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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. — California housewife Susan Polk suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of years of abuse at the hands of her therapist-husband, a defense expert testified Tuesday in Polk's murder trial.
"It's my assessment that you were a victim of physical, sexual, emotional and verbal abuse," Dr. Linda Barnard said to Polk, who is representing herself against charges that she stabbed her 70-year-old husband Felix Polk to death with a paring knife in October 2002.Polk, 48, initially denied being involved in Felix's death, but later claimed she acted in self-defense after he beat her and came at her with the blade.
Barnard, a family therapist and expert on domestic violence and intimate-partner battering, said Polk's PTSD was a result of a long-standing abusive relationship with Felix, beginning at age 14 when she became his patient.
"I don't see any evidence at all in this relationship that you had the power or you were the aggressor," Barnard said.
During her questioning of the witness, Polk referred to charts and graphs from published academic research, which outlined typical behavioral signs and scenarios consistent with abusive relationships.
Barnard said she did not conduct a psychological evaluation of Polk, but that she met her four times at the women's jail, and reviewed numerous case documents, taped interviews, and medical records.
Among those documents, she said, were Felix's naval medical records, in which Felix was placed on a temporary disability retired list and hospitalized for a psychotic depressive reaction after a suicide attempt at the age of 23.
The records detail Felix's depression, his attempt on his own life on Oct. 16, 1955, and his suicide note.
Felix was diagnosed as suffering from a "schizophrenic reaction."
By 1960, a board of medical examiners reported that he was in complete remission and was employed as a social worker after having obtained his master's degree.
Barnard did not testify about Felix's early diagnosis or if it had any specific effect on his relationship with the defendant.
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