Murder accused says his mental state will play pivotal role in his trial

[Judi Lynn]

2. ‘She was like a character out of The Exorcist’

‘She was like a character out of The Exorcist’

news/crime-courts /

03 April 2016 at 12:29pm


Cape Town - The man accused of murdering US marketing executive Gabriela Alban in an upmarket Camps Bay hotel room says she looked like the protagonist in The Exorcist when he last saw her through a glass door after the pair took drugs together.

That’s according to a report before the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, which revealed Diego Novella’s alleged hallucinations that night, included that he was getting Morse code messages as he waded into the sea after the killing and that he thought he’d seen musician David Bowie.

The report was submitted by a panel of health experts who assessed the Guatemalan, held in Pollsmoor Prison’s hospital section, after he was referred for evaluation at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital. While the panel found him fit to stand trial, their report indicated the court could consider a plea of diminished responsibility thanks to Novella’s prolonged drug abuse.

Alban’s body was found on July 29, with faeces on her head and a curling iron beside her. Novella was reportedly semi-naked on Camps Bay beach when he was arrested. According to the report, the pair had taken a combination of sceletium (a herb chewed apparently to prevent stress) and cannabis oil at the Camps Bay Retreat Hotel.

More:
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/she-was-like-a-character-out-of-the-exorcist-2004401