The Western Cape High Court has condemned a Guatemalan man, Diego Novella for the murder of his United States girlfriend, Gabriela Kabrins Alban, a US sales executive, at a Camps Bay hotel room on July 29, 2015.

Delivering his judgment, Judge Vincent Saldanha said: "In my view, the accused's version was wholly contrived. There is nothing in [his] conduct that his mind had been 'hijacked'."

Saldanha said he was satisfied that, at the time of the incident, Novella had the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

"In my view, he knew exactly what he was doing at the time and it was a clear indication on his part of the intent to murder the deceased," he said.