Fridae

In a verdict that made legal history, Marjorie Knoller, 46, has been found guilty of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and keeping a mischievous dog that killed a person.

Her husband, Robert Noel, 60, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and keeping a mischievous dog that killed a person.

The sentencing hearings will take place on May 10 in San Francisco. Knoller faces 15 years to life in prison while Noel who was not present at the time of the attack faces up to four years.

Never before in California history has a jury found a dog owner guilty of the actions of his or her pet.

The couple's two 120-pound Presa Canario dogs mauled their 33-year-old neighbour to death outside her apartment hallway on January 26, 2001. Both animals have been euthanised.

Whipple died at San Francisco General Hospital from blood loss and asphyxiation after medics and police found her naked, covered in blood and trying to crawl toward her door when they arrived on the scene.

The five-woman, seven-man jury who deliberated for two days said they said they took up the murder charge last, realising it was the most serious charge and the most difficult.

Juror Shawn Antonio, 27, said that the jurors played repeatedly a TV interview of Knoller in which she disavowed responsibility for Whipple's death.

"There was no kind of sympathy, no kind of apologies," he said. "It helped us a lot."

The case also made legal history earlier when Whipple's partner, Sharon Smith, sued for wrongful death - a right accorded only to married couples. A judge last summer ruled that Smith could file suit as a de facto spouse, and the California Legislature has since legalised that right for domestic partners.