Alban murder scene ‘not the norm’

A POLICE officer who interviewed Guatemalan murder accused Diego Novella on the day of his arrest, told the Western Cape High Court yesterday that, in 30 years of service, he had never seen a crime scene like the one in Room 14 of a Camps Bay boutique hotel where Gabriela Kabrins Alban was found dead.

Novella has pleaded not guilty to the 2015 murder of his 39-year-old American marketing executive girlfriend and instead will argue diminished responsibility due to drug intoxication.

In his plea statement, he said he had been in an abnormal mental state after having taken hallucinogenic substances. These were listed as sceletium, dronabinol (a prescription drug) and cannabis.

“These substances had a disinhibiting effect on me, causing me to respond in an abnormal manner.”

Novella was arrested on July 29, 2015, after Alban’s body was discovered in the room they were sharing at the luxurious hotel.

Her body was found by hotel staff in the afternoon.

Novella was not there, but was arrested later that day. He was sent for psychiatric evaluation at Valkenberg Hospital where a panel found he had diminished responsibility from drug intoxication.

He was, however, found to have criminal capacity and was deemed fit to stand trial.

The trial resumed yesterday after a two-week adjournment because defence lawyer William Booth had had a medical emergency.

Warrant Officer Stephen Fourie, the head of detectives at the Camps Bay police station, told the court he interviewed Novella on July 29, as well as the following day – both times he had informed him of his rights.

Booth claimed that another officer had also interviewed him and again read him his rights.

“Maybe it was that the accused’s demeanour was strange, and he was acting strangely and that is why he was read his rights several times,” he said.

State prosecutor Mornay Julius objected, calling the assertion “speculation”.

Booth told the court his client said he was interrogated in a metal container and was threatened with a phone wire.

Fourie said he had no knowledge of the threat, but conceded interviews were sometimes conducted in a metal container.

Booth described the crime scene and the body “how she was covered” as “bizarre”.

Fourie agreed and said the crime scene was unlike anything he had ever seen before: “It is not the norm to find a body like that.”

Alban’s face was covered in chips, as well as faeces, a curling iron beside her. A note had been left on her body with the word “cerote” scrawled on it – a Spanish word meaning “piece of s***”.

During cross-examination, it emerged that blood and urine samples, nail scrapings and hair samples were not collected from the Guatemalan murder accused when he was arrested on July 29, 2015, the court heard.

Booth was cross-examining Warrant Officer Stephen Fourie, who told the court yesterday he had sent Novella to a district surgeon to have the samples collected, but it was never done.

Court hears samples were not collected from the accused