tortured his girlfriend, American marketing executive Gabriela Kabrins Alban.
Novella is alleged to have murdered Alban at the Camps Bay Retreat Boutique Hotel on July 29, 2015.
Yesterday marked the second day that Novella testified in his defence. He was being questioned by his defence lawyer, advocate William Booth.
During the questioning, Novella told the court he had heard rumours of him torturing the deceased.
“There were rumours that during those days at the hotel I was torturing Gabi, and that is not true. I left the hotel and she could have called security and police,” he told the Western Cape High Court.
Novella said he had only vague memory of what the couple did two days before Alban’s death.
He recalled going to Greenmarket Square the day before the murder, and later going to have a light meal at the Mount Nelson Hotel.
He said that while he was shopping and dining, Alban remained at the hotel.
“I’m almost 100 percent sure she was in the room. She never went out because she was so tired that she (wanted to) remain in the room,” he said.
While Novella testified, Alban’s mother, Doris Weitz, kept hugging a photo of her daughter, framed in wood. She stroked her daughter’s face on the picture.
Earlier, Booth questioned Novella on the couple’s use of cannabis.
“We smoked cannabis and used its oil by putting it in a capsule. We smoked the plant itself,” he said.
He said they smoked cannabis in a water pipe and swallowed the capsule.
Novella said the cannabis oil was sold in a syringe for R500. He had bought two syringes.
“Dagga (cannabis) relaxed me and gave me some degree of euphoria. It made me good in terms of my well-being.
“The cannabis oil has the same effect as dagga, but is more concentrated and recommended for illnesses,” he said.
Novella said he sometimes used the two at the same time.
The trial continues today.