Sons Pitted Against One Another at Mom's Murder Trial

Sept. 19, 2005 — -- The trial of a California woman accused of killing her husband, a prominent California psychologist whom she met as a 15-year-old patient, is set to begin today, and one of the couple's sons may take the stand against her.

After firing three attorneys, Susan Polk, 47, had planned to represent herself at her trial on first-degree murder in the 2002 stabbing death of 70 year-old psychologist Felix Polk. But as jury selection was to begin last month, Polk decided she wanted an attorney to argue her case and proceedings were postponed until today.

The case has been described as real-life drama straight out of the movies. It includes a controversial marriage between a revered therapist and his teenage former patient, allegations of long-term domestic abuse that led to caustic divorce proceedings, and an alleged murder. The case has divided the Polk family, pitting two of the couple's three sons against each other. One son will be testifying against their mother while another will be testifying on her behalf.

Polk says she acted in self-defense, fatally stabbing her husband during a heated argument on Oct. 13, 2002. At the time of the slaying, the Polks were going through a divorce and custody battle over their three sons -- Gabriel, Eli and Adam. Felix Polk had won a court order that gave him the house and custody of Gabriel, then 15. (Adam was away at college, while Eli was in juvenile detention for getting into a fistfight.)

Polk says she 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 began arguing and 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 told The Associated Press in an interview. "I kicked him as hard as I could in the groin.