Nandee
10-25-2005, 10:34 AM
Wife of attorney representing homicide defendant Polk killed
LAFAYETTE - The wife of the attorney representing homicide defendant Susan Polk was found dead in her home Saturday night, presenting a new twist in a case that has already attracted national attention.
Pamela Vitale, a 52-year-old woman who had worked as a high-tech executive, was found dead at 6 p.m. by her husband, Daniel Horowitz, in their home at 1901 Hunsaker Canyon Road in Lafayette, said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.
Investigators would not comment on the cause of death, although they called it "violent."
The home where she died sits at the end of a mile-long driveway near the top of the hills between Lafayette and Walnut Creek in a neighborhood with large, private estates.
Early Sunday morning, two police cars were posted at the bottom of the dark driveway but no activity could be seen beyond the 6-foot-tall iron gates.
Lee said authorities were looking for suspects and a motive. Horowitz, 50, is representing Polk, who is accused of murder in the October 2002 stabbing death of her husband in the poolhouse of their Orinda home. He took Polk's case in August on what was supposed to be the first day of trial when she was attempting to represent herself in Contra Costa County Superior Court.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12915152.htm
LAFAYETTE - The wife of the attorney representing homicide defendant Susan Polk was found dead in her home Saturday night, presenting a new twist in a case that has already attracted national attention.
Pamela Vitale, a 52-year-old woman who had worked as a high-tech executive, was found dead at 6 p.m. by her husband, Daniel Horowitz, in their home at 1901 Hunsaker Canyon Road in Lafayette, said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.
Investigators would not comment on the cause of death, although they called it "violent."
The home where she died sits at the end of a mile-long driveway near the top of the hills between Lafayette and Walnut Creek in a neighborhood with large, private estates.
Early Sunday morning, two police cars were posted at the bottom of the dark driveway but no activity could be seen beyond the 6-foot-tall iron gates.
Lee said authorities were looking for suspects and a motive. Horowitz, 50, is representing Polk, who is accused of murder in the October 2002 stabbing death of her husband in the poolhouse of their Orinda home. He took Polk's case in August on what was supposed to be the first day of trial when she was attempting to represent herself in Contra Costa County Superior Court.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12915152.htm