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He endured months in a Cape Town courtroom, listening to harrowing testimony about his daughter’s brutal murder.
But now Gabriela Kabrins Alban’s father can finally move on.
Gaby, an American marketing executive, was murdered in a Camps Bay hotel by her Guatemalan boyfriend Diego Novella, in 2015.
Novella was convicted of her murder in the Western Cape High Court on 28 June.
"The judge was very clear in his statement that Diego knew exactly what he was doing when he killed her," Howdy Kabrins’ told YOU.
"The things he did to her were inhuman and he wanted to humiliate her."
Gaby was found dead in the bathroom of their hotel room. Diego assaulted her before strangling her, then covered her dead body with chips and sweets, stuffing chocolates into her battered mouth.
Novella also defecated on Gaby’s head and feet. He placed a piece of paper bearing the Spanish word “sorote”‚ meaning “piece of sh*t”‚ on her forehead.
Diego had pleaded not guilty to the murder, blaming a concoction of drugs he had taken while on a "soul journey".
Gaby's mother, Doris Weitz, was also in court to hear the verdict and gave prosecutor Mornay Julius a hug after proceedings, reports News24.
Howdy, who has been living in Cape Town for the duration of the trial, says happy is not the right word to describe how he feels now that his daughter’s killer has been brought to book.
"I cannot really say I'm happy. But I did feel different when I woke up this morning.”
"My spirit is definitely lighter and I'm stronger than ever and ready to work on my daughter's legacy,” he added.
"This case has made me look deeper around the issue of violence against women."
