Memorial for Woman Killed in Dog Attack

S A N   F R A N C I S C O, Feb. 1 -- A memorial service will be held tonight for a woman mauled to death by a 120-pound dog that authorities say was part of a white supremacist gang's plan to breed vicious beasts to be sold as drug lab watchdogs, and the woman who raised the animal says she warned the new owners that he was dangerous.

Diane Whipple, 33, the coach of the St. Mary's College women's lacrosse team, was attacked last week as she came home from shopping, her arms full of groceries, by a dog named Bane that was bigger than she was.

Bane's owner said every time she managed to pull him off his victim and Whipple tried to get to her door, the dog again broke free and went for the woman's throat.

The dog has been killed, and another dog, 113-pound Hera, that is owned by the same couple and may have joined in the attack is being held by animal control officials while its fate is decided.

But the case does not end there.

According to District Attorney Terrence Hallinan, the owners — both of whom are lawyers — could face serious charges in the attack, because the woman who raised the dogs said she warned the attorneys the dogs were vicious. He said the case could be considered a homicide before the investigation is concluded.

"The lawyers were told that I felt they should have been put down before they left my property, because they showed aggression just through the fence," Janet Coumbs told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. She said was persuaded to raise the dogs by two prison inmates she met after a friend suggested that she visit people in jails to offer them comfort.

Trouble From the Start

The lawyers — Robert Noel, 59, and his wife Marjorie Knoller, 45 — had represented the two inmates, both of whom are members of the Aryan Brotherhood white supremacist group. The two convicts wanted to breed the powerful dogs, called Canarios, for use in dog fights and to be sold as guard dogs to methamphetamine labs, and planned to run the operation from prison, officials said.