Daniel Horowitz
Posted on 10/16/2005 12:27:26 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
LAFAYETTE, Calif. - The wife of a prominent Bay Area attorney was found dead in the couple's home Saturday, police said.
Daniel Horowitz called 911 shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday to report that the body of his wife, Pamela Vitale, was found in the entryway of their home, located in an upscale Contra Costa County neighborhood.
The 52-year-old woman's identity has not been confirmed, but "based on what we know, it's believed to be the wife of Daniel Horowitz," said Contra Costa Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.
Authorities would not release details of how the victim died, but said it was a "definite homicide." They added that they do not have any suspects or a motive.
"We're still in the early stages. We're talking to several individuals. Nobody's in custody right now," Lee said.
A call to the Horowitz home was not answered late Saturday.
Daniel Horowitz is a regular television legal commentator, appearing on CNN, MSNBC's The Abrams Report and Fox News, and was a frequent commentator during the Laci Peterson trial.
Horowitz is the defense attorney for Susan Polk, who is accused of murder in the 2002 stabbing death of her husband in the poolhouse of their Orinda home. The trial, which has drawn national attention, had been scheduled to continue next week.
Vitale, a former high-tech marketing executive, worked at her husband's law practice, creating and managing databases.
Daniel Horowitz
Wow, what next??? Yes, most of us do recognize him from T.V.
I'm sure he is the #1 suspect by the police!
I hope he didn't do it!
Gretta, your next horse is ready ...
My gosh! I just saw him on NBC last night, when Dateline Mysteries did the Susan Polk story--and it's a major trial going on right now in the Bay Area. This is incredible.
I don't like the guy, because of things he has said in other trials--he's a TV commentator on cases like Laci Peterson and so forth. He is a Geragos buddy-buddy.
But his wife didn't deserve to die because he's a jerk. Wow. This will definitely be one to watch.
MARTINEZ, Calif. — A week before his wife stabbed him to death in his pool house, psychologist Felix Polk called police to report that she had threatened his life over the telephone, a prosecution witness testified Wednesday.
Prosecutors have argued that Susan Polk planned the killing because Felix had obtained custody of Gabriel, plus their $2 million house, and was attempting to have his spousal support payments reduced.
Polk, 47, admits that she stabbed her 70-year-old husband to death but says she was only defending herself from his attack. She claims their marriage, which began a decade after she was his teenage patient and lasted 20 years, was marked by physical and emotional abuse.
While sitting in a patrol car that day, Polk denied having done anything wrong, according to Deputy Sheriff Shannon Kelly, one of the first police officers to arrive at Polks' home in the San Francisco suburb of Orinda.
Kelly's supervisor previously testified that, upon being told her husband was dead, Susan Polk commented, "Oh, well, we were getting a divorce anyway."
Kelly acknowledged that he did not overhear that comment, but defense attorney Daniel Horowitz continued to cross-examine him for two hours in what appeared to be an attempt to cast doubt on the police's initial response to the call and handling of the crime scene.
The defense lawyer seems to be building up to an argument that police officers did not keep adequate records, lost evidence, contaminated the bloody scene in the pool house, and generally did a shoddy job.
Bizarre Twist To Susan Polk Murder Trial
POSTED: 10:34 pm PDT October 15, 2005
LAFAYETTE -- Authorities were investigating a Saturday night homicide that may have claimed the life of the wife of an attorney representing Susan Polk, an Orinda woman currently on trial for the 2002 murder of her therapist husband.
Contra Costa County sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said police received a call just before 6 p.m. from a person at 1901 Hunsaker Canyon Road in Lafayette.
Lee said the caller "stated to the effect that 'My wife is dead.'"
Lafayette police responded to the scene and found the body of a 52-year-old woman.
Lee said authorities believe the victim is the wife of attorney Daniel Horowitz, who is representing Susan Polk.
"This is being classified as a homicide," Lee said.
Lee said 20 officers and detectives were at the scene "trying to follow up on leads and establish a motive."
The investigation is in a "very preliminary, very initial stage right now," Lee said.
"what Sheriff's Department is calling a homicide"
Wife of attorney representing homicide defendant Polk killed
LAFAYETTE - Pamela Vitale, the wife of the attorney representing homicide defendant Susan Polk, was found dead in her home tonight in what the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department is calling a homicide.
The 52-year-old woman was found dead at 6 p.m. by Daniel Horowitz in their home in the 1900 block of Hunsacker Canyon Road in Lafayette, said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.
He said investigators are looking for suspects and a motive.
Lee would not comment on cause of death.
Horowitz is representing Polk, who is accused of murder in the 2002 stabbing death of her husband in the poolhouse of their Orinda home, in a trial that has drawn national attention.
Contra Costa Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee says it was a "definite homicide," but they have not identified any suspects or a motive.
Authorities have not released any details about how the victim was killed.
Check this out!
A call to the Horowitz home by The Associated Press was not answered late Saturday.
"I can't talk," Horowitz, sounding shaken and subdued, told the San Francisco Chronicle when reached on his cell phone Saturday. "I can't. It's beyond words."
Daniel Horowitz is a regular television legal commentator, appearing on CNN, MSNBC's The Abrams Report and Fox News, and was a frequent commentator during the Laci Peterson trial.
Horowitz is the defense attorney for Susan Polk, who is accused of murder in the 2002 stabbing death of her husband in the poolhouse of their Orinda home. The trial, which has drawn national attention, had been scheduled to continue next week.
Vitale, a former high-tech marketing executive, worked at her husband's law practice, creating and managing databases.
OJ did it
Daniel Horowitz has been counsel and often lead counsel in most of the new narcotics conspiracy mega cases filed in the Northern District.
Horowitz' wife, Pamela Vitale, a former hi-tech marketing executive, has joined her husband's law practice, in charge of database creation and management, he says. Vitale is still getting used to the constant shoptalk, she says, but has been affected by the notion that what they are doing affects the highest level of people's lives.
I don't think he acts as smarmy as Geragos, I can tolerate listening to & watching him. He may be, but he doesn't come across to me as bad as Geragos!
hmmmm.....did he know the clintons??????
Are you indicating that ARKANCIDE did her in?
Truthfully, in this particular case of Susan Polk, I might have sided with him, because I feel certain she did kill him in what, in her mind, was "self-defense" - it just may not meet the legal test of it.
I think it often hinges on "immediate" threat. There was, but it was something that had built to a crescendo over many, many years. I imagine on any given day, Susan was thinking of killing the sombi, but didn't really think she would or could go through with it. This day happened to be different.
What he put her through as a 15-year-old was enough to have gotten him behind bars himself. She and the son who is supporting her come across as a lot saner than the things revealed about the dead husband. Still, it depends on the jury and the fine line of what is considered self-defense.
I think Horowitz would have had a good chance of winning this one. Now, what will this do to the trial, I wonder. Not sure if he has partners or not.
Less than 2 miles from here. Kinda creepy . . .
Their driveway is a mile long!
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