Diane Alexis Whipple (January 31, 1967 – January 26, 2001) was an American

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

player and college coach. She was killed in a

dog attack A dog bite is a bite upon a person or other animal by a dog, including from a rabid dog. More than one successive bite is often called a dog attack, although dog attacks can include knock-downs and scratches. Though some dog bites do not result ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

on January 26, 2001. The dogs involved were two Presa Canarios: a male named Bane and a female named Hera. Paul Schneider, the dogs' owner, is a high-ranking member of the

Aryan Brotherhood The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the Brand or the AB, is a neo-Nazi prison gang and an organized crime syndicate which is based in the United States and has an estimated 15,000–20,000 members both inside and outside prisons. The Southern ...

and is serving three life sentence terms in state prison. The dogs were looked after by Schneider's attorneys, Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller, a husband and wife who lived in the same apartment building as Diane Whipple. After the fatal attack, the state brought criminal charges against the attorneys. Robert Noel, who was not present during the attack, was convicted of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

. Marjorie Knoller, who was present, was charged with implied-malice second-degree

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

and convicted by the jury. Knoller's murder conviction, an unusual result for an unintended dog attack, was rejected by the trial judge but ultimately upheld. The case clarified the meaning of implied malice murder.

Early life

Whipple was born in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. She grew up and attended high school in

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York. It is considered the anchor communi ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. She was raised primarily by her grandparents, and was a gifted athlete from a young age. She became a two-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n lacrosse player in high school, and later at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. She was twice a member of the U.S.

Women's Lacrosse World Cup The World Lacrosse Women's World Championship (WLWWC), formerly known as the Women's Lacrosse World Cup (WLWC), the international championship of women's lacrosse, is held every four years. From its inception in 1982, it was sponsored by the gov ...

team. Whipple later moved to San Francisco, and came within seconds of qualifying for the U.S.

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

team in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, for the 800 meters. However, she did not compete at the 1996 Olympic Team Trials. Instead, she became the lacrosse coach at

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic Church, Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college of ...

Moraga, California Moraga is a town in Contra Costa County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The town is named in honor of Joaquín Moraga, member of the famed Californio family. As of 2020, Moraga had a total population of 16,870 people. Moraga is ...

. At the time of her death, Whipple lived in San Francisco's

Pacific Heights Pacific Heights is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It has panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Palace of Fine Arts, Alcatraz, and the Presidio. The Pacific Heights Residents Association defines the neig ...

with her

domestic partner A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...

of six years, Sharon Smith.

Perpetrators

Marjorie Fran Knoller (born June 20, 1955) and Robert Edward Noel (June 22, 1941 – June 22, 2018) were attorneys married to each other. They were caregivers to the dogs that killed Whipple in

on January 26, 2001. After a trial that attracted international attention, they were sent to prison for involuntary

. However, on August 22, 2008, San Francisco Judge Charlotte Woolard reinstated Marjorie Knoller's second degree murder conviction.Egelko, Bob
Murder conviction reinstated in S.F. dog mauling.
''San Francisco Chronicle'', August 23, 2008. After attending

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

,Costantinou, Marianne
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?
''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 10, 2001. Knoller received her J.D. degree from

McGeorge School of Law University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific and is located on t ...

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. Noel graduated from the

University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt's schools and colleges provide education in business, law, public affairs, and the applied arts and sc ...

Law School in 1967. The two married in 1989. Starting in the mid-1990s, Noel and Knoller ran "their law office... out of a converted closet in their

apartment" in San Francisco.^(p. 144) In 2000, Knoller and Noel "obtained their two

Presa Canario The Presa Canario is a Spanish breed of large dog of mastiff or catch dog type. It originates in the autonomous region of the Canary Islands, and is found mostly in the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. It was formerly known as the Dogo Cana ...

s, named Bane and Hera, through their relationship with a pair of

Pelican Bay State Prison Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) is a supermax prison facility in Crescent City, California. The prison takes its name from a shallow bay on the Pacific coast, about to the west. Facilities The prison is located in a detached section of Cre ...

inmates, Paul 'Cornfed' Schneider (whom they had legally adopted as their son), and Dale Bretches, both members of the

prison gang." Knoller and Noel had first met Schneider at a trial.^(p. 148) Bane was male and Hera female; by January 2001, "Bane weighed 140 pounds and Hera close to 100 pounds."Lockyer, Bill, et al
Appellant’s Opening Brief.
In the Court of Appeal of the State of California / First Appellate District, Division Two. The People of the State of California, Plaintiff and Appellant, V. Marjorie F. Knoller, Defendant and Respondent. San Francisco County Superior Court No. 18181301, The Honorable James L. Warren, Judge. April 11, 2003.

