Explicit photos of Camps Bay murder scene will be made public‚ judge tells defendant

Murder accused Diego Novella was set to finalise his plea on Tuesday afternoon after a morning full of debate over his “diminished capacity” when his girlfriend‚ Gabriela Alban‚ was found dead.

Judge Vincent Saldhana warned Novella’s attorney‚ William Booth‚ multiple times that if he chose to proceed with the “diminished capacity defence” his client would still be criminally liable and would face a “competent” verdict.

This defence was based on initial reports by a panel of physicians at Valkenberg psychiatric hospital‚ who found that at the time of the murder he did indeed suffer from “diminished responsibility” due to drug ingestion.

Saldhana refused to accept this decision as a reasonable defence because of the same panel’s determination that Novella was competent to stand trial.

• Guatemalan tourist pleads not guilty to murder of girl friend in Cape Town hotelA day after what would have been Gabriela Alban’s 40th birthday‚ her parents and closest family were in the Cape Town High Court for her murder trial. 

Further conflict came at the end of the morning’s proceedings when Novella became visibly upset as Saldhana announced that crime scene photos would become public.

Novella repeatedly asked “what the benefit of publishing these photos would be”‚ to which Saldhana only replied he could not speak on behalf of the media or public.

Saldhana cautioned reporters in the gallery to proceed with extreme caution when handling crime scene photographs.

• Cape Town court delays are killing me‚ says father of murdered US touristThe numerous delays in Diego Novella’s murder case are taking a toll on the father of his slain girlfriend. 

“These images are explicit and may upset the people that see them. They must be handled with care and with absolute respect for the dignity of the deceased‚” Saldhana said. On Tuesday afternoon Alban’s father‚ Howdy Kabrins from California in the US‚ was due to take the stand as the first witness in Novella’s trial.

Alban and Novella had been dating for two years and Alban had been visiting Novella at his home in Guatemala City‚ Guatemala‚ when the couple chose to travel to South Africa in April 2015.

During their visit they planned to attend a “cleansing clinic” in Magaliesburg to treat Alban’s Lyme disease.

They booked into the Camps Bay Retreat Boutique Hotel on July 25. Four days later Alban’s body was found with faeces on her head and a curling iron beside her. It was previously reported that Novella was arrested partially naked on Camps Bay Beach later that day.