[female narrator] they were living a dream
In northern california.
She was very much in love. They had three young sons.
[paul] they lived in this beautiful home with a pool hous
In a high-rent zip code.
[narrator] one evening,
Stunning violence shatters the façade.
He's lying in a pretty big pool of blood.
There's blood everywhere.
[narrator] amid rumors and speculation,
Investigators uncover a simmering rage.
She was trying to keep her family intact.
And that's why she stayed.
At that point, it became a media circus.
[narrator] and prosecutors face off
Against a determined foe.
She actually tested in the 99 percentile of an iq test.
She was a genius.
[paul] I've tried a lot of cases.
This is obviously the most bizarre.
Am I going to just go down without a fight?
No.
[theme music]
[music]
[narrator] twenty minutes from downtown san francisco
Lies the bedroom community of orinda, california.
Wealthy, luxurious, and rich
Are probably perfect descriptions.
They're the black tie formal people.
It's probably one of the most, uh,
Wealthiest communities in contra costa county.
[narrator] a little after 9:00 pm
On October 14, 2002,
Contra costa dispatch gets an unusual call.
[narrator] the caller identifies himself as gabe polk
And his father as 70-year-old felix polk.
[kenneth] dispatch called me.
They told me that they were dealing with
A, uh, possible homicide.
The person reporting the incident was the son.
Said that his dad appeared to be dead in the pool house.
[dr. Jordan] he said to the 911 operator
That he went outside and hid behind some garbage cans
And called 911.
He believed that his mom was responsible,
And she was inside the house.
[sirens wailing]
[narrator] first responders arrive
At the sprawling home
And find gabe lurking outside.
[paul] gabe kind of stumbled out from the garbage cans.
The first responders didn't really know
What they were coming into.
They were alarmed at first when he jumped out.
He didn't display any, uh, great emotions when I arrived.
He seemed fairly calm.
He said he saw his dad in the pool house.
There was a lot of blood.
Thinks his mom shot him.
[narrator] an officer remains with gabe in the driveway.
As you step off the stairway, the house is to the left.
The pool house is to the right.
[narrator] deputy hansen spots someone
Inside the main residence.
[kenneth] I could look to my left and see
A woman through the glass windows.
And so I'm--made the assumption that must be
The, the mom, the wife.
I motion for her to come.
And I go, "I'm with the sheriff's office.
We're here to do a welfare check on your husband."
I had her step out.
I did have my sidearm out.
When she came to the door and I realized
She didn't pose an immediate threat,
I immediately holstered my weapon.
So now I've given ms. Polk to deputy kelly
And told him to watch her.
[narrator] deputy hansen cautiously
Enters the pool house.
[paul] felix is lying in the main living area
Of the pool house.
He's flat on his back.
He's got his underwear on, but no shirt on.
He's lying in a pretty big pool of blood.
There's blood everywhere.
[kenneth] he was very pale
'cause the blood had drained from his facial area.
He was dead.
It looked like he had multiple injuries on his body
From the way the blood was on him.
It was a very violent situation that occurred.
And they have very few violent crimes
That occur for a town of that size.
[music]
[robert] this area was very, very safe.
And so this news was...
It hit me off guard.
My wife called me and she said,
"felix polk was just found dead in orinda."
I was shocked.
But I'm just trying to process the news I just heard.
[narrator] born to a prominent jewish family in austria
On June 30, 1932,
Felix polk and his family survived
One of the most dangerous eras in european history.
[paul] felix was born in vienna, escaped vienna,
Went to France, uh, upon the nazi occupation.
And then they--ultimately, his family immigrated to new york,
Where he began his education.
[narrator] after college, felix enlisted in the navy.
But his service was interrupted
[paul] when felix was in the military,
He was having depression issues
So he actually went to a psychotherapist.
[narrator] the treatment helped felix
And inspired a career path.
[paul] he came out to berkeley
And got his phd in the early '70s
And started a practice in psychology.
Everybody apparently looked up to him in his field.
Dr. Polk was an attractive young man at the time.
[paul] he was married and he had two children, a boy and a girl.
They had some issues,
And that marriage ended in divorce.
[music]
[narrator] following the divorce,
Felix reconnected with an old friend, susan bolling.
[dr. Jordan] susan was a woman who had once been his patient.
And felix polk often befriended his patients.
Susan kind of re-enters his life.
Their romance really burgeons,
Even though the 25-year age difference.
[narrator] born in 1957,
Susan was a native of northern california.
