Yes it has been 25 years since the infamous dog-mauling murder case was SF’s Trial of the Century, but now decades later, the woman convicted of letting her dogs rip a neighbor to shreds is up for parole for a third time.

Back in 2001, before SFist existed, there was a high-profile murder trial in San Francisco so crazy that it made the Bob Lee-Nima Momeni murder trial look like an afternoon seminar at the SF Public Library History Center. That was the trial in the murder of Diane Whipple, who was killed exactly 25 years ago this coming Monday, in an incident where her neighbors' very vicious dogs ripped her to sheds in a Pac Heights apartment complex.

How long ago was this? It was so long ago that 9/11 had not happened yet, Gavin Newsom was still just a District 2 SF supervisor, and his wife was the now batshit-insane right-wing media personality turned ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was actually then the assistant DA who prosecuted this very case.

But the case drew outside international media coverage for other reasons. The owners of the killer dogs, conspicuously unremorseful Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel, were actually caring for those dogs because they belonged to their adopted adult son and Aryan Brotherhood skinhead inmate Paul “Cornfed” Schnieder, who was serving three life sentences in prison.

The case became even more notorious when the duo's attorney got down on all fours in a courtroom in an attempt to make a legal point. And there were also rumors of photographic proof that Knoller had engaged in pornographic sex acts with the dogs.

Regardless, both Knoller and Noel were convicted of second-degree murder for Whipple's death, but a judge later overturned Knoller's conviction. She was reconvicted in 2008 and sentenced to 15 years to life, and since then, has remained at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.

Fast forward to now, 25 years after Whipple’s death, and the Bay Area Reporter has the news that Knoller is up for parole, in a hearing that is scheduled for February 12. This would be her third attempt at parole, having previously been denied in 2019 and 2023.

Majorie Knoller is now 70 years old and in a wheelchair, seemingly unlikely to cause similar trouble in the future. But the Diane Whipple case was still unintentionally trailblazing for the LGBTQ+ community, as Whipple's partner Sharon Smith won the right to sue for wrongful death of her domestic partner, the first time that right had ever been awarded to someone in a same-sex domestic partnership.

“It was groundbreaking,” the National Center for LGBTQ Rights’ then-director Kate Kendell told the Bay Area Reporter. “She was the first person ever to win a wrongful death settlement as a surviving same-sex partner. Keep in mind, this was before we had won marriage.”

Should Knoller win parole, she would likely not be released until mid-July. And Governor Gavin Newsom would have the option of blocking that parole. Which would be an interesting decision for Newsom to have to make, considering that it was his notorious ex-wife who sent Knoller to prison.

Related: Remembering Diane Whipple's Place in LGBT Rights [SFist]

Image: (FILE PHOTO) Robert Noel (L) and his wife Marjorie Knoller (R) wait to present their case in a vicious dog trial that will determine the fate of their dog Herra February 13, 2001 in San Francisco, CA. Noel and Knoller are facing murder charges for the dog mauling death of 33-year-old Diane Whipple in 2001. Jury selection for the murder case will begin January 24, 2002 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo By Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)