Cape Town – The man dubbed the Camps Bay killer, who has been granted leave to appeal his conviction and sentence for the murder of his American girlfriend Gabriela Kabrins Alban, will have to wait a while longer for a set date as transcripts of the legal proceedings are being typed.
This week, Diego Novella’s legal team, William Booth confirmed a portion of the court documents were submitted to the Supreme Court of Appeal but that more administration was needed before a court date could be set.
“No date has been set for hearings,” said Booth.
“A portion of the court documents has been submitted. The legal proceedings are being typed and transcribed.”
Booth also confirmed that both the defence and the State had yet to submit their heads of argument, but would do so in due course.
Via his appeal affidavit, Novella said the sentence was too harsh and that his cognitive ability was impaired by the intake of certain substances when the murder took place.
Last year, Novella had informed his legal team that he was “happy” with the outcome of his leave to appeal being granted and that he felt the conviction and sentence were wrong.
Novella argues, via his appeal application, that he should have been granted a lesser sentence than 15 years due to his personal circumstances and that there were enough mitigating factors.
He is currently serving a 20-year sentence. Novella pleaded not guilty to the murder.
He said he did not intend to kill Alban but that he was in an abnormal mental state as a result of hallucinogenic substances which had affected his ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
He explained he had been in a lengthy relationship with Albans since 2013 and that she moved to live with him in 2014 from Guatemala.
The couple moved to South Africa in 2015 to seek medical treatment for Albans illness known as Lyme disease.
He was arrested in July 2015 in Cape Town on the same day that Alban’s body was discovered by hotel staff in Camps Bay.
Novella was imprisoned at Brandvlei Prison and due to Covid-19 his application was delayed.
Novella claimed that the State did not have enough toxicology reports available to provide an accurate assessment of his intoxication before and after the murder.
He claimed blood was not taken from him for proper testing of his intoxication.
“I submit that in this regard the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that both my cognitive and cognitive mental facilities were fully functional at the time of the said offence,” he said in court documents.
Alban’s murder rocked Cape Town after she had been found with a hair iron between her legs which was close to her private parts and there were faeces on her body.
Novella was said to have expressed no remorse and had portrayed himself as the victim and blamed his conduct as a result of drug consumption.