There was high drama in a South African courtroom this week where a Guatemalan national citizen is being tried for the murder of former Malibu resident Gabriela Kabrins Alban, according to accounts from the victim’s father.
The accused, Diego Dougherty Novella, may have been under the influence of marijuana when he “flipped out,” according to the victim’s father, local restaurateur Howdy Kabrins. Kabrins, who has been attending the painstakingly long trial in Cape Town, said the accused was “staring” the victim’s stepmother down and getting aggressive with his attorney.
He then said something that caused Kabrins to lunge at him. It took four warrant officers to finally take Novella down. The defendant was taken to a hospital for drug tests and a psychiatric evaluation, delaying the trial again for a few days. Novella is accused of killing 39-year-old Alban, a Pepperdine graduate, two years ago in South Africa.