In 2015, Knoller was once again back before a judge hoping to appeal her conviction. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. Noel faces a maximum of four years in prison if he is found guilty. It had been seven years since Whipples death. ", He admitted under cross-examination that the dogs were in the state they were because of the way they were being handled by Coumbs, who had them chained up. Knoller testified that she first saw Hera at Coumbs's place on March 31, 2000. Freezing temps that fall into the 20s may soon hit parts of Bay Area, 'Lady in the fridge' murder victim identified as Bay Area mother of 3, Snow shuts down over 70 miles of I-80;Donner Summit 'dangerous', Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Noel had downloaded [***61] information from a Web site on Presa Canario dogs and Knoller discovered that this breed is the national dog for the Canary Islands. The married lawyers decided to keep them in their sixth-floor Pacific Heights apartment. They allegedly expected to find customers among the Mexican Mafia. The two women argued about the dogs behavior. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). "I just felt Hera was a dog I couldn't be sure about.". Another neighbor called 911 after hearing Whipple's screams. A medical examiner would later say the only parts of Whipples body that were spared were the top of her head and the soles of her feet.. They were Presa Canarios, a brindled Spanish mastiff mostly bred as guard or attack dogs. In any case, Knoller said, she opened her apartment door, trying to get Bane inside, when Hera, the couple's other Presa Canario, stuck her head out and started barking, agitating Bane. Bane and Hera, the couple's two presa Canario dogs, each weighing more than 100 pounds, attacked the 33-year-old lacrosse coach outside of her doorway on Jan. 26, 2001. According to Knoller, Whipple stared at the two dogs with disgust as Knoller struggled to hold the massive dogs back. At some point, Whipple accused Knoller of not controlling her dogs, and said, Your dog jumped on me.. Bob might have sent one of these to Paul. There was nothing, However, in a letter to Schneider, Knoller did once brag that Bane was her . violent offenses including stabbing another attorney. The judge told Smith she didnt have to answer, and Smith did not. A pretrial profile on Guilfoyle that ran in Chronicle said the 32-year-old favors librarian glasses and wants people to know that she is not some cupcake.. Knoller claims she didnt learn he was dead until three months later. The documents also sum. Please e-mail. Knoller emerged from her apartment. Noel and Knoller said they got the dogs from one of the gang members, a Pelican Bay State Prison inmate named Paul "Cornfed" Schneider, whom they had represented and legally adopted as their son. But, he concluded, "These animals, irrespective of training or anything, I felt were dangerous animals.". That is, they adopted their violent, white supremacist client, Cornfed Schneider. Hera was aggressive, Coumbs said, and once devoured one of her sheep. The horror of the crime would claim other victims as well. She was a lacrosse star and narrowly missed qualifying for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the 800-meter. Knoller recalled later that Whipple was standing in her open apartment door, staring at Bane. By the time police arrived, there was little that could be done for her; the dogs powerful jaws had punctured her trachea and left almost 80 bite marks on her body. Follow. However, on August 22, 2008, San Francisco Judge Charlotte Woolard reinstated Marjorie Knoller's second degree murder conviction. Those cities and towns that have breed-specific laws normally put restrictions on these "Canary dogs" as a pit bull variant--in other words, a "gripping dog" created for the purpose of battling other animals to the death . Once inside the courtroom, he, retrieved the soup ladle from his rectum and attacked a defense attorney, , Philip Cozens. Marjorie Knoller, the former attorney who was convicted of second-degree murder in the dog-mauling death of Whipple in 2001, was denied parole again last week still deemed by a parole board to be a threat to society. Knoller likely to be freed from prison. Eventually Bane dragged Knoller over to Whipple and her open apartment door. "I have never written a letter like this -- I just felt so convinced that the potential was so great. Which he did. His unwillingness to do so is why Coumbs eventually quit the dog-breeding business. [24] On September 14, 2003, Noel was released from prison.[25][26]. Knoller was taking the dogs out of their apartment at the same time Whipple returned. Bane had an eye for ladies. True, she has been a fashion and lingerie model and hobnobs with the citys elite, being seen with Bill Getty and now Supervisor Gavin Newsom, the profile went on. Their convictions were based on the argument that they knew the dogs were aggressive towards other people and that they did not take sufficient precautions. She rushed to her door and spied the scene through her peephole since she was scared of the dogs. Five days before her 34th birthday, Whipple returned from a grocery store run to her home at 2398 Pacific Ave. After Coumbs fell out of favor with Schneider,[10] attorneys Noel and Knoller agreed to take possession of the dogs. That scored him a second life sentence. [4] Instead, she became the lacrosse coach at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California. , Schneider decided hed start a dog-breeding business with the help of an unmarried Mormon woman who fell in love with the guy known as the most dangerous man in the California prison system. She didn't change her opinion even after Bane and another dog broke down the door of her home one day in 1999, urinated to mark his territory and ate four pairs of her shoes. 