[dr. Jordan] susan grew up with an older brother.
And her parents divorced when
She was about five or six years old.
[narrator] the divorce left susan feeling lost.
As she grew into a teenager,
She took refuge in her schoolwork.
[dr. Jordan] around 14 years old,
She actually tested in the 99 percentile of an iq test,
Basically rendering her a genius.
Susan was really smart, but that also meant
That she didn't necessarily fit in with other people.
And so that's when her mother sought therapy for her.
[narrator] after several years in therapy,
As a young adult, susan seemed to be back on track.
Susan polk graduated from san francisco state university
With a degree in english and creative writing.
[narrator] when she started a relationship with felix polk,
Susan not only found a lover, but an intellectual equal.
She was, you know, very much in love with felix,
And felix was in love with her.
They seemed to genuinely care about one another.
[narrator] after several years of dating,
In December 1981,
They settled down and tied the knot.
[paul] susan and felix lived in this beautiful home,
With a pool house, in a high-rent zip code.
He had a good business and made good money.
[roger] they had three young sons.
Adam was the oldest.
Then it was eli, and then gabriel.
[dr. Jordan] she was raising her children,
Taking care of the books for felix's practice,
Managing their, their financial accounts,
Their real estate, their rental properties.
[narrator] but by 2002, after almost 20 years together,
Their two oldest sons had moved away from home,
And the couple began to question their future.
The marriage had deteriorated.
There were arguments and fights
She was gonna file for divorce.
This had been building up.
In early October 2002,
She had gone on a trip to montana
To find a new place to live,
Which felix knew about.
He claimed that she had abandoned him and gabe.
The sons would try very hard to maintain their neutrality.
But there was obviously a lot of tension.
[narrator] as they hammered out the details of the divorce,
Susan and felix settled on a temporary living arrangement.
She would take the main house with gabe
And felix would take the pool house.
[roger] they seemed to have mutual respect for one another.
Make sure that, you know, they were...
Getting everything they needed.
[narrator] sadly, their agreement does not last long,
As the polk marriage ends in October 2002,
When their youngest son, gabe, calls 911
And tells police his mother shot his father.
[kenneth] I went up to ms. Polk, and I says,
"it's my responsibility to tell you
"that mr. Polk, your husband, is dead,
And not by natural means."
[paul] when she gets notified that her husband is dead,
There's not crying or screaming or questions.
Being detached, uncaring-- that's not unusual.
It sort of goes kind of to one extreme or the other.
The people who are extremely emotional
And then the people who are shut down.
[narrator] deputies transport mother and son separately
For questioning.
When detectives take a look at felix's body,
Gabe's claim about his mother comes into question.
Gabe's initial call,
He thought his father had been shot.
But the investigators weren't sure.
The detectives didn't think it was a gunshot wound.
They did a cursory search,
And there was no obvious murder weapon.
[narrator] investigators have to consider
Whether gabe is intentionally throwing
The investigation off track.
[paul] the first responders didn't really know
What they were coming into.
They didn't know if he was part of it
Or if he had done something to his father.
[narrator] coming up, a family's secrets are exposed.
[narrator] and investigators examine
A slew of strange accusations.
She said he was a mossad agent.
That he had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attack.
[theme music]
[narrator] around 9:00 pm
On October 14, 2002,
15-year-old gabe polk discovered the body
Of his father, felix,
In the pool house of their lavish home.
Contra costa investigators begin to question
The young man's story.
[paul] gabe found felix lying in the middle of
The living area of the pool house.
Gabe's first impression to 911 that his father had been shot.
Gabe thought his mother was the killer.
But at the scene, the detectives...
Discerned that right away that it wasn't a gunshot.
[music]
[kenneth] I've seen gunshot wounds, and, um,
You can tell there's usually an entry wound.
But it looked like there was multiple injuries.
[narrator] investigators question
If other aspects of gabe's initial story
Could also be false.
You have to really wait for the autopsy to be conducted
To really know what killed him.
[music]
[narrator] gabe and his mother, susan,
Are taken to the station,
While investigators continue to survey the crime scene.
[paul] there was no forced entry.
And so whoever got in there was allowed
To come into the pool house.
There wasn't a lot of furniture knocked over or things broken.
What it did look like was
He was in bed and had gotten out of bed.
[narrator] when investigators examine the blood evidence,
They gain new insight.
[kenneth] the blood, it wasn't pooling.
It was flat and dried.
So my assumption is that he'd been dead for a while.
