CA - Dr. Felix Polk, 70, stabbed to death, Orinda, 14 Oct 2002

[mysteriew]

A jury of six women and six men, and four alternate jurors, are scheduled to hear opening statements Oct. 11 in the trial of Susan Polk, who is accused of killing her husband almost 30 years after she was sent to see him for psychotherapy as a troubled teenager.

Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Laurel S. Brady estimated the trial could last two months.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/22/BABADIGEST3.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

 

[jessie harris]

Does anybody know if CTV is showing this trial? It will be fascinating as one son will testify for the prosecution and one for the defence, two of her sons Gabriel and Adam are also suing her for wrongful death,


it is so sad, it has torn the family apart,

 

[mysteriew]

A jury trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Contra Costa County Superior Court for Susan Polk, an Orinda woman accused of the 2002 murder of her husband, Berkeley therapist Felix Polk.

Susan Polk, 47, has admitted to killing her 70-year-old husband but claims it was out of self-defense.

"(Susan) had to kill Felix Polk because he attacked her and tried to kill her,'' the defendant's attorney, Daniel Horowitz, said Wednesday.

Gabriel, the couple's then 15-year-old son, found his father's body the evening of Oct. 14, 2002 in a cottage adjacent to the family's main house at 728 Miner Road.

Felix Polk had been staying in the cottage while the couple went through a divorce, according to court documents.
http://www.courttv.com/trials/polk/100705_background_ctv.html
http://www2.cbs5.com/localwire/loca.../n/HeadlineNews/POLK-TRIAL/resources_bcn_html

 

[mysteriew]

Susan Polk claims she acted in self-defense when she stabbed her estranged husband to death in the couple's pool house three years ago.

But a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday that Polk plotted the murder to end a bitter divorce and custody battle. She contrived the self-defense story only after she realized she wasn't going to get away with the crime, prosecutor Thomas O'Connor told a packed courtroom Tuesday during his opening statement in Polk's first-degree murder trial.

"The defendant is nothing but a cold, callous, calculating murderer," O'Connor said.

According to the prosecutor, Susan Polk became enraged when she learned that a judge had lowered her support payments and awarded temporary custody of the couple's youngest son and home to Felix Polk.

http://www.courttv.com/trials/polk/101105_ctv.html

 

[mysteriew]

O'Connor's case rests largely on Gabriel Polk's testimony. The youngest of three Polk boys, Gabriel is expected to testify against his mother, saying shehad threatened his father's life repeatedly.

"She had openly talked to (Gabriel) about killing his father ... and about how she'd do it," O'Connor said.

The oldest Polk son, 22-year-old Adam, is also expected to testify against his mother. He and Gabriel have also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against their mother.

The third brother, Eli, 20, is standing with his mother. He appeared in court briefly Tuesday but had to leave because he is a witness.

O'Connor said Susan Polk has acted guilty since her husband's death, and changed her story. At first, he said, she denied any involvement in the death of her husband, who was a widely known psychologist.

When arrested the night Felix Polk's body was discovered, O'Connor said Susan Polk offered to police that "she had nothing to do with it."

O'Connor said she later changed her tune because physical evidence placed her inside the pool house. Her bloody footprint was found at the scene, and Felix Polk had a handful of her hair in his hand.

Susan Polk disposed of the clothes she wore that night, O'Connor said. No murder weapon has been found, he said, further charging she moved her husband's car to a nearby BART station to mislead police.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_3108534

 

[mysteriew]

A woman who stabbed her wealthy husband spoke long before the killing about how she wanted him dead, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday as her first-degree murder trial got under way.

"You will see that the defendant is nothing but a cold, calculated, callous murderer," intent on securing her husband's multimillion dollar estate, prosecutor Tom O'Connor said in his opening statement.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/10/12/therapist.killing.ap/index.html

 

[Bobbisangel]

Does anybody know if CTV is showing this trial? It will be fascinating as one son will testify for the prosecution and one for the defence, two of her sons Gabriel and Adam are also suing her for wrongful death,


it is so sad, it has torn the family apart,

Of course they aren't covering a trial this interesting. They prefer to show repeats. The babysitter trial ended today so maybe they will move on to this trial. It will shock me if they do though. It doesn't do any good to email requests to them. You never get an answer. I would love to keep up daily on this trial ...with Beth or Diana, etc.

