Dog Owner Says She Tried to Stop Attack

Feb. 8 -- One of the owners of the dog that killed a San Francisco woman said she tried to stop the mauling, but the victim resisted her efforts and may have been responsible for her own death.

"I wouldn't say it was an attack, and I did everything that was humanly possible," Marjorie Knoller said today on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.

Knoller said she shoved mauling victim Diane Whipple into her apartment, and at least twice tried to cover Whipple with her own body to prevent the dog from biting her. As a result, Knoller said she herself suffered bites that did not break her skin. But Knoller said despite her efforts and verbal warnings, Whipple kept getting up, moving forward, resisting, and even punched Knoller in the eye.

"She came out into the hallway, which I didn't understand; I thought she was just going to slam her door shut," Knoller said. "She did strike me with her fist in my right eye, and that's when [the dog's actions] went from overly interested in her to he wanted to bite her."

Knoller and her husband, Robert Noel, could face murder charges. San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan was initially considering only manslaughter charges against the dog's owners. But to ensure the case is prosecuted, Whipple's companion partner has hired an attorney who says he is pressing Hallinan for second-degree murder charges under a mischievous dog section of California law.

"I want to see the two of them locked up," Whipple's partner, Sharon Smith, told The Associated Press. "This isn't a car accident, where it happens, and you grieve and then move on."

Hallinan's office says charges could be filed within 10 days against Knoller and Noel. Smith is also considering filing a civil lawsuit against the dog owners.

Fatally Mauled

Whipple, 33, a lacrosse coach at St. Mary's College, died at a hospital and was said to be unrecognizable after the dog, a presa Canario named Bane, ripped at her throat and mauled her on Jan. 26 outside her apartment door.