Background: The Arizona State Prison in Buckeye, Arizona (Google Maps). Inset: Joseph Noecker (Yavapai County Attorney's Office).
An Arizona man will spend years behind bars for restricting his wife's movements and violently attacking her to induce an abortion.
Joseph Noecker, 43, was sentenced this week to 10 years in prison for attempted second-degree murder, the Yavapai County Attorney's Office announced. Once he is released, he will be forced to spend seven years under supervised probation for kidnapping.
In late October 2024, Noecker and his wife were expecting a child. She had just learned from her doctor that she was approximately 9 weeks pregnant, and both she and Noecker were "looking forward to having the child," authorities said.
Days later, things changed.
The couple fought in the days after they learned of the pregnancy. According to prosecutors, at one point, "Noecker became angry and stated he would give the victim an abortion before restraining and repeatedly stomping on the victim's stomach."
The woman was transported to the hospital, but the unborn baby was dead.
According to the DA's office, however, investigators could not determine an exact time when the pregnancy ended. They were "unable to determine" whether the unborn baby died due to Noecker's attack or a miscarriage that took place previously. The defendant was handed the attempted murder charge "as he believed the baby was alive at the time of the crime," and charged with kidnapping "for restraining his wife during the attack."
Authorities noted that Arizona law "protects an unborn baby at any stage of development with the same penalties as any young child victim."
Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane said in a statement that Noecker's "selfish decision to violently terminate his partner's pregnancy is chilling."
He added: "I hope the prison sentence imposed in this case will send a message that violent crime has no place in Yavapai County."
Noecker will spend his 10-year sentence in the Arizona State Prison.
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