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HOW DOES IT FEEL TO MURDER SOMEONE? Apr 24 2003
Scot's question before he killed
Richard Elias

A SCOT strangled a wealthy American tourist after fantasising about murdering someone.

Robert Noble had often "thought about what it would be like to kill", a court heard.

Homeless Noble throttled Alyson Kaplan in a jealous fury after they had sex.

Former barman Noble persuaded the 20-year-old to go back to his hostel room after stepping in to save her from a drunk at a coach station.

Alyson, the daughter of a rich Californian financier who was on a tour of Europe, then agreed to have sex with Noble, 28.

But he strangled her minutes later after she refused to give him money and spent the night in the hostel room with her corpse.

Noble then fled from the west London hostel to Brighton and phoned a cousin in his home town of Gretna and told him: "I've killed a woman in a cruel and nasty way".

The next day, he gave himself up to police. His explanation for the crime was: "I had nothing and she had this, that and the other. I just lost it. I'm guilty as charged."

Noble, a father of two, has a string of previous convictions.

He said he had decided to rob Alyson after they had sex but when he demanded her bank machine number she began to struggle and scream.

He held a pillow over her face and then wound two scarves around her neck until she stopped moving. He also stole her £700 Gucci watch and pawned it for £10 to spend on drink. At the Old Bailey yesterday, Noble, who was not diagnosed with any psychiatric problems, showed no emotion as he was sentenced to life after admitting murder.

In a statement read out to the court, Alyson's younger sister, Tara, said: "Not only have I lost my best friend and guardian angel but also my personal mentor."

Judge Peter Beaumont told Noble: "You took a life in circumstances of violence, the life of a young woman who had every expectation that her life would be happily fulfilled.

"She was, furthermore, a visitor to this country and entitled to believe that she could travel here in safety. She was in a helpless situation that was not of her making. Her loss has left a family shattered and for that, the law permits but one sentence."

Alyson's father Donald described his daughter as popular and "bubbling with intelligence and love".