 

[LinasK]

POSTED: 2:56 pm PDT October 12, 2005


MARTINEZ, Calif. -- A woman who claims she killed her husband in self defense initially denied knowing anything about his death and showed no emotion the night his body was discovered, deputies testified Wednesday at the woman's murder trial.

On the first day of testimony, Deputy Shannon Kelly of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department told jurors that Susan Polk "seemed very calm" as she sat handcuffed in the back of his patrol car.She asked, 'Are you sure it's my husband ... because his car isn't here?"' Kelly testified Susan Polk asked him after she was informed that her husband was dead.

She now claims she was in shock.

Defense attorney Daniel Horowitz insists his client was the victim, not Felix Polk.

"If somebody is a crime victim, are they sometimes very calm?" Horowitz asked on cross-examination.

"Yes," Kelly replied.

Sheriff's Sgt. Kenneth Hansen testified Susan Polk was "unemotional" and said, "Oh well, we were getting a divorce anyway."Susan Polk first met the then 42-year-old -- and married -- Felix Polk when she started seeing him as a therapist as a teenager. He was a well-known Berkeley psychologist. She says they started having sex when she was 16, after he drugged and raped her.

The couple eventually married and had three sons -- Gabriel is now 18, Eli is 20, and Adam, 22.

Gabriel and Adam will testify for the prosecution, and have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against their mother. Eli will be his mother's main defender.

Defense attorneys claim Susan Polk was abused physically and emotionally for years by her husband, and that he snapped on the night of the killing as the realization of their pending divorce set in. more at link:http://www.ktvu.com/news/5091458/detail.html

 

[mysteriew]

A week before his wife stabbed him to death in his pool house, psychologist Felix Polk called police to report that she had threatened his life over the telephone, a prosecution witness testified Wednesday.

Although the police dispatcher had only a "vague recollection" of the 911 call Polk placed on Oct. 6, 2002, her testimony established the possibility that Susan Polk had been planning to kill her husband for some time before he was eventually found stabbed to death with a paring knife.

"I remember the caller saying, 'My wife threatened to kill me,'" Randee Johnson, of the Contra Costa County police department, told the jury.

The following Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002, the couple's 15-year-old son, Gabriel, was the one who called 911. He had found his father's bloody body face up in the pool house and immediately suspected his mother. Police arrived and quickly had Susan Polk in handcuffs.
http://www.courttv.com/trials/polk/101205_ctv.html

 

[mysteriew]

Pamela Vitale, the wife of the attorney representing homicide defendant Susan Polk, was found dead in her home tonight in what the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department is calling a homicide.

The 52-year-old woman was found dead at 6 p.m. by Daniel Horowitz in their home in the 1900 block of Hunsacker Canyon Road in Lafayette, said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.

He said investigators are looking for suspects and a motive.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/12915152.htm

 

[mysteriew]

Authorities were investigating a Saturday night homicide that may have claimed the life of the wife of an attorney representing Susan Polk, an Orinda woman currently on trial for the 2002 murder of her therapist husband.

Contra Costa County sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said police received a call just before 6 p.m. from a person at 1901 Hunsaker Canyon Road in Lafayette.

Lee said the caller "stated to the effect that 'My wife is dead.'"

Lafayette police responded to the scene and found the body of a 52-year-old woman.
http://www.foxreno.com/news/5103934/detail.html

 

[yadler]

Susan Polk is accused of first degree murder - and the media is all over this trial - 60 Minutes, Dateline, 48 Hours, Current Affair, Rita Cosby ... everyone is packed into this courtroom.

Seems Susan's parents sent her to a shrink, Felix Polk, 25 years her senior, when Susan was only 16 and Felix slept with her - yet they ended up getting married and 25 years later, after a very controlling marriage (by Felix) Susan divorced Felix which led to a fateful night whereby Felix ended up .. dead; stabbed to death with a paring knife.

Peterson commentators Ivan Golde and Dan Horowitz are taking over the case (Susan was planning to defend herself.)

The trial starts Monday, August 29th.

