Noble to spend life in prison, board rules

Donald Allan Noble will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Less than a day after his parole hearing, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole voted that Noble remain incarcerated for life.

"No further hearings will be scheduled by the Board of Pardons," board chairman Curtis Garner wrote in a decision released to the Deseret News on Thursday.

Noble, 71, was convicted of killing Nadalee Noble, 43, in 1990 — just 90 minutes after she had him served with divorce papers. He confronted her outside a Park City grocery store. As she resisted, he shot her twice in the head. He then drove to the Park City Police Department and surrendered.

"It wasn't in the intention to kill her at the time," Noble said at his hearing. "I just wanted to talk it over with her. The minute she seen me she just went into a rage."

Nadalee Noble's family insists it was Noble who went into a rage, describing him as an abusive husband.

"If he is let out, regardless of his health and age, we will always be looking over our shoulder," her sister, Lori Cannon, told the parole board.

In its decision, the parole board listed as aggravating factors Noble's use of a weapon, the extent of the injury and a relatively vulnerable victim. The only mitigating factor the parole board cited was Noble's acceptance of responsibility.

"This was an event. It wasn't a behavior," Noble told Garner at Tuesday's hearing. "This was an event. The event's over."

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com