Celeste Pernell | Homicide Watch Trenton

Trenton man gets 22 years for slaying girlfriend

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 16:06:14 -0500

A city man who viciously stabbed his girlfriend to death in June 2013 received 22 years of state incarceration on Friday but suggested life imprisonment would have been more appropriate.

William Nobles

William Nobles, who previously pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, said his slain lover “did not deserve to be murdered like that,” adding, “I don’t deserve to be back on the street.”

Nobles, 44, armed himself with scissors and stabbed 54-year-old Celeste Pernell over 20 times inside her Southard Street home on June 1, 2013. Trenton Police arrested him two days later on murder charges and weapons offenses.

Shackled in chains and sporting an orange jumpsuit, Nobles described himself as a “good person” when the court gave him the opportunity to speak Friday morning at his sentencing hearing. He also suggested his domestic violence was out of character, telling the court he had failed to take his medication prior to the slaying.

“I never ever meant to hurt Celeste,” Nobles said before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Thomas Brown. “I am not a violent person toward females. That’s not what I do. … I loved Celeste.”

Brown described the homicide as a “heinous, senseless, violent killing” and recited Nobles’ prior convictions for shoplifting, first-degree robbery and second-degree aggravated assault before sentencing the defendant to 22 years in state prison in accordance with the plea agreement.

Patricia Stokes-Combs, a longtime friend of the slain victim, admonished Nobles in no uncertain terms when she addressed the court Friday. Standing behind the podium and turning her body toward Nobles, Stokes-Combs said, “Celeste meant everything to us. … She fed you. She told me she loved you. When I first saw you, there was something about you I didn’t like.”

The bespectacled Nobles sat quietly at the defense table and looked down as Stokes-Combs spoke, prompting her to say, “Please look at me, Mr. Nobles. Mr. Nobles, be a man. Hold your head up. You’ve got to have some remorse.”

Nobles had taken the voice, air and last breath away from his girlfriend, Stokes-Combs said, adding, “I hope they bring you out of that jail in a body bag.”

After Stokes-Combs concluded her remarks, Nobles addressed the court and said, “I never met the lady who was standing here.”

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian described the June 2013 slaying as a “brutal domestic violence homicide” and mentioned the gory details of how Pernell had scissors protruding out of her neck when authorities discovered her slain body. “Ms. Pernell was killed by somebody she loved, somebody she trusted,” Gasparian said Friday at Nobles’ sentencing hearing.

If Nobles had taken his case to trial, public defender Jenna Casper would have presented a diminished capacity defense arguing that Nobles was in a temporary mental state that prevented him from forming the thought process necessary to prove he had intentionally killed his girlfriend.

At Friday’s sentencing hearing, Casper told the court her client “accepts responsibility” for the homicide, adding, “He’s extremely sorry for what happened.”

A grand jury in March 2014 indicted Nobles on murder charges and weapons offenses, but he ultimately resolved his case by pleading guilty Oct. 19 to the lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter. His plea agreement recommended a 22-year prison sentence and called for the state to dismiss the remaining charges in the indictment.

Although Nobles said, “I don’t deserve to be back on the street,” and, “If they had the death penalty I would accept it,” Judge Brown still honored the plea agreement and sentenced him to 22 years of incarceration.

Nobles must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before he can become eligible for parole and will be subjected to five years of parole supervision upon release. He received several years of jail credit for being locked up on high monetary bail while his case played out in court.

Trenton man to raise ‘diminished capacity’ defense in 2013 homicide case

Isaac Avilucea — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 14:07:54 -0500

A city man accused in the June 2013 stabbing death of his former girlfriend plans to raise a mental defense, claiming he was in a “diminished” state and unable to comprehend what he was doing at the time he allegedly took scissors and stabbed the woman in the neck more than a dozen times, his attorney said.

William Nobles

At a July court appearance, the defense attorney for William Nobles, 41, asked that her client undergo a psychological exam, paving the way for the mental defense.

Nobles’ attorney, Jenna Casper, confirmed that was the case at a Thursday status conference in Superior Court, saying Nobles was in a “diminished capacity” when he repeatedly plunged a pair of scissors into the neck of 54-year-old Celeste Pernell on June 1, 2013.

Pernell was found dead in the doorway of the Southard Street home she shared with Nobles. The scissors, which were used to stab her as many as 18 times, were found protruding from her neck, authorities said.

Nobles traveled to Camden following the murder and was found at a crisis center, where he reportedly admitted killing Pernell, prosecutors said.
Nobles’ mental defense could hinge on whether he can prove he was in a fugue state when he allegedly killed his former girlfriend.

In the eyes of the law, Nobles’ diminished capacity defense is different from an insanity plea in that he will claim he was in a temporary mental state that prevented him from forming the thought process necessary to prove he intentionally killed his former girlfriend. Insanity is a permanent state of mental illness that prevents a defendant from understanding his or her actions.

Legal experts note that diminished capacity is usually raised as a way for a defendant to argue for a charge other than murder. Nobles was offered a plea deal that calls for a mandatory 30-year sentence, prosecutors said.

Casper said her client has been examined by a doctor, who agreed he has mental health issues. Nobles was previously ruled competent to stand trial, prosecutors said.

Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian noted the curious timing of the mental defense, coming after the state said it had DNA evidence linking Nobles to the murder. She said the state plans to hire its own expert to confirm the defense’s findings.

She declined to be more specific about the DNA evidence, but said, in light of it, the case is no longer a “whodunit.” Nobles’ next scheduled appearance in court is March 9.

Defense attorney for William Nobles requests neuro exam, enters not guilty plea

Paul Mickle — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:31:25 -0400

A defense lawyer called for a neurological exam Monday for the suspected killer of Celeste Pernell, who was stabbed to death with scissors that were left in her neck.

Assistant Mercer County Public Defender Jenna Casper asked for the medical tests and entered a not guilty plea for 40-year-old William Nobles, who lived with Pernell, 54, and her mother.

Assistant Mercer Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian raised no objection to the neuro exam, but said another doctor already has issued a report saying Nobles is competent to stand trial.

Pernell was found dead in the doorway of her home on Southard Street in Trenton on June 1, 2013. Authorities said she had been dead for maybe a day and had been stabbed more than a dozen times with the scissors found protruding from her neck.

Nobles appeared in shackles and a jail jumpsuit for the hearing before Mercer Judge Robert Billmeier, who sent the suspect back to the lockup after the hearing.

City man indicted in connection with his girlfriend’s death

Penny Ray — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:59:08 -0400

Earlier this month, a grand jury returned an indictment charging a city man with murder in connection with the June 2013 stabbing death of his 54-year-old girlfriend Celeste Pernell.

William Nobles, 40, was indicted March 7 on charges of first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in connection with Pernell’s death.

According to charging documents in the case, Nobles was arrested and charged with Pernell’s death after a Camden resident called police and reported that Nobles had admitted to killing his girlfriend. Police were then dispatched to Pernell’s Southard Street home where they found her lying on the floor suffering from massive head trauma with scissors protruding from her neck, documents state.

Nobles remains held on $1 million bail.