Philip Polkinghorne murder trial live updates: Jury listen to phone recording of wife Pauline Hanna describing surgeon as ‘sex fiend’
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
Jurors have today heard more directly from Philip Polkinghorne as the remainder of his three-hour police interview, conducted the day his wife was found dead in their Remuera home, was played in the High Court at Auckland.
The jury has now finished watching the full interview Polkinghorne gave to Detective Ilona Walton at a central Auckland police station on the afternoon of April 5. That morning, he had called 111 to report his wife had hanged herself. Police arrived and quickly became suspicious all was not as it seemed.
Story continues after live blog:
Day of evidence comes to an end
Helen Van Berkel
An extraordinary day of evidence has come to an end.
Court will resume shortly before 10am for a brief stint, when the jury will be told more about their visit to the Polkinghorne home in Remuera's Upland Rd.
Justice Graham Lang said the jury would be taken by bus to the property about 10am for a walk-through.
Helen Van Berkel
Nor had Hanna ever shared anything to indicate she was in physical danger.
"She never said that she loved Philip," said Baker. She said Hanna was unhappy in her marriage.
Mansfield has no further questions.
Helen Van Berkel
Had Hanna mentioned being bullied and criticised at work? Mansfield asked.
Baker said she could not recall such a conversation.
Helen Van Berkel
She always worked long hours, said Baker.
"She thrived on it. She had such high standards, there was no way she was going to leave anything undone."
As as for her drinking, Baker replied, she would have "one or two glasses".
Mansfield then cross-examines her on her texts with Pauline Hanna, in which Hanna apologised to her friend for unburdening herself on her issues with her husband.
Helen Van Berkel
However, Pauline said she had recently felt able to say no to the threesomes.
"That was an incredibly vulnerable conversation," said Baker.
"I'd never had a conversation with her like that before.
"She didn't tell me they were going to separate, but there was an undercurrent of unhappiness in the marriage," Baker said.
Soon after the drinks, New Zealand went into the first Covid lockdown so Baker saw less of her work friend.
Pauline stayed in her Covid role in the city and Baker was at Middlemore.
Helen Van Berkel
Baker recalled arranging to have drinks with Pauline on March 11, 2020. They were meeting at the SO/ Hotel off Fort St in downtown Auckland.
She arrived and Pauline had a glass of red with a glass of sav waiting for Baker.
Pauline was excited that Baker was building a house at Whitianga, because she had a place at nearby Rings Beach.
Baker also remembers a story, previously heard by the jury, where Philip failed to turn up to the beach for a family holiday. Hanna had to lie, Baker remembered her saying, and say he was at a conference in America.
"That stuck with me," she said.
Pauline later asked Baker what it would be like to be a "single woman of a certain age".
"She said to me she wasn't happy in her marriage and hadn't been for a long time."
Baker said Pauline had told her Philip had made her engage in threesomes, which she wasn't keen on.
Hanna 'a small woman but she took up a lot of space'
Helen Van Berkel
Hanna then moved into the headquarters for the Covid response in Auckland City.
"There was a group of about five of us I nicknamed the housewives of Middlemore," Baker, a tall, older woman with dramatic glasses, said.
They'd have coffee and on occasion would go for a drink.
"Pauline was driven, she was larger than life. She was quite a small woman but she took up a lot of space," Baker said.
"She was always able to have a conversation with you. When she walked into the room, you'd think she was the chief executive. She was driven, had high standards and expected high standards of those around her.
"We were colleagues and friends."
Helen Van Berkel
The Crown's next witness is Donna Marie Baker, of Wellington, who lived in Auckland leading up to April 2021, working as general manager of communications at Counties Manukau Health, based at Middlemore Hospital.
She was on the same management team as Pauline Hanna who, for about six months, was Baker's acting manager.
Helen Van Berkel
Dickey says he has no further questions for Bruce Hanna, who is now free to go.
Justice Lang has revealed Bruce's daughter Rose is to give evidence and cautioned him not to speak to his daughter about his evidence.
Helen Van Berkel
He believed Pauline was in Auckland at the time.
Bruce says he wasn't aware of a suicide attempt in 1992 or that his sister had been hospitalised.
"I think she would have reached out to me for sure. We've always had a close relationship," Bruce said.
As to Pauline's alcohol consumption: "I wouldn't have thought she drunk a lot of alcohol. She held down a very responsible job," he said.
"I didn't see excess, anyway."
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield is back to the Longlands recording, where Bruce and his family members were encouraging Pauline to split with Philip, and discussing what she might be entitled to.
As Hanna had no children of her own, her estate, if it didn't go to Polkinghorne, would go to Bruce and his sister, Mansfield noted.
"I assume it would," said Bruce.
Mansfield's cross-examination of Pauline's brother Bruce Hanna ends and prosecutor Brian Dickey now has questions.
