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American Morning

Criminal Charges Brought for Owners of Killer Dogs

Aired March 28, 2001 - 11:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Two San Francisco lawyers whose dogs killed a woman at her apartment building now face criminal charges. Marjorie Knoller, who was with her two dogs when they killed Diane Whipple in late January, has been charged with second-degree murder. She and her husband, Robert Noel, also face charges of involuntary manslaughter and keeping a mischievous dog that killed a human being.

They were arrested last night in Corning, California, after they were indicted by a San Francisco grand jury. Knoller and Noel say they were caring for the two dogs, both of them mastiffs, on behalf of a prison inmate.

One of the dogs was put to death after the attack. The other one remains in police custody and may be put down later on.

HARRIS: Let's go now to the phones for more on the dog attack arrest from reporter Mary Ellen Geist of KGO Radio. She's been following this story. Mary Ellen, can you tell us whether or not there's any sense at all maybe that Knoller and Noel here are getting raw deal? Is there any sentiment at all on their behalf out there?

MARY ELLEN GEIST, KGO REPORTER: No, I'm in Pacific Heights right now next to the apartment building where the attack occurred. I've been talking with neighbors. And there's really a sense of relief. This is the end of a chapter at least in this long, drawn-out, bizarre case.

And at this point, every single person I've talked to has said to me they do not believe that these charges are too severe. And the sentiment really at this point was that the grand jury apparently felt that they could have had this strong of a case, is that feeling here too among neighbors that these dogs were trained to do what they did. That's a quote from one of the people I talked with. So it's a sense of relief, and that these charges are not too severe at all.

HARRIS: Have any of those neighbors ever related to you incidents that happened with them and these dogs?

GEIST: You know, I have talked with several people over the last couple of months. This, of course, happened on January 26. And this has just wound up with this bizarre, a car ride through northern California, police pulling these people over. There's a sense this has ended now. But over the last two months, people have come forward. Some of those people are the people who testified with the grand jury. And I talked with people who saw these dogs as they walked their dogs down the street. And they felt they were very dangerous.

There were people who were bitten. Various neighbors were bitten. Diane Whipple had a bite mark on her hand the night she was killed because she had been bitten a couple of days before. So many people here felt that these were vicious dogs and that these people knew what they had on their hands.

HARRIS: Well, do you know anymore about the background the dogs? Because I've been reading in the last couple of days that these dogs were actually owned by some person who is in prison right now, who had been using them or training them to perhaps guard some sort of methamphetamine lab or something like that. Have you heard about that?

GEIST: Yes, it's very strange. They adopted a convict. It's a really strange story. But they adopted a 38-year-old man. That adoption came through just a couple of days after this attack. They had been very close with this man.

And what the rumors are, and there actually are some papers documenting that these convicts in Pelican Bay State Prison, convicted murderers two of them, had owned these dogs, had gotten the dogs to be bought by someone. He kept them on this ranch. Those dogs then actually ate a herd of sheep at one point. They ate all the person's chickens. I mean, they were dangerous, vicious dogs obviously.

And then they -- apparently Knoller and Noel were somehow involved as lawyers in this case trying to represent these two convicts. They then met the dogs, said they liked the dogs, took over ownership of the dogs. They then took these dogs into this Pacific Heights apartment and were taking care of them.

Many people are saying that these were fighting dogs trained to eventually guard things like methamphetamine labs in Mexico. And they definitely were trained as fighting dogs.

HARRIS: Of all the stories I've heard from California, that one may be the most bizarre, someone adopting a 38-year-old.

GEIST: It's a very strange story. And we're going to hear even more strange stuff. Yesterday, they were on a long ride. They took police on sort of a slow-speed chase.

HARRIS: Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that because it seems like the police had been following them for a while. Were they trying to escape or what?

GEIST: It was very strange. Marjorie Knoller was testifying for almost three hours. She had an anxiety attack. They even brought a gurney into the courtroom. They called paramedics. She then felt OK again. Knoller and Noel then got in their car in a Chevy Impala. They headed north on I-80. Police knew these grand jury indictments might come down. They followed in unmarked cars. But Noel was driving, and he was weaving in and out. He went to speeds of 90 miles per hour. They pulled him over and gave him a speeding ticket.

He said, "OK, I'm heading north." He kept going to 170 miles north of San Francisco. They pulled him over at that point, and they then moved in to arrest him because grand jury indictments came through.

She fainted again. It's a very strange story. We are going to hear many more odd things I'm sure as this case continues.

HARRIS: No doubt. If you find any other millionaires out there who want to adopt a 38-year-old, give them my number. Mary Ellen Geist, KGO in San Francisco, thanks much. This is going to be a strange story, and it's not over yet.

KAGAN: No, I guess it gets stranger and stranger. We'll be follow it for you.

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