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.

Self-Defense or Premeditated?

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

"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.

Susan Polk had been out of jail on $1.1 million bail. But prosecutors revoked the bail in April when they alleged she violated her agreement by repeatedly contacting Gabriel through e-mail.

From Doctor-Patient Relationship to Marriage

In a pretrial hearing, Contra Costa County Sheriff's Deputy Ken Hansen testified that Susan Polk initially claimed she didn't know about the killing. When told her husband was dead, Polk, he testified, said, "Oh well … We were getting a divorce anyway."

The coroner's report showed that Felix Polk suffered five stab wounds to his chest and stomach, along with defensive and blunt force injuries.

"The horrific nature of the … stabbing wounds … could indicate the perpetrator was in an altered mental state of rage," forensic psychologist Paul Good wrote. Good also concluded that Susan Polk was "not grossly out of touch with reality," but that "her judgment and decision making could be seriously undermined by a paranoid delusional state."

The Polk marriage was controversial -- and tumultuous -- almost from its courtship. Susan Polk met her future husband when she was his 15-year-old patient and he was her 42-year-old therapist. The two began an affair, he eventually left his wife and they married when she was 24 and he was 50.

Little Sympathy for Domestic Abuse Defenses

But their marriage was not blissful and police were called several times to their home for domestic disturbances. Susan Polk has claimed he was mentally and physically abusive to her during their 20-year marriage.

Despite her claims, some experts say jurors rarely have sympathy for domestic abuse self-defense claims.

"Except in extreme examples, abuse as an excuse defenses are rarely successful," said Cheryl Hanna, professor at Vermont Law School. "They rarely have sympathy for those kind of defense strategies."

Susan Polk faces 25 years to life in prison if she is convicted of first-degree murder. She has said that she does not relish cross-examining her son Eli when she defends herself at trial.

"We're just going to talk, that's all," she told The Associated Press. "I never planned to murder my husband. He knows that."