[music]
[michael] that's when we notified coroner's office
The body's ready to be moved.
I responded back to my office,
And then that's when I started interviewing.
[narrator] considering all scenarios,
Investigators begin with gabe.
[paul] he's saying, "mom killed my dad."
They at least have in their mind,
Well, he's here, he discovered the body.
We at least have to look into him
And make sure he's not a suspect.
[narrator] they ask gabe to walk them through the events
That led up to his 911 call that evening.
[paul] gabe and his father were supposed to go to
A baseball game in the afternoon.
It was something that was planned ahead of time,
And his dad didn't show up.
He's waiting for dad to come home from work
Because the car's not there.
Dad's a pretty reliable guy, so he thought it was strange.
Gabe tells the detectives that he'd asked his mother
Where was his father, and she said,
"I have no idea."
[narrator] gabe's father still hadn't returned home.
So around 9:00 pm,
Gabe decided to check the pool house.
[paul] it was dark at this point.
And he--you know, the--
Obviously had been stood up for the game.
Uh, so he was-- finally got curious,
And he went down to the pool house to look for him.
[dr. Jordan] when he entered,
His father lay on the ground so covered in his blood,
That gabriel was convinced that his mother had shot him
With a shotgun.
So gabriel went outside and he called 911.
[narrator] investigators ask gabe
Why he believes his mother would hurt his father.
[paul] his father had told gabe
That she had threatened to kill him with a shotgun
Because of their contentious relationship.
Gabe was not equivocating or ambiguous.
He was very direct about what he saw,
What the background was,
And his opinion of who the killer was.
Gabe talked about how the marriage had deteriorated.
His mother was saying increasingly
Delusional things about his father.
[michael] susan polk was making comments
That her husband was a mossad agent,
Which is the israeli secret police.
Uh, that he had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attack.
He, uh, had tried to poison her dogs at one point.
[paul] gabe kept coming to the conclusion
That his mother must've done it
Because she'd threatened him before.
And there was this contentious divorce.
But the investigators weren't sure.
[narrator] authorities step out of the room,
But the camera is still recording.
They watch as gabe calls his older brother, adam,
Who is away at school at ucla.
[narrator] investigators step back in
And join gabe's call with his brother.
Gabe's claims about his mother gain credibility
When adam tells them similar stories.
[paul] they didn't trust her mental state.
In layman's terms, they kinda thought
She was being crazy all the time.
[dr. Jordan] the dysfunction was so deep,
With people being pulled from one side to the other,
Trying to be allied.
The children not wanting to lose either parent.
[paul] gabe and adam told a credible story.
To lead investigators, gabe was very direct
About the backgrounds and what his opinion was
Of who the killer was.
[narrator] investigators end the interview and release gabe.
Next, they take the boy's accusations to susan.
[michael] she seemed very aloof,
Didn't seem too shook up that her husband was dead.
She claims she didn't know anything about,
About him being dead out there or why or how.
Her husband's dead at the house,
And here she is, just sitting there, kind of calm
And kind of not caring.
It got my attention.
[narrator] coming up,
A threat from the past could lead investigators
To the killer.
She actually brought a knife to one of the therapy sessions.
[theme music]
[narrator] after felix polk is found dead
In his lavish california estate
Susan polk, his wife of nearly 20 years,
Is quick to deny any involvement.
[narrator] investigators ask who else could be responsible.
[narrator] they leave no stone unturned.
[narrator] susan suggests investigators
Look to her husband's professional life for answers.
[dr. Jordan] susan told him felix
Had been threatened by his patients in his past.
In fact, she said he had some female patient
Who actually brought a knife to one of the therapy sessions.
[narrator] investigators make note of susan's claims,
And as they continue to press her,
Susan grows visibly impatient.
[michael] I'll never forget this one.
"you're the detective. You figure it out."
And that just kind of blew me--blew my mind.
I'm thinkin', whoa, okay!
[narrator] detectives believe that susan is holding back.
They quickly call her bluff.
I would ask her things like,
"well, if this is a self-defense issue, we need to know."
It's a technique that you can get the person
To at least admit to being there.
And then from there, you take it on to their involvement.
[michael] she kept denying.
Based on the coldness and aloofness
Of her during the interview.
And all this information was coming out,
I think through gabriel, I was very convinced
That she was involved in this.
And I says, "well, I think I have figured it out."
And I said, "I'm gonna have to place you under arrest
For the homicide of your husband."
She was then transported to the jail for booking.
