“Guilty of murder.”
The words Malibu’s Howdy Kabrins has been waiting three long years to hear were finally uttered by Judge Vincent Saldanha in Western Cape High Court on June 28 in Cape Town, South Africa—nearly three years to the date from when Kabrins’ only child, Gabriela Kabrins Alban, was brutally murdered by her boyfriend in a hotel suite the two were sharing.
“Relief” is one word Kabrins shared when speaking by phone to The Malibu Times following the verdict. Kabrins said although people have congratulated him on news of a guilty verdict, it is too difficult to be in a celebratory mood. He called it a “bittersweet” time for his family—wife Linda, his ex-wife Doris Weitz and her husband Alexander Williams.
The four parents of Alban had been attending the long courtroom proceedings in South Africa uniting in their advocacy for their daughter.
“Our lives have been changed forever,” Kabrins explained.
The Malibu restaurateur who founded the La Salsa chain did not miss one date in court, despite the hardships he faced while living in Cape Town. He gave up his career to attend the trial and while in South Africa was mugged, took a nasty fall on a hike and was hospitalized with pneumonia. The stress was as overwhelming as the grief for Kabrins and his family. He described Weitz’s heart as “forever broken” and believes his family’s daily presence in court made a positive impact on the judge.
Alban, a 39-year-old successful Pepperdine graduate, was murdered by her boyfriend Diego Novella, the scion of a wealthy Guatemalan family, three years ago while the two were in Cape Town seeking medical treatment for Alban’s Lyme disease. When her desecrated body was found in the hotel suite they shared, police said they were “shocked to the core.”
Describing the tension-filled, packed courtroom when the verdict came down, Kabrins said, “The judge made it very clear he didn’t accept the testimony of the murderer.
“All I can say right now is the feeling is bittersweet,” the father continued. “I don’t have a way to describe how I feel. When I wake up in the morning it feels very, very different. I’m looking forward to moving forward. There’s a lot to do now. I’ve come 10,000 miles for the trial. I feel I have another 10 million miles to go and I plan to do it for Gaby. I look forward to building a legacy in her name.”
Kabrins is in the infancy stages of starting a foundation in his daughter’s memory that will educate young men and the world about femicide, which he identified as “a huge problem here in South Africa and other parts of the world.
“Domestic violence is a huge problem worldwide,” Kabrins said. “The only way to have an impact is creating a new language for young men in how to reshape the whole paradigm. My goal is to have an impact with boys as they prepare to become mindful men. I think there are opportunities to find positive after this horrible, horrible situation. It’s my goal. For those who know me—I’m as tenacious as I can be.
“I intend to spend the rest of my life creating positive impact, especially for young men and attitudes toward women,” Kabrins continued. “The judge made it clear this is an issue about privileged men getting away with murder and the judge made it clear the judicial system in South Africa is alive and well and getting stronger—protecting women and all its people.”
A sentencing date is set for August 7; there is no death penalty in South Africa. Novella will be sent to Pollsmoor Prison, where he’s currently held in the hospital ward, isolated from other inmates. Pollsmoor is known as one of the world’s most overcrowded and violent prisons. A life sentence in South Africa, though, is different from what Americans know, according to Kabrins.
“They refer to a life sentence as 25 years,” Kabrins described. “My prayer is there will be no chance of parole and that he will be in the general population. The rest will take care of itself.”
Kabrins again thanked his supporters and gave special recognition to his CrossFit friends in Malibu and South Africa for “boosting his physical well-being to stay the course,” adding the saying: “The heart of a lion does not go far on the legs of a chicken.” He credited his wife Linda with providing him “unyielding strength.”
