Susan Polk

[Nandee]

ORINDA ? In the midst of a bitter divorce, Susan Polk says, she split for Montana, determined to get away from her abusive husband. I didnt 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 today.
One son is the prosecutions 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.
I believed I was in love with him and that he loved me, says Polk, who married him at 24, when he was 50.
They had three sons ? Gabriel is now 18, Eli is 20, and Adam, 22.
She says her husband kept her under his thumb, abusing her physically and emotionally.
He would get mad if I went to the store without telling him, she says. He tried to destroy my self esteem. ... Sometimes hed slap me and hit me. ... He would say, Ill never let you go.'"
Police were called to the couples $2 million home in Orinda numerous times as they battled through a divorce.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_2962200

[Nandee]

Susan Polk, a 47-year-old woman who has been charged with the murder of her husband, 70-year-old Felix Polk in October 2002, has said that the two computers seized from her defense attorney Daniel Horowitz's house might weaken her own defense case.

In a high profile case, Horowitz wife, Pamela Vitale, was found bludgeoned to death in their home in Lafayette on October 15 this year. The couple's 16-year-old neighbor, Scott Dyleski, has been arrested and charged with 52-year-old Vitale's murder.

[Nandee]

I wonder of Susan Polk may benefit from the Pamela Vitale's death?? Knowing the police have her lawyer's computers, can she really get a fair trial now?

[Pinky Lee]

This is such a weird case! I haven't been following it too closely, but suddenly I'm very interested. I heard a panel discussion with some psychologists and people who have been following the case talking about the son's arrest.


They were saying that maybe Susan is the kind of person who creates emotional chaos and that she's maybe not such a hapless vicitim of an abusive husband after all. Now I'm all over this case and want to know everything.

[Nandee]

I am friends with someone who is close to the Polk family. It seems that Susan is a very bright and on the quiet side. Most of the family believes her version of what happened even though they know she's a little 'quirky'...

[NicoMoon]

I am friends with someone who is close to the Polk family. It seems that Susan is a very bright and on the quiet side. Most of the family believes her version of what happened even though they know she's a little 'quirky'...

Hi Nandee,

How interesting that you know someone who is close to the family. I also heard the discussion or one like it that Pinky mentioned. What they were discussing is the possibility than Susan might have a personality disorder that is characterized by a person who, while remaining calm and collected themselves, creates emotional chaos and turmoil in the people around them.

I actually know a few people like this, so I too found the discussion to be quite interesting. I'm going to go do some research on this case, because it is really interesting.

I'm also pretty open to believing that Polk was a total control freak himself, because I also know women who are in relationships with men like that, and I often wonder how they can end in anything but tragedy.

Interesting case! Thanks for starting the topic!

Nico

[NicoMoon]

Any news on this case?


Just trying to get caught up, I noticed that in August Susan was defending herself. When did she hire Daniel Horwitz?

I wish I'd see her interview with Rita Cosby. I always like to get a sense of who these people in the news really are. I also didn't know that Rita Cosby was at NBC now. I used to watch her a lot on Fox.:spineyes:

[WannaKnow]

Hey--

What the heck? Wow, Can I think of alot of questions for this case. But, my first one is was she or was she not abused? Physicaly, mentally or emotionally? They are all destructive.

Remember the movie, "Burning Bed", 1980's and Farrah Fawcett played the abused wife who finally freed herself....by lighting the gasoline soaked bed her husband was passed out on.

My current neighbor went to college w/ her as a classmate. And another neighbor worked w/ her after became single, as a nurses aid in a nursing home. This case happened near my home in Michigan.

If it happened the way the movie protrayed it then I believe she did not deserve to go to prison, which she did not. Yes, it was premediated but she had tried for years to escape him, his fanily was right next door and did not help her. She was so screwed up by him that she could not think of another solution. Yes, extreme.

[Nandee]

From what I heard through the family grapevine, she started to have problems when her parents divorced. That's when she started to see Felix. They started to have sex when she was 15... Something was clearly wrong with both of them...

[Antonio]

Okay, so Felix starts having sex with a 15 yr old child. Who is the screwed up one?

