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

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mysteriew

mysteriew

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In the midst of a bitter divorce, Susan Polk says, she split for Montana, determined to get away from her abusive husband. "I didn't plan on coming back and killing him," she explains from behind a window in the county jail.

But kill him she did - stabbing a paring knife repeatedly into his body in a rage.

She claims she acted in self defense after he tried to stab her with the knife. Prosecutors call it the premeditated action of a violent, delusional woman.

Polk, 47, has fired three attorneys and now plans to represent herself in her first-degree murder trial, set to begin Monday.

One son is the prosecution's star witness, another her main defender.

She began seeing therapist Felix Polk when she was a teenager troubled by the stresses of youth and her parents' divorce. He was 42 then, a revered - and married - Berkeley psychologist. She says they started having sex when she was 16.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Therapist Killing
 
mysteriew said:
In the midst of a bitter divorce, Susan Polk says, she split for Montana, determined to get away from her abusive husband. "I didn't plan on coming back and killing him," she explains from behind a window in the county jail.

But kill him she did - stabbing a paring knife repeatedly into his body in a rage.

She claims she acted in self defense after he tried to stab her with the knife. Prosecutors call it the premeditated action of a violent, delusional woman.

Polk, 47, has fired three attorneys and now plans to represent herself in her first-degree murder trial, set to begin Monday.

One son is the prosecution's star witness, another her main defender.

She began seeing therapist Felix Polk when she was a teenager troubled by the stresses of youth and her parents' divorce. He was 42 then, a revered - and married - Berkeley psychologist. She says they started having sex when she was 16.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Therapist Killing
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Thanks Mysteriew - what an interesting case!

Seems to me that "if" this 42 yr. old revered and married psychologist was having sex with his 16 yr. old patient/client - way back when - he should have been arrested & investigated -- perhaps even gone on trial. Too late for that ..


Firing 3 attorneys and now representing herself at trial? Hmmmm .. sounds like Susan Polk has some serious issues & a fool for a lawyer. I sure don't envy the uncomfortable position her 3 sons are facing.

If you see any further articles on this case I hope you'll include them here.

13th Juror :)

 
If I see something I will post it. But I also reccommend that if you are interested in this story, you may want to locate a local paper or tv station who is covering the story, and check in with them every few days, in case I miss something. I think the local paper there is the Contra Costa Times. I will try to keep an eye out for it though.
 
mysteriew said:
If I see something I will post it. But I also reccommend that if you are interested in this story, you may want to locate a local paper or tv station who is covering the story, and check in with them every few days, in case I miss something. I think the local paper there is the Contra Costa Times. I will try to keep an eye out for it though.
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Hi Mysteriew ...

The Susan Polk murder case is being featured on MSNBC tonight. Rita Cosby Live & Direct. Good interview!

As of today - Susan has semi-engaged the services of 2 top defense attorneys - Daniel Horowitz & Ivan Golde. They are being interviewed as well as Susan Polk.

Susan, very concerned about her 3 children - has not seen her son that she is/was "to question" in 3 years. She sounded very rational (and honest) to me in her interview.

Interesting Case!

More later ...

13th Juror

 
Thanks for the update. I don't have cable, so I have no input from there, unless one of you kind posters updates me, LOL.
 
The trial of a woman accused of killing her therapist husband was delayed today while a judge considers appointing her an attorney.

Susan Polk is charged with first-degree murder and had planned to represent herself.

But defense attorney Daniel Horowitz filed a motion today to be appointed as her counsel. A ruling was set for tomorrow. Polk claims she can't pay for her defense and wants Contra Costa County to pick up the tab.
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=3752150
 
A judge appointed an attorney Tuesday to represent a woman accused of killing her husband, avoiding a spectacle that would have pit mother against son.

Susan Polk, charged with first-degree murder, had planned to represent herself. One of her sons is the prosecution's star witness, meaning she would have cross-examined him. Another son is her main defender.

Defense attorney Daniel Horowitz filed a motion Monday on Polk's behalf to be appointed as her counsel after meeting with her over the weekend.

Horowitz will be her fourth attorney. Polk has already fired three lawyers.

Contra Costa County will pick up the tab because Polk claims she can't pay for her defense.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/08/23/state/n152854D23.DTL
 
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.
 
This is from Aug.22,'02. Daniel Horowitz, trying to stay in the lime-light. :doh:

JMHO
fran

http://www.ktvu.com/news/4878705/detail.html

ORINDA -- The trial of a woman accused of killing her husband, whom she first met as her therapist, was delayed Monday while a judge considers whether to appoint a fourth attorney to represent her.

