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Chesco man charged in botched suicide pact

A Chester County man has been charged with murder after he allegedly injected cocaine into his girlfriend in what he called a Romeo and Juliet-style suicide pact, then changed his mind after watching her die.

Anthony Michael Noble, 27, of Phoenixville, is charged with murder from what he described as a botched murder-suicide pact.
Anthony Michael Noble, 27, of Phoenixville, is charged with murder from what he described as a botched murder-suicide pact.Read morePhoto from Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office

A Chester County man has been charged with murder after he allegedly injected cocaine into his girlfriend in what he called a Romeo and Juliet-style suicide pact, then changed his mind after watching her die.

Anthony Michael Noble, 27, of Phoenixville, is also charged with drug delivery resulting in death, tampering with evidence, and related crimes, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said. He was arraigned and remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail awaiting a preliminary hearing in the case.

According to court records:

On Dec. 14, Joette L. Mullen, was found dead in her car about 9 a.m. along the Tow Path Road at the Schuylkill Canal Park after a passerby called Upper Providence Township police.

Police interviewed Noble, who said he had been with Mullen early that morning. The two were using rock and powder cocaine that they had purchased in Philadelphia on Dec. 13 and were getting ready to "do big shots," he allegedly said. He injected Mullen and then himself and became "out of it."

When he woke, Mullen was unresponsive. He tried CPR, realized she was dead, took the drug paraphernalia, and threw it in the river.

He told police that Mullen "hated life and didn't want to be here anymore."

Police interviewed an unidentified friend of Noble's who said that the defendant told him the couple had planned to commit suicide "Romeo and Juliet style." After Noble injected Mullen, he watched her have seizures and die, and decided he could not go through with the pact. When reinterviewed by detectives, Noble told them he backed out of the suicide pact.

Linda Ward, the victim's mother, told police her daughter suffered from depression, according to prosecutors.

The couple had been seen by Mullen's brother about midnight on Dec. 14 at a Phoenixville Wawa store, where they used the ATM, Ward told police.

Mullen's last text message to her mother, sent at 2:04 a.m., was "Mom, I'm fine."

She was found dead less than seven hours later.

mschaefer@phillynews.com

610-313-8111

@MariSchaefer