Death Certificate
Multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma are listed as Felix Polk's official cause of death.- Suicide Files
Felix Polk's apparent suicide attempt while in the military was documented by the U.S. Navy. - Autopsy Report
Felix Polk's fatal injuries and toxicology results were detailed in this report. - Felix's Letter to Gabe
Just months before he was stabbed to death by his estranged wife, Felix Polk wrote this letter to his son Gabriel in an apparent effort to improve their relationship. - Felix Polk's Resume
This resume was retrieved by investigators from Felix Polk's desk after he was stabbed to death by his estranged wife, Susan Polk. - Properties Letter
Before she fatally stabbed her husband Felix, Susan Polk wrote this letter as the couple was going through a divorce to discuss financial matters and various properties the Polks owned - Ottoman Analysis
Investigators sought to recover from an ottoman residue of pepper spray, which Polk claimed she used on her husband. - Saab Report
Criminalists also analyzed Felix Polk's 1999 Saab, on which they found blood stains. - Diary Excerpt
Polk describes her self-proclaimed psychic abilities, her theories about the Middle East and her husband's alleged ties to the Mossad in this journal entry. - Letter to Dr. Cooper
These excerpts from Susan Polk's letters to her defense expert, Dr. John Cooper, include a narrative of the killing and a map. - Crime Scene Report
Forensic evidence gathered from the crime scene is itemized in this official report. - Incident Report
This 7-page report from the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Dept. details the night Felix Polk was killed. - Eli's Letter
The only child of three to support his mother, Eli Polk wrote this letter to Susan Polk behind bars. - Guardian's Letter
Dan Briner wrote this letter updating her about her son, Gabriel, while she was behind bars. - Cooper's Letter
Controversial defense witness Dr. John Cooper wrote this letter to the judge explaining why he would not return to conclude his testimony. - Son's Declaration
Eli Polk's divorce court declaration was full of praise for his mother, Susan Polk. - Secret Letter
In this two-page letter dated 2001, Susan Polk says her husband beat, drugged her. - Dispute Report
Police documented responding to a domestic dispute before Felix Polk was killed by his wife, Susan.
MARTINEZ, Calif. — Before Susan Polk stabbed her husband with a paring knife, she sprayed him with pepper spray, hit him with a Maglite, and kicked him in the groin, Polk told jurors Monday at her first-degree murder trial.
"I said, 'Stop! I have the knife! I have the knife! Stop!'" the 48-year-old former housewife testified. "But he didn't stop. He went after the knife and he punched me again."
"I thought, 'I can't do this. I can't resist,'" Polk said. "So I stabbed him in the side."
When it was over, Polk sat near the bloody body of her 175-pound husband, and she blamed him for the horrific scene.
Polk claims Felix died from a heart attack while he was attacking her.
"I thought, 'Oh my God, he's dead. What do I do?' I thought about calling the police. I thought about the life we had together, the children we raised and how we met," Polk told jurors. "I said something — he was dead — but I said, 'How could you do that to your children?'"
The Polks were engaged in a bitter divorce in October 2002 when Susan Polk walked out of their $2 million home at about 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday night and knocked on the door of their poolside cottage, where Felix was staying.
He came to the door wearing only black briefs. She said she asked to talk to him about their finances and about educational decisions regarding their youngest son Gabriel, now 19.
She said she asked Felix to put on his pants, but he wouldn't.
Polk had been living in Montana, making plans for a new life, but returned to their Orinda home that week, she said, to settle up divorce matters and keep a dental appointment. She showed jurors a receipt for the crown she had put in during her return home.
Prosecutors say Polk had just lost a significant portion of her spousal support, custody of Gabriel and the family home, so she drove back to California with murder on her mind.
Gabriel testified that his mother openly discussed ways to kill Felix, including shooting, drowning or hitting him with her car.
Polk denies it.
"I did not threaten to drown his father in the pool," she testified. "Although I did say he drank a lot and I worried about him falling in the pool and drowning because there was no ladder."
Polk, who is acting as her own attorney, claims her husband, a psychologist, abused her physically and mentally during their 20-year marriage and that she acted in self-defense the night he died. A defense expert witness testified that none of Felix's 27 stab and incise wounds were fatal, but his blocked arteries were.
In three days of direct testimony, Polk has made fantastic claims about Felix's supposed ties with Israeli assassins, her own psychic powers, and her long-standing contention since trial began March 7 that she is being "framed" by a malicious prosecutor and a "biased" judge.
She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
'Absolutely enraged'
Polk told jurors Monday that the fatal fight in the cottage started when she took a sarcastic tone with Felix and he responded with a punch in the face.
"I staggered back and pulled out the pepper spray," Polk said, explaining that she bought the spray to fend off grizzly bears during her long walks in the wilds of Bozeman, Mont.
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