Camps Bay killer's appeal: Diego Novella awaits Supreme Court date
Cape Town - The man dubbed the Camps Bay killer who was granted leave to appeal his conviction and sentence for the murder of his American girlfriend Gabriella Kabrins Alban is going ahead full steam with his application as his legal team waits for his date at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
This week, Diego Novella’s lawyer, Advocate William Booth confirmed with Weekend Argus that his client was only waiting for a date for his appeal to be heard.
“We are still waiting for a date from the Registrar at the SCA. Then we will submit the heads of arguments and the appeal on the date set,” he said.
Earlier this year, Booth confirmed they were waiting for a transcript of the legal proceedings to be typed out.
According to court papers, Novella’s leave to appeal was granted in August 2023 after it was filed in 2021.
Novella is currently imprisoned at Brandvlei prison in the Western Cape.
Via his filing application he said: “The learned Judge did not find substantial and compelling circumstances to warrant a departure from the minimum sentence of 15 years direct imprisonment.
“In the Appeal against sentence, I submit that there are sufficient mitigating circumstances, not only with regard to the circumstances surrounding the offence but also with regard to my specific personal circumstances to have warranted a lesser sentence.”
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.
In 2023, Novella 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 wrong.
Novella pleaded not guilty to the murder and said he did not intend to kill Alban.
He claimed 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 said after his arrest he was referred to Valkenberg Mental Hospital where he was placed under observation and that it was a unanimous decision of the panel at the time of the incident, that he had diminished responsibility.”
Novella explained he had been in a lengthy relationship with Alban 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 Alban’s illness, known as Lyme disease.
He was arrested in July 2015 in Cape Town, the same day when Alban’s body was discovered by hotel staff in Camps Bay.
Novella further claims the State did not have enough toxicology reports available to provide an accurate assessment of his intoxication prior and after the murder.
He claimed blood was not taken from him for proper testing of his intoxication.