Attack

On January 26, 2001, while returning home with bags of groceries, Whipple was attacked by the two dogs in the hallway of her apartment building. Knoller was taking the dogs out of their apartment at the same time Whipple returned. The dogs escaped her control and attacked Whipple. The dogs' owner, Paul Schneider, was a high-ranking member of the prison gang the

who was serving a life sentence in

. Schneider and his cellmate Dale Bretches were attempting to start an illegal Presa Canario dog-fighting business from prison. They initially asked acquaintances Janet Coumbs and Hard Times Kennel owner/breeder James Kolber of

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

, to raise the dogs during their incarceration. Against Kolber's advice, Coumbs chained the dogs in a remote corner of the farm, which caused them to become even more aggressive. After Coumbs fell out of favor with Schneider, attorneys Noel and Knoller agreed to take possession of the dogs. They had become acquainted with Schneider while doing legal work for prisoners, and had adopted Schneider (then age 38) as their legal son a few days before the mauling. Bane, the larger of the dogs, weighed . Just prior to the attack, Knoller was taking the dogs up to the roof; Bane, and possibly role in the mauling has never been firmly Whipple in the hallway. Whipple suffered a total of 77 wounds to every part of her body except her scalp and bottoms of her feet. Another neighbor called 911 after hearing Whipple's screams.Chmielewski, Dawn C. Tragic Accident or Criminal Act? - Mauling Trial Lawyers Clash in Final Arguments. Heavily Watched, Emotion-Charged Case Against S.F. Couple Goes to Jury Today. ''San Jose Mercury News'', March 19, 2002. Whipple died hours later at

San Francisco General Hospital The Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG) is a Public hospital in San Francisco, California, under the purview of the city's Department of Public Health. It serves as the only Level I Trauma Ce ...

from "loss of blood from multiple traumatic injuries (dog bite wounds)". Bane was

euthanized Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...

immediately after the attack; Hera was seized and later euthanized in January 2002. Whipple's memorial service at St. Mary's College, held on Thursday, February 1, 2001, was attended by more than 400 people.

Legal proceedings against dog owners

In March 2001, a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

indicted Knoller and Noel. Knoller was indicted for second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, Noel was indicted for involuntary manslaughter, and "both also face felony charges of keeping a mischievous dog".Chiu, Alexis. Grand Jury Indicts Two in Fatal S.F. Dog Mauling. 2nd-Degree Murder, Manslaughter Among Charges Husband, Wife Face. ''San Jose Mercury News'', March 28, 2001. The trial by jury, which began in January 2002, "was moved to Los Angeles because of extensive publicity in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

." At trial, Knoller argued that she had attempted to defend Whipple during the attack. 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. An acquaintance of Noel's testified that Noel did not apologize after Hera bit him a year before the fatal attack.Van Derbeken, Jaxon
Knoller picks new attorney for appeal. Flamboyant trial lawyer Ruiz replaced by veteran Riordan.
''San Francisco Chronicle'', April 10, 2002.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. Grand Jury About Efforts to Save Diane Whipple." ''San Jose Mercury News'', March 13, 2002.^(p. 211) Ultimately, the jury found both Noel and Knoller guilty of involuntary manslaughter and owning a mischievous animal that caused the death of a human being, and found Knoller guilty of second-degree murder. 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. Whether they had actually trained the dogs to attack and fight remained unclear.Zamora, Jim Herron
Knoller likely to be freed from prison. Parole may begin today in dog-maul case.
''San Francisco Chronicle'', January 1, 2004.Matier, Phillip, and Andrew Ross
Robert Noel, of killer-dog case fame, to get out of prison. Former attorney will serve 2-year parole in Solano County.
''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 10, 2003. 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. Although the judge granted a new trial for the second degree murder charge, he sentenced Knoller to four years in prison for the lesser-included involuntary manslaughter on July 15, 2002. Manslaughter and murder are mutually exclusive: one cannot be convicted of both manslaughter and murder for killing the same person. The state appealed the judge's action and sought to reinstate the second degree murder conviction. After Knoller's and Noel's convictions in 2002, the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

suspended their law licenses.Lagos, Marisa
Couple convicted in dog mauling lose licenses to practice law.
''San Francisco Chronicle'', April 7, 2007. Knoller resigned from the bar in January 2007; Noel was

disbarred Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal conduct ...

