Murder in Camps Bay hotel was ‘overkill’

THE severity of the violence in the murder of American marketing executive Gabriela Kabrins Alban showed that the perpetrator sought to inflict pain and guarantee her death, the Western Cape High Court heard this week.

Alban was 39 when she was killed at the Camps Bay Retreat Hotel in July 2015. Her boy- friend, Guatemalan national Diego Novella, is accused of the crime.

This week forensic expert Dr Itumeleng Molefe described how she found the body at the crime scene and the process she followed in establishing the cause of Alban’s death.

Molefe said the multiplicity and severity of the injuries on Alban’s body demonstrated what researchers call an “over- kill,” a phenomenon in terms of which the victim suffered not just one but multiple causes of death.

Molefe said that when she got to the hotel room which Alban had been sharing with Novella, the body was noticeably spattered with blood in the head area, some hair was pulled out, there were bruises on her legs and a ball of pastry was stuffed in her mouth.

The pastry had been forced into the mouth together with pieces of chocolate, blocking the air passage. Molefe said one tooth was missing and several others were loose, possibly as a result of the force used in inserting the objects.

Molefe said she was told by police that the perpetrator was in holding cells but they seemed not to know what steps to follow regarding him.