Tony

[vervilledeb1]

The newest trial date is on Jan.31,2006. This is one I really want to follow!

This is going to be an interesting case. To stab somebody 27 times seems a little excessive to me for self defense. I wonder if it could be angry personal rage for all the years she endured the abuse that she states she had.

I feel bad for the boys being torn apart like this. Long after this is over these kids will be dealing with the emotional scars.

Debby

[factsuall]

This is a case I found disturbing from the get go. It is unclear to me where they starter having an intimate relationship and where they stopped having an professional one. I find it to be a breach of ethics and trust for this to have even evolved into marriage and family.

They met BUT FOR THE FACT that she was an emotionally distressed person for familial reaons.He was in supposedly a position of trust and confidence where she shared her most intimate feelings. Doctors are taught that transference is a critical occurence that must be ackowledge and terminated as displaced emotions can and do actualize in therapeutic environments.

I am disgusted that he took advantage of this immature young lady who could not possibly have the experience he did to manipulate her affections within a therapeutic setting. I find him unethical to begin with.Was I shocked that he killed him?

NOPERONI!

Was he abusive? No doubt he was very manipulative, controlling , suffocating and such which could easily be considered very abusive to a young woman who was under his control since she was 15. Men who need to be with younger inexperienced women do so as they are severely lacking in areas that are easily challenged and enraging. I am not clear on what led to the actual murder but her rage is expected especially if she started feeling the betrayal of the trust in their relationship.

Their relationship/marriage was bound to have serious issues sometime...a case waiting to happen.

The sad thing is that two brothers are torn apart when they need each other the most.

[Nandee]

Well said, fact! This is a sad situation. The parents of a 15 year old should have know who she was spending time with. They were so caught up in their divorce and daddy's marriage to a younger woman that Susan fell through the cracks....

[factsuall]

Well said, fact! This is a sad situation. The parents of a 15 year old should have know who she was spending time with. They were so caught up in their divorce and daddy's marriage to a younger woman that Susan fell through the cracks....
Thanks Nandee and so true!

I think divorce is becoming so common that we forget that it STILL has quite the impact on the children who inherently feel torn by loyalties and love. This reminds me of that case with the school teacher who killed her abusive hubbie and the two sons could not be more on opposite sides.She had Lenroe Walker speak to her defense on Battered Wife Syndrome.

I think that is the only thing SP has going for her defense is the fact that there is not one ethical practioner that will not screw their face up at such an unethical relationship. To me it is a form of incest because of the intensity of the emotionality, bonding and trust that would be involved in this therapy session before any other initmacy. Therapy IS intimate and anything beyond that is careless and could have easily caused her to have more emotional distress even as a young woman.

I have no doubt that she may have realized later in her life that she had been manipulated into this marriage too...maybe that had been a source of much rage and fighting?

I have no doubt she did it, she is not denying it.....why was it done..

He got away with it for a long time. I have a sneaky feeling that he knew he was wrong and that others may report him and had to make sure she never made that too public. That requires alot of control and manipulation perhaps threats??

[enigma]

A great site for both sides of the fence. It's a long article but I found it quite compelling:

He Said, She Said, He's Dead (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2005-11-16/news/feature.html)

[factsuall]

A great site for both sides of the fence. It's a long article but I found it quite compelling:

He Said, She Said, He's Dead (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2005-11-16/news/feature.html)
Thanks for that read enigma....it is about what I read everwhere else except they really throw it on thick...who ever is the craziest....I take exception that that language..we do not know who was or was not crazy let alone craziest.

I like how they outline the basic contention.-was he angrier than her because she left or was she angrier at him for taking the boys.

I have no doubt that he was all about control and mind games. I have no doubt he made her life a living hell manipulating a mother through her children is a NO-NO.
A mama bear who loves her children will make sure they are not harmed and I think it was more of the need for him to control her through her boys that set her off in that place she was already at emotionally with years of torment and abuse.

In the words of a singer...when a woman's fed up.....


ps....waving to 't'

[SleuthMistress1]

This is such a weird case! I haven't been following it too closely, but suddenly I'm very interested. I heard a panel discussion with some psychologists and people who have been following the case talking about the son's arrest.