[narrator] the next day, the autopsy report comes in,
Verifying felix died nearly 22 hours
Before his body was found.
[michael] as far as the autopsy report,
A lot of stab wounds.
That's was cause of death-- multiple stab wounds.
Felix had five mortal wounds to his torso
And more than 20 wounds and small nicks over his body.
[narrator] the stab wounds weren't the only injuries
Inflicted upon felix.
He had something in the back of his head
That looked like he'd been hit with some blunt object.
Felix most likely was hit on the back of the head,
And the blunt force trauma rendered him semi-unconscious.
Then all the stab wounds were inflicted
When he went to the floor.
[narrator] the autopsy yields another surprise
And potentially explosive piece of evidence.
When they're processing the body,
They found some hair in his hands.
The clump of hair that was foun in felix's hand is significant
Because that was one of probably the few things he could do
Before he was killed was...
Last-ditch effort,
Grab the hair of his assailant to try to defend himself.
We can do a dna analysis and find out whose hair it was.
They ran it through pretty quick.
Hair is great dna because of the roots,
Because if roots are still on it,
They can do a lot with that.
So we got to it pretty quickly.
[narrator] the results are clear.
We find out that the hair in his hand came back to susan polk.
Now we've got hard evidence,
So we bring her back in for an interview.
[narrator] this time, susan is willing to talk
And admits there is more to the story,
But it's not what investigators think.
She admits killing him, but she says
That she did it in self-defense.
[narrator] susan said she lied earlier
Because she feared her sons would lose their father
And their mother.
[paul] she describes going down to the pool house
To talk to him.
They got in an argument.
He grabbed a knife.
He attacked her with the knife.
She was in fear for her life.
She kicked him in the groin, got the knife away from him,
And stabbed him in self-defense.
[narrator] according to susan, this wasn't the first attack.
[paul] she said he'd been abusive before.
He threatened her.
His been abusive all along.
[linda] the reason why she stayed with felix is because
She really didn't have a comprehensive understanding
Of what else to do.
She loved her boys.
She was trying to keep her family intact.
She was trying to keep her relationship
With her boys solid.
And that's why she stayed.
[music]
[narrator] susan says that two months earlier,
She finally built up the courage to file for divorce.
But while she was in montana
Looking for a place to live on her own,
Felix bombarded her with threats.
"when you come home, I'm gonna do away with you."
And she believed that he was threatening her.
[narrator] with susan's story contradicting gabe's
By painting felix as the villain,
Investigators ask her to submit to a physical exam,
Hoping this will shed light on the truth.
[paul] there was no scratches or cuts or anything on her.
He had defensive wounds on his hands.
No victim who's conscious doesn't have defensive wounds
When they're being stabbed because that's--
That's almost an instinct, to throw your arms and hands up
To keep the knife from being plunged into you.
[narrator] with an initial blow mean to immobilize
And 27 stab wounds in all,
Investigators believe the attack on felix
Was intended to kill.
[paul] if you're trying to defend yourself,
You don't inflict
A number of wounds over and over.
You inflict wounds until they're disabled.
[narrator] investigators discern if it truly was self-defense,
Susan would've called 911 immediately,
Rather than leaving felix's body in the pool house
For nearly 22 hours.
If an ambulance had gotten there in time,
He may have been saved.
But she didn't call 911.
[music]
[narrator] investigators take a closer look
At the divorce proceedings...
And learn felix had recently taken some bold moves.
[kevin] in late September/early October,
Susan went away to montana.
While susan was gone,
Felix was able to obtain a restraining order
To keep susan out of the house
And give him sole custody
And also sole possession of their shared house.
[narrator] while she was gone,
Weeks prior to his murder,
Felix also tightened the purse strings
On their temporary spousal support agreement.
Felix managed to have her monthly payments
Reduced from $6000 a month
Down to $1700 a month.
When she discovered what felix had done,
She immediately coopted her son gabriel
To help move all of her husband's belongings
Into the guesthouse behind their home.
[kevin] three days before the murder,
Felix polk had called the police.
When police showed up, he presented the court order
Showing that a judge had given him
Sole possession of the house.
They found a note from susan saying that
She did not feel it was a valid court order.
She'd gone to the movies.
And at that time, felix also realized
That susan had changed the locks on the house.
Three days later, gabriel found his father dead.
[music]
[narrator] the direction of the case seems clear,
But as investigators continue to dig,
A decades-old secret
Will throw the case into a tailspin.
