‘Sickening’ murder
Dad still fighting billionaire found guilty of killing daughter
When Gabriela Kabrins Alban graduated college in 1998, her dad presented her with a Bulgari watch engraved with their favorite word, “sonrisa” — “smile” in Spanish.
The pair adored the expression because of its similarity to “sunrise” and the promise of a new day.
Now, Howdy Kabrins says he will “walk across the sun” to pursue justice for his daughter. The 39-yearold businesswoman was strangled to death by her billionaire boyfriend in 2015.
On June 28, Diego Novella, 44, was found guilty of her murder in Camps Bay, South Africa.
“I feel ecstatic and numb at the same time,” Kabrins told The Post of the verdict. He hopes that Novella, the estranged scion of a Central American cement dynasty, will receive the maximum 25 years in prison at his sentencing next month.
The 70-year-old father, a Beverly Hills restaurateur, fought back tears as he recalled the call from the US State Department on July 29, 2015, informing him of Alban’s homicide.
Novella had sodomized her (he later claimed at trial this was consensual), violated her body with a curling iron and laid out her hair extensions between her legs. He also left a note reading “cerote” — Spanish for “piece of s--t” or “nothing,” depending on context — on Alban’s chest.
The only child of Kabrins and first wife Doris Weitz, Alban grew up just outside Los Angeles. After studying at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., she co-founded a strategic-marketing company. In 2003, she wed Dr. Blake Alban, a relationship that ended in divorce after eight years and no children.
Kabrins noted that his daughter, who championed the causes of Hispanic workers, “was all about offering opportunities to the underdog.”
Perhaps that’s why she was drawn to Novella, who struggled with substance abuse. The two met in college.
“They dated for about six weeks at Pepperdine, but Gaby ended it because of his [use of] drugs,” said Alban’s mother, Weitz, adding that Novella had fled the US after being arrested for drug possession.
They reconnected online in 2013. Weitz testified during the trial that Alban had told her Novella was unable to travel to the US because of outstanding warrants, so Alban met him in Guatemala and Mexico. They were in love, but her family was concerned.
“I met him in 2014 at a wedding in Mexico, and thought he was strange,” recalled Weitz, 66, a retired interpreter. “He had the num- ber ‘13’ tattooed on . . . his neck ... He’d clearly done it to rebel against his extremely religious family.”
Novella was also struggling with sobriety. In January 2015, he flew to Cape Town to try ibogaine therapy, which typically involves pills made from a psychoactive shrub found in Africa. Illegal in the US, it is used in other countries to treat addiction.
“He did it recreationally,” said Kabrins. “Proponents of ibogaine say it helps with depression and drug abuse, but it wasn’t a serious commitment for him.” Alban also had health struggles, including crippling pain related to Lyme disease. By late 2014, her condition had deteriorated so much, she sometimes used a wheelchair. Kabrins took her to doctors on the West Coast and in Germany, but Novella had a different suggestion: accompany him on an ibogaine trip. “She was very ill and desperate for a cure,” said Kabrins.
In June 2015, Alban met Novella in Cape Town. According to court testimony, he was angry that Alban wasn’t “correctly” doing the preibogaine cleanse. This allegedly led to an argument that enraged Novella.
According to testimony, on July 29, he choked the breath out of Alban, then smashed her skull on the floor. He jammed her mouth with food before sprinkling it with candies and potato chips.
Afterward, Novella was seen in the hotel lobby playing air guitar. “My lovely lady is dead,” he told a staffer. Police who entered the couple’s suite described the scene as “sickening.”
Among the drugs Novella admitted to taking prior to Alban’s death were cannabis, cannabis oil and an herbal mood enhancer. No drugs were found in Alban’s system.
Novella admitted to killing Alban but denied he had committed first-degree murder, claiming drugs made him think his girlfriend was a demon. Judge Vincent Saldanha dismissed arguments of self-defense and found him guilty of murder.
“I hope Diego will spend a long life in prison and then go straight to hell where he belongs,” said Weitz.
Kabrins, who closed his restaurant in order to attend the 13month trial, is pursuing a wrongful-death civil suit against Novella in the US. He is also launching a foundation dedicated to stopping domestic violence by teaching boys to respect women.
“This case transcends homicide,” he said. “It’s about privileged men getting away with taking advantage of women and abusing them.”