Tables turned on D.A. after wife killed

In the midst of the highest-profile murder case of his career, Oakland defense attorney and legal pundit Daniel Horowitz now finds himself the grieving widower in an unsolved murder mystery.

On Saturday evening, Horowitz called 9-1-1 and reported that he had found his wife, Pamela Vitale, dead in the entryway of their home on a large plot of land in the canyons of Lafayette. Vitale, 52, died from a blow to the head, officials said Monday, and no arrests have been made in connection with her slaying.

Vitale's death came as Horowitz was serving as lead defense counsel in the murder trial of Susan Polk, an Orinda woman who admits killing her husband, Frank "Felix" Polk, in 2002. The trial began last week in a Martinez courtroom, and Horowitz had become a fixture on TV legal affairs shows to discuss the case.

On Monday, as hulking satellite trucks and hordes of reporters descended on the Martinez courthouse, the judge declared a mistrial in Polk's murder case, sending jurors home and telling them it was not possible to resume the trial.

Investigators Monday said they have not ruled out anyone as a suspect in Vitale's killing. Sheriff's department spokesman Jimmy Lee said investigators are talking with Horowitz and Joseph Lynch, a man who lives in a trailer on Horowitz' property. No one is in custody.

"We are looking at all possible theories and motives," Lee told a group of reporters outside his Martinez office.

Ivan Golde, who served as co-counsel with Horowitz on the Polk case, said it was common for strange people to wander on to Horowitz' land, and Horowitz had purchased a gun to chase off unwanted intruders.

Horowitz has represented many murder defendants, but Golde said he did not believe there was a connection with a former client.

"This is like a nightmare. I can't believe I'm standing here, it's like a bad dream," Golde said as he addressed the media after Polk's mistrial.

According to court documents, Horowitz had concerns about Lynch, and worried he might attack him or his wife. In June, Horowitz filed a request for a restraining order, calling Lynch "delusional, threatening, violent and dangerous."

"Drugs and alcohol seem to have destroyed at least part of what has been good in Joe, and now it seems that maybe he'd go beyond hurting himself and hurt others," Horowitz wrote in a declaration included in the restraining order file.

Down the hill from Horowitz' almost-completed, four-story mansion that friends called their "dream house," the 54-year-old Lynch stood outside greeting reporters.

Lynch, who sold a parcel of land to Horowitz and reached an agreement with him to live on it for a period of time, admitted to being questioned by detectives Sunday as part of the homicide investigation and said it would be "silly" for them to not consider him as a suspect.

However, Lynch, a thin, soft-spoken man with salt-and-pepper hair, said, "I wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Dan has been very supportive of me and my problems, let's just put it at that," Lynch said.

Indeed, Horowitz filed a letter in 2004 on Lynch's behalf in a drunk driving case. "His destructiveness is towards himself and his conduct towards others is exactly the opposite," Horowitz wrote.

Lynch's sister, Kitty Lynch of Garberville, wrote in a letter also included in Lynch's drunk driving case, that her brother was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and "has a history of street and prescription pain medication abuse."

She added: "My brother is very intelligent and persuasive and knows how to tell authorities what they want to hear."

Horowitz was working on the Polk case Saturday with two defense investigators before he returned home to find his wife's body, saidOakland attorney James Giller, a close friend with whom Horowitz has co-counseled many capital cases.

Giller spoke to Horowitz several times on Saturday night. "He wasn't doing very well on Saturday, he was hysterical when I talked to him."

But Giller said Horowitz, a New York City native with a "street mentality," is a tough guy "when push comes to shove. He's not afraid of anything.

"I felt Danny, if he found the guy first, would kill him."

In a May 2003 profile by the Daily Journal legal newspaper, Horowitz described himself as a born-and-bred New York City street fighter.

Despite his ardent opposition to the death penalty, he said he wouldn't hesitate to take matters into his own hands if someone were to hurt him or his family.

Golde said Vitale and Horowitz' worlds revolved around each other.

Last Tuesday, as Horowitz delivered his opening statement in the Polk matter, Vitale showed up to watch and support him.

Giller said Vitale grew up in a Minneapolis suburb, where he believes her parents still reside. She has two children by a previous marriage who at times lived with Horowitz and Vitale but now are in their 20s and living outside the Bay Area.

Horowitz remained out of the public eye Monday, and did not return phone messages.