Cape Town - Guatemalan murder accused Diego Novella appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate's court on Tuesday when his case was postponed to the following week.
Dressed in a black tracksuit top and pants, Novella did not make eye contact with anyone except for his Spanish interpreter. His hair, lank and oily, barely covered a large green tattoo on the back of his neck.
Novella has been charged with the murder of his 39-year-old girlfriend, American businesswoman Gabriella Alban.
He was arrested after her body was discovered in the room they were sharing at a luxury boutique hotel in Camps Bay. It has been widely reported that she was strangled and viciously sexually assaulted with a curling iron.
International media have also taken an interest in the story reporting that it was a drug-fuelled sex session that went wrong, and that large amounts of cocaine were found in the room.
Novella's family is believed to be a high profile billionaire family running a cement business in Guatemala.
The 41-year-old is being represented by one of South Africa's top criminal lawyers, William Booth.
Booth was not in court on Tuesday, and instead sent his colleague Advocate Anthony Berinato. Berinato asked the court for a postponement for “purposes of final instructions”.
The magistrate responded, “so this is a date to confirm the date for a bail application”.
Berinato nodded and said “yes, those were indeed my instructions”. Booth could not appear for his client on Tuesday, as he is currently representing acclaimed artist and murder accused Zwelethu Mthethwa in the Western Cape High Court.
Novella will be back in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on August 31 when a date for a formal application will be set.
The magistrate also ordered that he continue his detention in the hospital wing of Pollsmoor Prison.
ANA