Stay tuned - it should be a fascinating trial.

A Dateline NBC is coming up on this case this week.

You missed one important mitigating factor in Susan's defense: Felix was a Holocaust survivor, a very important aspect if, what she clains, is true.

 

[yadler]

I read mention that Felix had called 911 in the week before the murder. Anyone have any info? Also, did the pool house have a kitchen?

 

[mysteriew]

A Contra Costa County Superior Court judge declared a mistrial today in the case of Susan Polk, who is accused of killing her husband, following the Saturday murder of her defense attorney's wife.

Judge Laurel F. Brady cited excessive media coverage in announcing her decision.

Prominent defense attorney Daniel Horowitz, who was representing Polk, discovered the body of his wife, 52-year-old Pamela Vitale, at their Lafayette home Saturday afternoon.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it would have been hard to miss, despite my admonitions," Brady told jurors. "I have reached the conclusion at this juncture that it is not possible to continue the trial."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/17/MNGMUF9KM77.DTL&feed=rss.news

 

[yadler]

Since the trial hadn't started till this past Tuesday, not much has been lost. Opening statements, yes, but that's it so far. Sounds as though DH is too devestated to go on at the moment. Now he will empathize with Sharon what a murder in the family does to one.

 

[mysteriew]

An Orinda woman accused in another high-profile Contra Costa County murder case said Friday that the seizure of two computers from the home of her attorney, Daniel Horowitz, in the investigation of his wife's slaying could compromise her defense.

The seizure, a routine part of any criminal investigation, raises concerns among legal experts about how the case against Susan Polk may proceed, because the detectives and prosecutors investigating the death of Horowitz's wife effectively possess the files he was to use in defending Polk.

At issue, legal experts said, is how detectives and prosecutors handled the computers, and whether they can effectively "create a wall" between the Polk case and the investigation into the death of his wife, Pamela Vitale. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/22/MNGBEFCIUN1.DTL

 

[mysteriew]

The son of a Orinda woman accused of killing her husband has been arrested and charged with assaulting his girlfriend.

Twenty-year-old Eli Polk was arrested on October 20th on a misdemeanor battery charge, according to his lawyer.
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=4028337

The 20-year-old son of Susan Polk, a woman who was facing trial for the killing of her husband until her attorney's wife was slain, has been accused of domestic violence.

But the alleged victim - his girlfriend - explained to police that the recent slaying of Pamela Vitale has placed Eli Polk under "increased stress."

Eli Polk was arraigned Tuesday in Walnut Creek on one count of misdemeanor battery and two counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. Orinda police Sgt. Steve Andrews said the young man was arrested after a "scuffle" at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday. The girlfriend was not seriously injured.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/25/MNG7VFDUHN5.DTL

 

[yadler]

I just read that and thought to myself that if his mother did, indeed, kill husband in self-defense, after a life-time of physical abuse, what a great defense of her position this matter with her son woukd be: he learned how to treat women from his father! Thus validating Mrs. Polk's alibi!

 

[mysteriew]

The attorney for homicide defendant Susan Polk said Thursday he will continue representing his client at trial, despite his wife's beating death in October.

Daniel Horowitz told Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Laurel Brady that he is prepared to begin trial, which the judge tentatively set for Jan. 31.

After a tense hearing in which his client interrupted the judge, Horowitz rushed out of the courthouse, followed by cameras and microphones, refusing to comment.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/crime_courts/13200667.htm

 

[chicoliving]

A judge today maintained a Jan. 31 trial date for 47-year-old Susan Polk of Orinda on charges that she murdered her husband, 70-year-old psychotherapist Felix Polk, in October of 2002, rejecting Susan Polk's bid to start her trial sooner.

At a wild hearing today, Polk accused Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Laurel Brady and her clerk of having conflicts of interest and also alleged that Brady was lying on behalf of prosecutors.

Polk talked so much at the hearing that Brady finally warned her to quiet down and let her lawyers make objections on her behalf.

"This isn't a free-for-all, this is a courtroom,'' Brady said.

The judge told Polk, "I'm not going to tolerate this any further.''

http://www.cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2005/12/02/n/HeadlineNews/POLK-HEARING/resources_bcn_html