The San Francisco Dog Mauling

In January 2001, 33 year old Diane Whipple was attacked and savaged by two dogs in San Francisco. She was taken to hospital but her injuries were too bad. She had, said one contributor to this documentary, been bitten on every part of her body. The animals were massive, bigger than the victim, and of a breed banned in many other countries. She never had a chance.

The dogs belonged to a neighbour, and the attack happened in the hallway of the apartment building; we see a still of the actual crime scene – which is what it was. The victim's blood was everywhere. The animals were put down, but the real story here was not the dogs but their owners, and this is where it gets weird. They were both attorneys, which is weird enough, not your average devil dog owners. They were indicted for second degree murder by a Grand Jury, and were defended by separate attorneys; the trial was moved to Los Angeles because of the strength of public anger against them. They were both convicted, he of involuntary manslaughter, she, Marjorie Knoller, of second degree murder. As she was present when the dogs killed the victim and had shown what amounted to depraved indifference at her fate, this was clearly warranted.

Knoller's conviction was overturned on appeal. They were eventually sentenced to four years apiece. Surprisingly, her second degree murder conviction was reinstated on a further appeal. After this documentary was first aired she was sentenced to fifteen years to life.