Coming up,
Susan's mother drops a bombshell.
According to her mother, she was groomed
When she was his patient.
[narrator] and susan launches a media campaign.
It was horrible, but I, I did what I had to do to survive.
[theme music]
[narrator] following susan polk's arrest,
Susan's mother approaches detectives with new information
What they learn changes everything.
Although susan and felix had been married
Since susan was 24 years old,
Their relationship began almost a decade earlier.
Susan, at a very vulnerable time in her life, age 15,
She was very damaged by her parents' divorce.
[michael] she was having behavioral problems in school.
And the school wanted her to get some help.
So that's when she became a patient of, of felix polk's.
[narrator] but susan's mother alleges
That instead of helping his young patient,
Felix took advantage of her.
[linda] according to her mother,
She was groomed and abused by felix polk
When she was his patient
When she was a teenager,
And he sexually abused her.
[dr. Jordan] she alleges that when she was 15,
Felix polk engaged in nonconsensual sex with her
By hypnotizing her and drugging her.
According to her mother,
She was only 15, and he was in his 40's.
And it was not just rape,
But clearly she says felix polk
Started a terribly inappropriate,
Truly abusive and exploitative relationship with susan.
Susan seemed to be in love with felix.
She eventually told her mother,
And that susan's mother confronted him
And told him, "you will break off this relationship
With my daughter!"
But she never reported it to the police.
[music]
[narrator] felix stayed away from susan
While she started college,
But not for long.
Susan eventually, around the age of 18, went off to college.
It was within a year or two back to the way it had been.
And even though she was older,
She had a compulsion to go back to him.
[narrator] while susan was in school nearby,
She and felix continued their relationship,
Which susan eventually revealed to her new therapist.
[dr. Jordan] she went to a different,
Female psychotherapist, telling that woman
Her previous doctor, dr. Felix polk,
Had initiated a sexual relationship with her
While she was underage and was his patient.
The new doctor, instead of turning in
Felix polk to the apa,
Calls his wife and lets her know.
The wife wants to divorce felix.
He decides the best way to handle this scandal head on
Is to go ahead and divorce his wife and to marry susan.
[paul] they get married, even though
There's a 25-year difference.
But then they go on to have three children
And somewhat, in a way, look like, okay,
This all worked out.
[narrator] the news is a shock to investigators.
But they quickly realize they aren't the only ones
Getting the inside scoop.
At the encouragement of her attorneys,
Susan is telling her story far and wide.
[paul] she started giving interviews.
They were feeding the media all these stories
About the relationship.
They were having an affair when she was underage
And his patient.
Susan explained that he had sex with her in his office
When she was an adolescent.
[robert] it's kind of, you know, front page news.
The story is unfolding,
And finding out more and more.
[narrator] according to susan, the way their relationship bega
Haunted the entirety of their marriage.
[narrator] susan and her attorneys allege
That over time, the circumstances
Surrounding her relationship with felix
Took a toll on her mental health.
He told me I could never leave him,
That it would destroy him and his career.
[dr. Jordan] those last five years,
Susan's mental capacity really began to decompensate.
[narrator] susan says instead of offering help,
Felix once again took advantage of her.
[dr. Jordan] according to susan,
Felix was turning the children against her,
Constantly telling the children that she was very mentally ill,
Kind of gaslighting susan.
"in case she tells you that I raped her when she was 15,
Know that that's all made up!"
[narrator] with no way to prove or disprove
Susan's claims about her past,
Investigators feel that her media campaign
Is an attempt to bolster her claims of self-defense.
My recollection is that I stabbed him five or six times.
I was on my back the entire time.
He was, um, aggressing the entire time.
It was horrible, but I, I did what I had to do to survive.
[music]
[narrator] whether or not the general public
Buys susan's story,
She garners plenty of attention
At that point, it became a media circus,
With everybody wanting to know,
Because orinda is a quiet, upscale suburbia,
And so a crime of murder is
Forefront in, uh, the news.
[narrator] prosecutors know the trial
Will be unlike any they've done in the past.
[paul] it's a once in a lifetime...Get some weird...
I mean, I've tried a lot of cases, but, you know,
This is obviously the most bizarre.
[narrator] prosecutors learn that susan and her defense team
Are putting a worrisome strategy in place.
[paul] she had a good lawyer.
They got a judge to render--to say--
Make an order that she's incompetent
And meet with, uh, psychological experts
To determine her competency.
