Convict in dog-mauling case gets out

The man whose two huge dogs mauled his lesbian neighbor to death in their San Francisco apartment building was released from prison September 12 after serving little more than half his four-year sentence. Robert Noel, 62, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2001 death of Diane Whipple. He will be on parole for at least three years. Noel and his wife, Marjorie Knoller, were convicted in 2002. She too was sentenced to four years in prison. The couple's Presa Canario dogs attacked Whipple, 33, in their apartment hallway as she fumbled for her keys. The couple were widely reviled after Noel suggested that Whipple may have attracted the dogs' attention with her perfume or even steroids. Noel, who served most of his time in Oregon, was transferred to a state prison in Susanville, Calif., before he was released. Knoller, 48, is at a prison in Chowchilla, Calif., and is not scheduled for release until March. Both were lawyers who specialized in lawsuits on behalf of inmates.