Susan Polk, charged with first-degree, had planned to represent herself.

Defense attorney Daniel Horowitz filed a motion Monday on her behalf to be appointed as her counsel after meeting with Polk over the weekend. Horowitz would be her fourth attorney. Polk has already fired three lawyers.
 
She's admitted killing her husband.

Now, Susan Polk wants to describe the details to a jury in the very room where it happened.

"It's the ultimate in due process," said Polk's attorney Daniel Horowitz. "It's the most truthful way to get to the bottom of this case."

In a motion filed Friday, Horowitz requests that a portion of Polk's trial move to the Orinda cottage where Polk stabbed to death her husband, Felix Polk, in 2002. That's where, he says, the prosecutor should cross-examine her.

Deputy district attorney Tom O'Connor did not return calls to the Times.

Horowitz argues in his motion that once jurors see the cottage -- a Craftsman that sits on a wooded estate -- they will understand how Polk could not have surprised her husband to kill him. The layout of the cottage is too unique for diagrams and photos to convey.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/12552852.htm
 
Since her husband supposedly attacked her and she grabbed the knife, I assume that she has injuries that will prove her side of the story. Has anyone read if she had injuries, especially to her hand, since she claims to have grabbed the blade?

Lately, I have seen three cases where the women repeatedly stabbed their husbands in a fit of rage. I'm not defending the women. However, it makes me wonder if it this rage could have resulted from years of abuse?
 
13th Juror said:

Thanks Mysteriew - what an interesting case!

Seems to me that "if" this 42 yr. old revered and married psychologist was having sex with his 16 yr. old patient/client - way back when - he should have been arrested & investigated -- perhaps even gone on trial. Too late for that ..


Firing 3 attorneys and now representing herself at trial? Hmmmm .. sounds like Susan Polk has some serious issues & a fool for a lawyer. I sure don't envy the uncomfortable position her 3 sons are facing.

If you see any further articles on this case I hope you'll include them here.

13th Juror :)
Click to expand...
Well, maybe she had just had her fill of men using what they could,then dumping her. She may have been striking out at the rapist/psychologist in days of old as much as for all the years of feeling powerless in her marriage, and just decided another man was not going to get away with it. Probably doesn't leave her in a very good legal position, but one some of us might understand and wish we had the guts to do ourselves (in theory only, of course.) Do I hear the name of Betty Broaderick rumbling in the background?
 
A man who was stabbed to death by his wife three years ago just got a lawyer.

A Contra Costa County judge has assigned an attorney to represent Felix Polk and protect his medical privacy.

Susan Polk, who will stand trial Monday on charges of murder in the 2002 killing of her husband, has subpoenaed her deceased husband's medical records.

Criminal law experts say they don't remember a situation when a judge appointed a lawyer to represent a dead victim. But they say they're not surprised by the move.
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=3863396
 
The trial of a woman accused of killing her husband, whom she first met as her therapist, gets underway this week in a case that will pit one son against another.

Susan Polk, 47, claims she killed her husband in self defense at the couple's $2 million home in the upscale San Francisco suburb of Orinda in October 2002. Prosecutors allege she attacked him in a premeditated rage motivated by greed.

Polk is charged with first-degree murder. Jury selection was set to begin Monday in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050918-1415-ca-therapistkilling.html
 
mysteriew said:
The trial of a woman accused of killing her husband, whom she first met as her therapist, gets underway this week in a case that will pit one son against another.

Susan Polk, 47, claims she killed her husband in self defense at the couple's $2 million home in the upscale San Francisco suburb of Orinda in October 2002. Prosecutors allege she attacked him in a premeditated rage motivated by greed.

Polk is charged with first-degree murder. Jury selection was set to begin Monday in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050918-1415-ca-therapistkilling.html
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This sounds like a very interesting trial. I wish CTV was covering it. Maybe if they would stop showing the same trials twice we would get to watch one like this one. I haven't even heard of it before. An attorney for the dead!! That is really strange.
 
The trial of a California woman accused of killing her husband, a prominent California psychologist whom she met as a 15-year-old patient, is set to begin today, and one of the couple's sons may take the stand against her.

The case has been described as real-life drama straight out of the movies. It includes a controversial marriage between a revered therapist and his teenage former patient, allegations of long-term domestic abuse that led to caustic divorce proceedings, and an alleged murder. The case has divided the Polk family, pitting two of the couple's three sons against each other. One son will be testifying against their mother while another will be testifying on her behalf.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=1138713&page=1
 
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