Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Novella in new bail bid over hotel murder
Lawyer to take appeal to Cape High Court
A GUATEMALAN man accused of murder is fighting tooth and nail for his freedom and is to ask the Western Cape High Court to release him on bail pending his trial. Diego Novella is accused of the murder of US marketing executive Gabriela Kabrins in Camps Bay last year.
Novella’s attorney, William Booth, confirmed he has yet to file a notice of appeal because he is waiting for the transcript of the Magistrate’s Court proceedings and the bail judgment to be typed. Last month, Cape Town Magistrate Grant Engel refused Novella’s bail application, finding the State’s case against him was strong. He also found Novella was a flight risk because he had the financial means to hide anywhere and could easily forfeit his bail. There is no extradition treaty between South Africa and Guatemala
Novella is from a prominent and wealthy family, which runs a cement business in Guatemala. He is alleged to have killed Kabrins, with whom he was romantically involved, in July. They were staying at the exclusive boutique hotel, the Camps Bay Retreat.
Novella says he cannot remember significant portions of what happened the night Kabrins was killed and has told a panel of psychiatrists he had taken the plant sceletium with cannabis oil hours before her body was found.
However, he was able to recall some experiences – seeing a man who looked like David Bowie and noting two cats were sitting in the rain.
Kabrins looked like the protagonist in The Exorcist when he last saw her through a glass door, he claimed.