Son to Testify Against Mom at Murder Trial

Aug. 22, 2005 — -- A California mother accused of killing her husband is set to defend herself in a murder trial -- and one of her sons is a key prosecution witness who may help send her to prison for the rest of her life.

Susan Polk, 47, has fired three attorneys while waiting to go on trial for first-degree murder in the 2002 stabbing death of her 70-year-old husband, psychologist Felix Polk. Jury selection in Polk's trial begins today.

The Polks have three sons -- Gabriel, 18, Eli, 20, and Adam, 22 -- and were going through a divorce and custody battle at the time of the slaying. Felix Polk had won a court order that gave him the house and custody of their son Gabriel, then 15. (Adam was away at college, while Eli was in juvenile detention for getting into a fistfight.)

Susan Polk had planned on leaving their $2 million estate in Orinda, Calif., and moving to Montana. She says she returned to the estate to collect her belongings when she and her husband became involved in a heated argument.

"I didn't plan on coming back and killing him," she said in a jailhouse interview with The Associated Press.

Polk said she stabbed her husband in self-defense when he began to attack her with a knife.

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"He came at me … and the next thing I knew he was stabbing at me with a knife," Polk said. "I kicked him as hard as I could in the groin.

"I stabbed him in the side with it [the knife], and he just wouldn't stop," Polk continued. "I kept saying 'Get off me.' He was biting at me. He was going to kill me."

Prosecutors, however, believe Polk's slaying of her husband was premeditated. Gabriel Polk found his father's wound-riddled body next day. Felix Polk had been stabbed 27 times.

The trial has divided the Polk sons. It is unclear where Adam Polk stands, but Gabriel has sided with the prosecution. He is expected to be a key witness and corroborate prosecution claims that his mother admitted fantasizing about killing his father. Eli Polk has sided with his mother and is expected to testify on her behalf.