After more than a month long recess, trial has resumed in South Africa in the murder of former Malibu resident Gabriela Kabrins Alban.
A toxicologist testified that no illegal substances were found in Alban’s system. Reports of cocaine found at the murder scene two years ago in a luxury Cape Town resort hotel room were unfounded. The white powdery substance confiscated after the crime was identified as sceletium, described in court as a natural tranquilizer.
Albans was in South Africa for treatment for Lyme disease when she was found bludgeoned to death in the hotel room she shared with her boyfriend, Diego Novella, who is accused of her murder.
Albans, who was 39, was a successful marketing director for Fortune 500 companies and the daughter of local restaurateur Howdy Kabrins.
Kabrins and his family have been in South Africa to attend the trial that he says could drag on through the end of the year. He has repeatedly claimed that his daughter was not a drug user and has vowed to clear her name and believes his presence in court will help win justice in the case.
The accused Novella has deep pockets as a member of a wealthy Guatemalan family. He pleaded not guilty due to diminished capacity from hallucinogenic drug intoxication.