They were saying that maybe Susan is the kind of person who creates emotional chaos and that she's maybe not such a hapless vicitim of an abusive husband after all. Now I'm all over this case and want to know everything.
I am working on a large post at the Betty Broderick thread regarding the type of person you mentioned that creates "emotional chaos". You will find that those that leap most quickly and most fervently at the defense of SP (hmmm those are familiar initials) and attack or target Felix also will be discussed. That is not to say there aren't some mitigating factors to consider regarding the degree of guilt, however, those advocates for SP that will focus mainly on blaming Felix and absolving SP of personal responsibility are different than those that understand the peripherals yet don't seek to become so personally and emotionally charged that they PROJECT personal issues into this case.

Anyway I am working on that and if it is worthwhile I will repost it here with modifications regarding the case itself (time permitting).

[luv2cruise]

I am working on a large post at the Betty Broderick thread regarding the type of person you mentioned that creates "emotional chaos". You will find that those that leap most quickly and most fervently at the defense of SP (hmmm those are familiar initials) and attack or target Felix also will be discussed. That is not to say there aren't some mitigating factors to consider regarding the degree of guilt, however, those advocates for SP that will focus mainly on blaming Felix and absolving SP of personal responsibility are different than those that understand the peripherals yet don't seek to become so personally and emotionally charged that they PROJECT personal issues into this case.

Anyway I am working on that and if it is worthwhile I will repost it here with modifications regarding the case itself (time permitting).


Save it DrD, Betty reacted to years of abuse involving two tormenters that enjoyed taking her house, kids, and basically her life away. Hers was about a mental collaspe, nothing more and not comparable to those cases. :violin:

[SleuthMistress1]

This is such a weird case! I haven't been following it too closely, but suddenly I'm very interested. I heard a panel discussion with some psychologists and people who have been following the case talking about the son's arrest.


They were saying that maybe Susan is the kind of person who creates emotional chaos and that she's maybe not such a hapless vicitim of an abusive husband after all. Now I'm all over this case and want to know everything.

Here is a Link to the 3 Part post I worked on regarding "High Conflict Personalities"

Betty Broderick Thread: High Conflict Personality Posts (http://www.livewire.fm/forums/showthread.php?t=1072&page=3&pp=10)

Basically it comes from the following website:

High Conflict Personalities (http://www.continuingedcourses.net/active/courses/course009.php?Help&PHPSESSID=5500d6f26d35667a7a4ab48d8fd505e3)

You would find it a fascinating read because it has a section on how such personalities actually "sabotage" themselves in legal disputes. The main idea in the course from the link is examining, identifying and dealing with these High Risk Personalities in disputes, particularly legal disputes.

Susan Polk has all the markings of one of these personalities. It appears she thrives (in an unhealthy manner of course) on high conflict. This probably explains quite often why some people, both male and female, refuse to fully remove themselves from situations that involve constant/repeated conflict in their personal lives. It gives a number of reasons.

But the earmarks of melodramatic personalities, the distrust of people in authority, the hysteria based and "emotionally based" information that they spend their time and seek to persuade others to spend their time on, as well as the minimizing of any good and the maximization of any bad of their victim/"target" are all characteristics of this personality.

None of this of course is a denial of a very unusual and questionable beginning for their relationship, but for the record they didn't marry until she was 25.

Another aspect of these High Conflict Personalities is their recruitment and persuasion of negative advocates who themselves are focused on highly "emotional" information and volitility instead of a rational view of the facts at hand.

A good example will be the 27 wounds on Felix and the lack of defensive wounds on his arms. None of these will be considered nor want to be considered by Susan nor her negative advocates those this clearly indicates that behavior contrary to self-defense on Susan's park was going on.

Instead her goal will be to create emotional chaos and highly emotional contexts of all she has done. Her jury will be what she targets for her "negative adovcates".

Interestingly Betty Broderick, whom the study sites as a good example of a High Conflict Personality, fired her own attorney and represented herself during her divorce proceedings. She got slaughtered. However, in court, when on trial she successfully gained a few negative advocates, one in particular in her first trial and got a hung jury but lost and was convicted of double murder in her second trial (2 counts of second degree murder). The interesting thing is that they BOTH (for different trials in their cases) have fired more than one attorney.

