Cape Town – Western Cape High Court Judge Andre le Grange dismissed the bail appeal of Guatemalan murder accused Diego Novella on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old was denied bail in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court in May when Magistrate Grant Engel deemed him a flight risk.
Defence lawyer William Booth brought an application for leave to appeal the bail ruling, and argued that the magistrate had erred in his findings as Novella had demonstrated his willingness to be placed under “unique circumstances”.
These included payment of R100 000 bail, reporting to the local police station, and being monitored by both a private security company and a tracking device.
But Judge Le Grange was unconvinced that the magistrate was wrong in his findings. “Moreover, the State’s case, although circumstantial, points prima facie strongly to the guilt of the accused.”
Novella faces a charge of murder for allegedly killing his American marketing executive girlfriend Gabriela Kabrins Alban on July 28 last year.
The couple had booked into a boutique hotel in Camps Bay on July 26, 2015. According to papers already before the court and statements provided to police, no person other than the couple stayed in the room, and no staff entered the room the night before Alban’s body was discovered.
It was only when staff enquired where Alban was that Novella reportedly answered she was dead. The police were called and Novella was immediately arrested.
The crime scene was strewn with food and clothes. Police seized a substantial amount of foreign currency, cellphones and tablets.
A forensic pathologist found that Alban had been strangled and also showed signs of blunt head injury.
Novella was subsequently examined by a forensic psychiatrist hired by his legal team, who found him fit to stand trial.
In Wednesday’s judgment, Le Grange detailed Novella’s wealthy and “somewhat unstable” lifestyle. Born to a billionaire family, he was raised in Guatemala where his family controls a group of companies that focus on the production of construction materials. It is also the main provider of cement in Central America.
He also receives a monthly payment of US$10 000 per month and has never been employed for more than two or three years at a particular company.
The judgment further detailed his drug dependence which started at the age of 21, and was used as “part of his spiritual needs” and pursuit of spiritual enlightenment.
Before the murder, Novella booked into a retreat in Magaliesburg for a week in May “to undergo spiritual treatment”. There, he took a natural psychoactive substance called Ibogaine to help with his addiction difficulties.
Le Grange found that the magistrate had been correct in his findings which concluded that Novella could easily afford to forfeit his bail, has the means to hide anywhere in the world, has no formal employment and has no immediate family roots. There was also no extradition treaty between South Africa and Guatemala.
“The magistrate gave a well-reasoned and detailed judgment. The criticism that the magistrate’s decision was wrong within the meaning of section 65(4) and that it will be in the interest of justice to permit the release of the appellant on bail, is in my view without merit.”
Le Grange also said that the fact that most of the security guarantees would be financed by Novella or his family created a “sense of unease” and could be open to manipulation.
He also found that the confiscation of Novella’s passports, Italian and Guatemalan, was of “cold comfort” as documents could easily be obtained to leave the country.
Novella’s lawyer has indicated they will argue diminished capacity due to drug intoxication when the case goes to trial.
In the meantime, he will remain at Pollsmoor Prison until a pre-trial hearing at the Western Cape High Court scheduled for October 28.
African News Agency