Captain Wayne Nachtmann, the Western Cape’s only specialist in psychologically-motivated crimes, is only summoned when things are highly unusual.

After American marketing specialist Gabriella Kabrins Alban was found dead in a Camps Bay hotel, Nachtmann was immediately called to the scene as it was “one of the strangest ever encountered by police,” reports News24:

Her body was half naked, there was a hair straightener protruding from between her private parts, the word “cerote” was written on her body, and the room at the upmarket hotel was a mess.

There were chips on her face and a brown substance all over her body.

And there was a PS chocolate bar left on her thigh.

While Nachtmann was speaking at the Western Cape High Court yesterday, Alban’s father Howdy sobbed, putting his hands over his face as he heard the details:

“We googled the word ‘cerote’,” Nachtmann continued.

“And, according to the Google definition, the word in Spanish means ‘piece of excrement’. Or, in the Guatamalan language, it says, ‘You have done something wrong with me’.”

Nachtmann said that he had sat with murder-accused and Alban’s Guatemalan boyfriend, Diego Novella, and described the scene at the hotel. In response, Novella just stared back at him.

In court, Novella sat in the dock, “listening to the painstakingly slow proceedings being held to check the minutiae of whether processes were followed when he was taken in for questioning”:

He is currently in the hospital section of Pollsmoor Prison, after being found fit to stand trial.

He has pleaded not guilty on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to drug intoxication.

At the moment, the court is attempting to establish whether a cellphone recording of Nachtmann’s interview with Novella is admissible:

Nachtmann is only allowed to answer questions about the procedures he followed, and may not answer any questions that could incriminate Novella until Judge Vincent Saldanha has ruled on the admissibility of the recording.

Much of the morning was consumed by whether Novella could be heard saying “yes” when asked by police if he understood his rights.

When his advocate William Booth disagreed that Novella could be heard saying “yes”, Saldanha told the prosecution to find a forensic sound specialist to make Novella’s voice more audible.

And while the scene of the crime was weird, another odd aspect is some of the questions that aren’t allowed to be asked.

Those include “the subject of the books and DVDs found in Novella’s room and the story behind his tattoos”. Like, why not?

Anyway, I’m here just wondering what the message on the PS chocolate bar was. Surely that’s a minor detail we could be privy to?

[source:news24]