The accused murderer of Gabriela Kabrins of Malibu has once again been denied bail in South Africa. Gabriela, the daughter of Howdy Kabrins, was murdered in Cape Town in July 2015. Defense attorneys for accused killer Diego Novella Dougherty, a Guatemalan national, had appealed an earlier bail denial. Prosecutors successfully argued that Dougherty is a flight risk because he has two passports and the financial means to flee, since he comes from a very wealthy family.
The 39-year-old Gabriela was viciously murdered at the luxury resort, Camps Bay, where she was staying with the suspect. Howdy, the victim’s father and well known Malibu restaurateur, has made numerous trips to South Africa in a quest for justice for his daughter. Howdy is about to return to South Africa for a hearing Oct. 28 that will determine a start date for the murder trial. He told The Malibu Times it’s important for him to be in the courtroom as the defense and prosecutors hammer out when each side will be ready to try the case.
“I do want to create visibility in South Africa to send a message to the community there — to create awareness,” Howdy said. He called this latest bail denial an important milestone in moving the case forward and also expressed confidence with the prosecution team.
The murder of his daughter has been devastating to Howdy, his wife Linda and her daughter Nikki, Gaby’s stepsister, as well as the victim’s mother, Doris Weitz, and her husband Alexander Williams. The numerous court hearings in Cape Town have also brought an emotional toll on top of that grief. Howdy has travelled to South Africa at least six times advocating for his daughter, but since this latest ruling happened while he was home in Malibu, it presented other challenges. The nine-hour time difference alone has meant many sleepless nights while he has been keeping in close phone contact with a team of prosecutors and supporters. But what has kept him most unsettled and on edge the past few weeks was the possibility of Dougherty, 42, winning his appeal for bail.
The defendant has deep pockets and a team of lawyers. Dougherty was born into a family worth billions that runs a construction company and supplies most of Central America with concrete. He’s had an unstable history of drug use and spotty employment. Should he return home, there is no extradition treaty between South Africa and Guatemala.
“The hard part is, how in the world could a judicial system support that ruling? But in South Africa, you just don’t know,” Kabrins said. “I felt 99.9 percent sure it wouldn’t happen, but there was a possibility he could have been released.” In the well-publicized Oscar Pistorius trial, which also took place in South African courts, bail was granted after a murder conviction.
The Oct. 28 hearing should determine a court date for the murder trial to begin. Howdy said he expects the trial to start some time in April. He and Linda will be there, as will Weitz and Alexander. The suspect faces life in prison if convicted.
In the meantime, Howdy has said he is grateful for the support he’s gotten from the community in Malibu and in South Africa, including the ANC (African National Congress), the Jewish community, women’s rights groups and the hospitality industry.
Gabriela was raised in Malibu and graduated from Pepperdine University. She was a marketing executive specializing in Hispanic media representing Fortune 500 clients. She had known the suspect on and off for more than a decade. Howdy said Dougherty persuaded his daughter to join him in South Africa with the promise of a cure for her debilitating Lyme disease. She went, Howdy explained, “Because she was so sick.”
Detectives in Cape Town say there is no forensic evidence to suggest a third party was in her hotel room and that there was no sign of forced entry.
A crowd-funding site, justiceforgaby.com, has been set up to help finance Howdy Kabrins’ travel and legal expenses. Howdy has vowed, “I won’t stop. I have to do everything I can to get justice for Gaby.”