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The California Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal of that decision. Can I still get Beyonc tickets? As, , just after she called 911 for the second time, The barking stopped, the growling stopped and then there was silence., Eventually, the animal control officers collared the dog with two poles and dragged him outside the apartment building and put him down for good with 25cc of. In a letter to Schneider, Noel had written about the encounter: As soon as the [elevator] door opens at six, one of our newer female neighbors, a timorous little mousy blond who weighs less than Hera, is met by the dynamic duo exiting and almost had a coronary., Hera was the couples other dog, also a Presa Canario and also trained to protect Mexican meth labs. As Knoller brought the 120-pound dogs back from the roof, they raced out of her control to attack . Bane and Hera, the two Presa Canarios that killed Whipple, remained in custody of Marjorie Knoller, and her husband and fellow attorney Robert Noel, in their apartment right across the hall from Whipple, despite at least 30 complaints about their behavior. Clients of Knoller and Noel in several lawsuits against the California Department of Corrections, Bretches and Schneider are alleged leaders of the white supremicist Aryan Brotherhood. They sent a 19-page letter to San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinanaccusing Whipple of bringing death on herself. [10] Starting in the mid-1990s, Noel and Knoller ran "their law office out of a converted closet in their Pacific Heights apartment" in San Francisco.[10](p. Knoller and Noel began proceedings to adopt Schneider on January 15. Bane, she said, loved a kitten named "Chewy Chewbacca" and never menaced anyone. It was also revealed to the jury that Noel was missing a finger Bane had severed it in a previous attack. 148) Bane was male and Hera female; by January 2001, "Bane weighed 140 pounds and Hera close to 100 pounds. They found Bane locked-up in the bathroom. [39] She donated some of the money to Saint Mary's College of California to fund the women's lacrosse team. with a soup ladle he pulled from his rectum. He covers culture, politics, race, and other perplexing mysteries for MEL. a veterinarian testified yesterday. In recent years, Jaxon has explored the circumstances behind the explosion and fire of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'sSan Bruno gas pipeline inSeptember 2010, which killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. Your email address will not be published. According to the New York Times, The bloodbath in the hallway was so horrific that police officers at the scene had to receive trauma counseling., Paul Cornfed Schneider was born in 1962 and raised by a strict retired-military stepfather. It took the jury members just 11 hours to return their verdict: Noel and Knoller were guilty of all charges. January 26, 2001, was a Wednesday. Schneider and another Pelican Bay inmate had organized the training of Bane and Hera as part of a business venture, selling presa canarios as guardogs, probably to drug gangs. I wanted to let Marjorie know. Around 4 p.m., five days before her 34th birthday, Diane Whipple arrived home from grocery shopping. But unlike sheepdogs, Presa Canarios prefer to run up to a bull and bite its lip or ear and then drag the bull to the ground by its face. The two member panel cited her prison record and stated she would be a danger to society if released. "Every piece of clothing was taken off of her by these dogs.". If she had, this would have never happened.. Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel had adopted Bane and Hera from a prison inmate who was training them as guard dogs. Hammer interjected, stopping the demonstration. Noel died of heart failure on June 22, 2018, in a La Jolla nursing home. Bane, the dog that attacked Whipple, weighed about 123 pounds; the second dog that participated in the mauling, Hera, weighed 112 pounds. Yet despite his bloodlust, it wasnt Bane that ruined the set-up that Schneider had arranged with Coumbs. Then, a short moment later, Birkmaier heard a bang at her front door. And so, when the Presa Canarios attacked Whipple in her hallway, she stood far less a chance than a fully-grown bull. "[15], At trial, Knoller argued that she had attempted to defend Whipple during the attack. Marjorie Knoller weeps as her attorney describes the events of the death of Diane Whipple, who died Jan. 26, 2001, from wounds caused by Knoller's dogs. Kimberly Guilfoyle to prosecute Knoller and Noel. ", Webby, Sean. 2002-02-21 04:00:00 PDT Los Angeles -- Long before it mauled Diane Whipple to death, the 120-pound dog that wound up living in a San Francisco apartment was the leader of a pack of vicious animals and was a clear threat to go "out of control" and hurt someone. He wouldn't get into the cage with Hera to vaccinate her, Martin said, preferring to use the farm's owner, Janet Coumbs, to hold her against the fence. Nearly 20 years later, the case continues to make headlines. "They even gave this operation, this kennel, a name," Hammer told the jury. However, witnesses testified that Knoller and Noel had repeatedly refused to control the dogs; a professional dog walker testified that, after she told Noel to muzzle his dogs, he told her to "shut up" and called her offensive names. She was awarded $1.5 million in damages, some of which she put toward a scholarship foundation in Whipples name. All nine counts were dismissed in 1997. State appeals court overrules judge who reduced conviction. San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan speaks to the press after the arraignment of Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel for the dog-mauling death of Diane Whipple on March 29, 2001. But then, he went back on his word and sued the corrections system for excessively X-raying him following his courtroom magic trick with the disappearing shiv. Coumbs [also] complained that the dogs had eaten her chickens, her sheep, and her daughters cat.Knoller and Noel sued Coumbs for Schneider, and took custody