Final Analysis: The Untold Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is about the nationally known Susan Polk-Felix Polk case. In October 2002, Susan Polk brutally murdered Felix Polk, her ex husband. She claimed it was in self defense. She claimed he had been physically, sexually and mentally abusing her for years. He claimed (while she was alive) that she was delusional, that the marriage had been poor for years before their divorce, and that she was a poor parent and spendthrift. The murder pitted their three children against one another, two sided with prosecution during the court case and one (ironically the one with the most legal problems)sided with the defense.
It is true and documented that Felix was Susan's therapist at one point, and started having a sexual relationship with her soon after she began seeing him for truancy problems at school. She was 15 at the time. It was never reported to his licensing board, which would have revoked his license or put him on suspension almost immediately. She married him at 23, despite the fact that their was a 26 year age difference between the two of them. Again, this is a tale concerning two very twisted people, who seemed as if they were above the law. Felix Polk should not have been murdered, but Susan Polk had a right to not be molested as well. While reading the section of the book that describes Felix's and Susan's "therapeutic" relationship I just kept asking myself "Where was Susan's own Mother when the sexual relationship with Felix was going on?" Susan's Mother does not seem to own up to any responsibility for allowing the sexual goings on between Susan and Felix to continue.
Many of the courtroom scenes with Susan acting as her own attorney are hilarious (unintentionally of course). I wonder what could have happened if her defense had focused on Felix's relationship with her at such an early age. It probably would have gone better for Susan, but for some reason she did not emphasize this in her own defense.
Ms. Crier makes the case even more fascinating. She adds the behind the scenes police work, as well as new photographs and writings from the case file. The book is very readable, and I highly recommend it.


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With the same exclusive access and penetrating investigation that made "A Deadly Game" a number 1 bestseller, Catherine Crier arrives at the scene of another stunning American crime. For decades, Susan Polk, mother of three, played devoted wife to Felix, her former therapist and a man 25 years her senior. The torment and alleged abuse that happened behind closed doors made headlines in October 2002 when Susan was arrested for fatally stabbing Felix in their Oakland, CA, compound. Early accusations and allegations in the case of CA vs. Susan Polk: Susan Polk was mentally, verbally and physically abused by Felix.Susan Polk spoke of killing Felix on numerous occasions, detailing possible methods. Felix Polk carefully guarded his own history with mental illness - his year-long stay in a mental hospital and his diagnosis with schizophrenia in the 1950s. Felix Polk may have used hypnosis, and perhaps even LSD, on his patients - and even on his own sons. Susan Polk stabbed her husband 27 times, put the knife back in the kitchen drawer and went to bed, leaving her son to find his father's dead body in their home.With three sons pitted against each other - one for, two against their mother; with the bizarre October 2005 murder of the wife of Susan's attorney; and with the bulk of the evidence still to come, the Polk case will take its place as one of most confounding true crime cases of recent years.

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