Final Analysis

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.