in February. On September 14, 2003, Noel was released from prison. By 2004, both Knoller and Noel had served their terms for the manslaughter convictions, and Knoller was out on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

while her second-degree murder conviction was under

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

. In May 2005, the state appellate court reversed the judge's grant of new second-degree murder trial for Knoller. The appellate court ruled that implied malice murder did not require knowledge of a high probability of death but rather just a conscious disregard of serious bodily injury. The appellate court returned the case to the lower court to reconsider Knoller's motion for a new trial using the serious bodily injury standard for implied malice murder.''People v Knoller''
41 Cal. 4th 139 (2007) Marjorie Knoller

Knoller appealed the appellate court decision to the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

.Egelko, Bob
Jury's verdict reinstated in dog mauling. State appeals court overrules judge who reduced conviction.
''San Francisco Chronicle'', May 6, 2005. On June 1, 2007, the California Supreme Court rejected the Court of Appeal's decision and ruled that implied malice murder required proof that a defendant acted with "conscious disregard" of the danger to human life. The Supreme Court held that the trial court's standard for implied malice murder (which required a high probability of death) was too strict and the appellate court's standard (which required only serious bodily injury rather than a danger to human life) was too broad. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the trial court to reconsider whether to allow the second-degree murder conviction to stand in light of this new reasoning.Egelko, Bob
State's top court OKs dog maul murder charge. Judge ordered to reconsider owner's original conviction.
''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 1, 2007. The San Francisco Superior Court reinstated the conviction for second-degree murder, and on September 22, 2008, the court sentenced Knoller to 15 years to life. Knoller then appealed the trial court's actions. On August 23, 2010, the First District Court of Appeal unanimously upheld Knoller's conviction, finding that she acted with a conscious disregard for human life when her Presa Canario escaped and killed Whipple. The California Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal of that decision. Knoller is currently serving her sentence at

Central California Women's Facility Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) is a female-only California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison located in Chowchilla, California. It is across the road from Valley State Prison. CCWF is the largest female cor ...

Chowchilla The chowchilla (''Orthonyx spaldingii'') is a passerine bird in the family Orthonychidae. It is endemic to Australia. Taxonomy In their 1999 study, Schodde and Mason recognise two adjoining subspecies, ''O. s. spaldingii'' and ''O. s. melas ...

. In November 2015, Knoller petitioned the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

to overturn her second-degree murder conviction. In February 2016, the Ninth Circuit upheld Knoller's second degree murder conviction. On February 7, 2019, California commissioners denied Knoller's first application for parole. Her December 2021 parole hearing was first postponed until August 29, 2022, then again until February 15, 2023. Her parole was denied. The two member panel cited her prison record and stated she would be a danger to society if released. She will again be eligible for parole in three years, in 2026. Whipple's partner, Sharon Smith, also succeeded in suing Knoller and Noel for $1,500,000 in civil damages. The civil case was notable in that the San Francisco Superior Court ruled in July 2001 that Smith was entitled to bring suit as Whipple's

under the Equal Protection Clause, against the defense's argument that a same-sex unmarried partner did not have standing. She donated some of the money to

to fund the women's lacrosse team.

Death of Robert Noel

Noel died of heart failure on June 22, 2018, in a

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

nursing home. It was his 77th birthday. Noel lived in relative obscurity following his release from prison, working for a time as a baker in

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, in the North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, approximately fro ...

. By 2016, increasing health problems led to his living out of a van for some time before he relocated to the San Diego area.

References

External links

Court TV coverage of Diane Whipple dog mauling case
*
Descent into Darkness
-

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

* Documentary series Mugshots from Court TV (now TruTV
"Mugshots: Knoller and Noel – The Attack Dog Scandal"
episode (2002) from ''

FilmRise FilmRise is a New York City–based film and television studio and streaming network, which has become one of the largest independent providers of content to ad-supported streaming (AVOD) platforms, in addition to providing the largest free direc ...

Documentaries''
Multimedia Special from the San Francisco Chronicle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whipple, Diane 1968 births 2001 deaths Accidental deaths in California American lacrosse players American LGBT sportspeople Crimes in the San Francisco Bay Area Deaths by person in California Deaths due to animal attacks in the United States Deaths due to dog attacks Lacrosse coaches Lesbian sportswomen LGBT lacrosse players Penn State Nittany Lions women's lacrosse players People from Princeton, New Jersey Saint Mary's Gaels women's lacrosse coaches 20th-century American women 20th-century American LGBT people 2001 in San Francisco