I think if you read the material at the link you will find a great deal of application regarding Susan Polk, her personality and this case. None of which condones anything regarding the lack of ethics on the part of Felix, but Felix isn't going on trial for murder and one isn't justified in murdering someone else for a lack of ethics.

The prosecution will win this case, fortunately. Susan's own arrogance and High Conflict Personality won't do well trying to be her own attorney. The Prosecution is going to eat her alive I am afraid. But this is the way of these personality types.

[Sunny Lincoln]

snip You will find that those that leap most quickly and most fervently at the defense of SP (hmmm those are familiar initials) and attack or target Felix also will be discussed.

... however, those advocates for SP that will focus mainly on blaming Felix and absolving SP of personal responsibility are different than those that understand the peripherals yet don't seek to become so personally and emotionally charged that they PROJECT personal issues into this case.

snip.

Perhaps, you might consider rephrasing/explaining these sentences as I'm not quite sure what it is you are saying.

[Nandee]

To generalize that posters are 'personally and emotionally charged' is not fair. Every poster comes with their own life experiences, which tempers their views and opinions.

These kinds of comments are argumentative and have nothing to do with the case or the facts of the case.

[SleuthMistress1]

Perhaps, you might consider rephrasing/explaining these sentences as I'm not quite sure what it is you are saying.Sure, I am referring strictly to "negative advocates" and not advocates in general. Not all advocates for someone would qualify for what the Mental Health Professional's well accredited course refers to as a "negative advocate". For example, some advocates will provide testimony regarding the nature of the marriage, any actual abuse documented, Susan's possible mental debilitations and so on. Anything in defense of Susan yet they won't deny any honest contributions or goodness that the marriage may have had in both of their lives. A negative advocate, for example, would deny or seek to minimize any such reality. Does that help?

[Sunny Lincoln]

Sure, I am referring strictly to "negative advocates" and not advocates in general. Not all advocates for someone would qualify for what the Mental Health Professional's well accredited course refers to as a "negative advocate". For example, some advocates will provide testimony regarding the nature of the marriage, any actual abuse documented, Susan's possible mental debilitations and so on. Anything in defense of Susan yet they won't deny any honest contributions or goodness that the marriage may have had in both of their lives. A negative advocate, for example, would deny or seek to minimize any such reality. Does that help?


Yes, it makes it perfectly clear. This also applies to both sides.

[SleuthMistress1]

Yes, it makes it perfectly clear. This also applies to both sides.

I agree 100% but since it isn't Felix on trial for murdering his wife you probably won't get a chance to be exposed to too many people who might be willing to be a negative advocate on his behalf.

[enigma]

Postponed yet again...

Posted on Fri, Jan. 27, 2006
Polk murder trial postponed

By Bruce Gerstman

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

ORINDA - A Contra Costa County judge this morning postponed the trial of Susan Polk, charged with killing her husband in 2002.

Polk, 48, told Judge Laurel Brady that she is still waiting for evidence and is not prepared for her trial, which was set to begin on Tuesday. Polk is acting as her own attorney.

Brady ordered she and prosecutor Tom O'Connor to return Tuesday to Superior Court in Martinez to set a future date.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/13729989.htm

[enigma]

JUDGE SETS FEBRUARY TRIAL DATE FOR SUSAN POLK

01/31/06 1:15 PST

MARTINEZ (BCN)

Susan Polk's ongoing saga was continued once again today when a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge set a new trial date for Feb. 27.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin today for Polk, who is accused of murdering her husband in 2003, but the pool of 300 prospective jurors was released Friday so Polk could finish preparing for trial.

Polk is representing herself after Judge Laurel Brady removed her two lawyers, Daniel Horowitz and Ivan Golde, from the case at their request on Jan. 20.

Brady declared a mistrial in Polk's first trial on Oct. 17, two days after Horowitz's wife was killed at the couple's Lafayette home.

Today Polk argued that the case should be dismissed because her right to a speedy trial had been violated.



http://www.cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2006/01/31/n/HeadlineNews/POLK-CONTINUED/resources_bcn_html