[narrator] but on January 13, 2006,
Attorneys on both sides get a surprise
When susan makes an announcement.
She was never willing to submit to any sort of...
Uh, psychological assessment to determine
What, if any, psychological issues she may have had.
[dr. Jordan] susan refused to let her attorneys
Put that defense on the table, firing them all.
She refused to cooperate with a psychological examination,
Fired her lawyers, and then represented herself.
So was she crazy?
Or did she know exactly what she was doing?
Am I going to just, um, go down without a fight?
No.
[narrator] coming up,
Will susan's risky move pay off
She's smarter than even most attorneys are.
[narrator] or cost her freedom?
The courtroom's packed every day.
The press is there.
It became the theater of the absurd.
[theme music]
[narrator] by March 2006,
Prosecutors are eager to begin susan polk's trial
For the murder of her husband, dr. Felix polk.
Months before, susan sent shockwaves
Through contra costa county
When she announced she would act as her own counsel.
That's what's captivated the public,
Was that she was representing herself.
The courtroom's packed every day.
The press is there.
People are standing on the sides.
It's become this...Theater, right?
And everybody wants to know what's gonna happen today.
[narrator] susan's opening statement
Gives prosecutors reason for concern.
[kevin] she's obviously a very smart person,
Smarter than...Even most attorneys are.
[narrator] prosecutors allege that
During the contentious divorce,
Susan hit a breaking point and snapped.
[paul] the marriage was disintegrating.
She'd become so bitter and angry,
She was capable of killing her husband.
She felt like she was entitled.
That after all he'd done to her
And all he was going to do to her,
And she just had it.
I think she sat there and her mind was spinning,
And it went, "okay, it's time.
I'm gonna go kill him."
[music]
[narrator] prosecutors assert
That susan roused her husband from sleep
And met him at the door with a weapon in hand.
[paul] our theory was that she hit him,
Possibly with a flashlight, to disable him.
The blunt force trauma to the back of the head
Either rendered him unconscious or semi-unconscious,
And then stabbed him,
And he had no ability to defend himself.
We found felix's car at the nearby bart station.
And our theory was that susan drove this car
To make it look like...
There was something involved with this killing.
[music]
[narrator] when it comes to susan's defense,
She starts by making her way through
The prosecution's witness list without missing a beat.
There were periods in the trial where some of her questioning
Was...As good as I've ever heard from anywhere.
I mean, some of her cross-examination
Was really, really good.
[narrator] but as the trial goes on,
Cracks begin to form in susan's strategy.
It became...Kind of the theater of the absurd.
She accused him of everything
From being a mossad agent to being involved with 9/11.
I mean, there's a lot of crazy accusations.
Again, all unverifiable, just her throwing out stuff
In her mind--what she thinks in her mind.
[linda] it does make it harder to believe
That if the person's saying something
That seems delusional here,
They're telling the truth over here.
[narrator] there are three witnesses set to take the stand
Who steal the spotlight from susan.
[dr. Jordan] gabriel, who at age 15
Discovered his father's body,
And adam, who at 19 was away at college.
These two young men went into the court
Ready to give the testimony of what they knew.
It was almost like a train wreck.
They are basically being badgered by their own mother.
It became a three-ring circus
When she finally called her middle child, eli, to the stand
As her defense witness.
[narrator] eli backs up his mother's claims.
He insisted that she was abused, that she was innocent,
That everything had been felix's fault.
[michael] and that was never proven.
There was never any evidence that he ever beat susan polk.
[paul] uh, I was able to punch a lot of...
Holes in a lot of the things he said.
When I cross-examined him, she objected 140 times.
But by then, I was getting, uh...
I was getting immune to all her yelling,
So I just kept going.
[narrator] after a grueling 22-week trial,
The jury is left to decide.
When the jury went out, I don't know.
I mean, it's like when any jury goes out--
You're scared to death.
[narrator] four days later, they return with a verdict.
Susan polk is found guilty of second-degree murder.
[dr. Jordan] the jury, by finding her guilty
Of second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder,
Basically gave her a gift--
16 years to life.
I think with the information that the jury had,
They couldn't have made any other decision.
[narrator] following the verdict,
Adam polk makes a statement.
Felix polk was a beloved father,
Brother, uncle, cousin, and nephew to his family.
We, as his family, are devastated
Not only by his loss,
But the violent manner in which he was taken from us.
He was not the controlling and manipulative individual
That he is portrayed to be.
He was an imperfect person, as we all are.
But susan had no right to take him from us.
[music]