of the dogs in early 2000. When the police finally arrived, nearly seven minutes later, Whipple was lying on the floor naked. [22] Knoller resigned from the bar in January 2007;[23] Noel was disbarred in February. He had a hard-on that big. All of her clothing had been shredded by the dogs. Hammer said he would show that the defendants knew the animals were dangerous but chose not to do anything about it. Posts. That earned him a life sentence and a pair of tattoos, an A and B inked on his right hand. It was his 77th birthday. Both served their years in state prison and were paroled. After dozens of witnesses and weeks of fraught testimony, the prosecution and defense rested. What was worse, he said, was that the other dogs appeared to be following Bane's example. Meanwhile, emergency responders rushed Whipple to the hospital, where she later died from a heart seizure. Noel said that his newly-adopted prison gang leader son serving multiple life sentences was a person who had character and integrity, and that hes got a family now., But this was just the beginning of the weirdness to come out about their relationship. The parole board determined Knoller remains a threat to society and will remain incarcerated. Her throat had been ripped open, her larynx crushed. Representing one Janet Coppini, founder of an organization called TLC that briefly held the city of Petaluma animal control contract in 1995, Noel in early 1996 alleged in a nine-count lawsuit that ANIMAL PEOPLE had libeled Coppini with a two-sentence summary of her removal from the Petaluma shelter by city police. According to the, The bloodbath in the hallway was so horrific that police officers at the scene had to receive trauma counseling., After he was apprehended, tried, convicted and sentenced, Schneider was sent to. [11], Just prior to the attack, Knoller was taking the dogs up to the roof;[8] Bane, and possibly Hera Hera's role in the mauling has never been firmly established attacked Whipple in the hallway. But he had one condition for his plea: He demanded he be rewarded with two pepperoni pizzas and a two-liter of Pepsi for not wasting the courts time. Per the, , While seeking evidence in the mauling, police found risqu photos of Knoller in Schneiders cell. Both served their years in state prison and were paroled. I wanted to let Marjorie know. He wrote in the letter that the dogs would be a liability in any household.. Still, the judge stunned legal observers when Knoller was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life for what authorities referred to as the first death-by-dog in the history of San Francisco. Simpson case, the Rodney King beating and the Los Angeles riots as well as numerous local stories, ranging from Your Black Muslim Bakery to Fajitagate to the dog mauling death of Diane Whipple and the ensuing trial of the dog's owners. Her apartment was on the sixth floor. Bad Company: How did two otherwise unremarkable lawyers end up enmeshed in one of the most bizarre and brutal killings San Francisco has seen in recent years? Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Chmielewski, Dawn C. "Testimony Is Challenged - The Prosecutor Disputes Details from Marjorie Knoller, Saying She has Been Inconsistent in Her Accounts in Court and to the S.F. However, after being paroled, during Knollers probation hearing in 2008, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charlotte Woolard opted to reinstate the jurys original verdict of 15 years to life. Ladies and gentlemen, this is it, the judge told the jury. A month before her death, Whipple came home with a harrowing tale: She told Smith the neighbors big dog Bane had snapped at her wrist. Officials from the Department of Corrections said they believed Noel and Knoller were serving as intermediaries in Schneiders illicit prison business: selling dogs to criminal buyers. Weeks after Bane killed Diane Whipple, Knoller and Noel decided they needed to add a new member to their family. He said he would show at least 30 instances in which Bane and Hera attacked other people, including an incident in which one dog severed Noel's finger. It was Schneider himself. 1975 The FCI has recognized the Breed Breeder and researcher of Presa Canario. The 33-year-old lacrosse coach was met in the hallway by her neighbor, a lawyer named Marjorie Knoller. There was incredible tension. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. I wasn't a BeyHive member. Schneider had underworld connections and was using associates on the outside to handle the buying, rearing and selling of the dogs, the official said. However, she did not compete at the 1996 Olympic Team Trials. ': A magical hike's dark side. ", Prosecutor: Victim Was Bitten From Head to Toe. On 26 January 2001, two Presa Canarios, a dog and a bitch named Bane and Hera, attacked and mauled Diane Whipple in the hallway of her Paci Heights apartment in San Francisco, where she lived with her partner, Sharon Smith. But when she didnt make plans to remove his dogs from her farm, Schneider threatened her life. He would be the top dog. Jaxon Van Derbeken has been the San Francisco police and courts reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle since 1997 and leads the paper'sinvestigative and enterprise reporting efforts. [9][17][18][19], Although the jury found Knoller guilty of second degree murder, trial judge James Warren granted Knoller a new trial on the second-degree murder conviction; the judge believed the appropriate standard for implied malice murder required that Knoller knew taking the dog into the hall involved a high probability of death. But Knoller and her husband Noel didnt care. Did Sex Abuse Spur Deadly Attack? Bane and Hera were the Presa Canario dogs that savagely killed Whipple. Heavily Watched, Emotion-Charged Case Against S.F. In the fall of that year, defendants brought a male Presa Canario named Bane to their home. "Judge Sentences S.F. Boy, was that dog hung. 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