He asks what Bruce's reply would be if someone were to directly insinuate he was giving evidence to get a hand in his sister's estate.
"It's ridiculous really," said Bruce.
Dickey then asks about the suicide attempt Mansfield said Pauline made about 1992.
Bruce said his father had died in 1990. He and his wife Shelley had been overseas for a few months and then went to the South Island.
Helen Van Berkel
Did Bruce realise his sister's assets would go to Polkinghorne, her spouse? asks Mansfield.
Bruce Hanna said he would not have thought about a will unless Polkinghorne had phoned him and asked if he had a copy.
He told Mansfield he was not aware that if someone was found to have killed a person, they would not be entitled to the estate.
"Look, I'm not a lawyer. I don't know the legal surrounds around this at all," Bruce said.
Helen Van Berkel
Bruce confirmed under cross-examination that Pauline Hanna had died without a will, but added: "There has not been a will produced. But I don't believe she died without a will."
Mansfield said Pauline and Philip both had life insurance but it was only worth $30,000.
Helen Van Berkel
"You would have to ask them," Bruce replies.
He confirms he bought the farm from his parents and that his sisters held shares in it.
The sisters were content with him buying the farm as Bruce looked after their mother.
"Those shares were allocated well before I bought the farm. My mother made that arrangement, not me," Bruce said.
The family farm
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield is now asking Bruce whether his mother wanted to stay on the family farm at Longlands in Hawke's Bay until she died.
Bruce says she had severe dementia and needed to go into specialist care but she did want to stay on the farm.
"Wasn't there a disagreement between Pauline and your other sister Tracey regarding that decision?" Mansfield asked.
"I'm not sure about that."
Helen Van Berkel
In one messge, Hanna says her work on the vaccine rollout is "hectic" but she raises a glass to their late mother.
Helen Van Berkel
Were you aware she was working long hours at work and coming home late at night? Mansfield asks.
I suppose I was, said Bruce.
Helen Van Berkel
Bruce agrees the texts have no reference to animosity between Pauline and Philip, but mainly talk about family matters, including funeral arrangements for their mother.
Helen Van Berkel
Pauline appears to have feared she would be linked in the media to the PPE bungle.
She said she reluctantly took the role as head of logistics for the vaccine rollout, according to Mansfield.
"We mainly talked about the health of our mother," said Bruce.
Their mother died in February 2021. The PPE issue was in 2020, after the first lockdown.
Mansfield asks if Pauline had ever told him the role was incredibly difficult and lonely.
Bruce said he never heard those words.
Mansfield is producing a copy of text messages between Pauline and her brother Bruce, spanning February to April 2019.
The email
Helen Van Berkel
"If I get into the media, I would like you to know that I have done everything transparently and for the right reasons," Hanna said.
"I trust it won't get to that, but just a heads-up."
Mansfield says there was a government contract with China worth $20m, for PPE during Covid, but the wrong product had been sent, according to the lawyer.
That was in May 2020, when Pauline Hanna sent the email he is referring to.
Court resumes
Helen Van Berkel
"You won't need to bring lunch tomorrow," said Justice Graham Lang. Court will resume at 1pm tomorrow after the excursion to the home, then stop for the week at 3.30pm.
Court is back for the final session of the day.
Ron Mansfield is back to the email he produced before the break, describing Pauline Hanna's travails at work. She said she was bullied and marginalised by clinicians, among others.
Bruce Hanna said he can't remember the email, sent to himself, his daughter Rose, his wife Shelley, and earlier Polkinghorne's son Ben and his wife Bridget.
Pauline Hanna says in the email that she fears she might be about to endure some media scrutiny amid issues in the health sector, where she worked, following auditor general inquiries. Her final role was running logistics for the national vaccine rollout.
More from the recording:
Helen Van Berkel
Much of the afternoon so far has been about the recording made by Bruce Hanna's daughter Rose.
Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield asks about the repeated sound of bottles clanging in the recording.
"Can I suggest it sounds like you'd all had a few drinks and in particular, Pauline, had had a few drinks?"
"They're not the words I would use," Bruce Hanna said.
Rose, in the recording, was aged 29, Bruce said.
Before that particular conversation, Bruce said, he was cooking dinner. He did not know that Rose was recording, and in response to questioning, he said he was aware it was only part of the recording that she made.
She made the first recording, he said, when they were talking about family taonga and how they were going to divide it up.
Rose was writing it down, Bruce said, but obviously thought "why write it, let's just record it".
"So you did know that she was recording? Mansfield asked.
"I did then," Bruce said.
Mansfield said the recording sounds continuous and Bruce said two separate recordings were made at different periods of the day; one during the day, one in the evening.
"Well, I've only been referred to the one recording," said Mansfield.
Rose "probably" told him later that day about the second recording, Bruce said.
Did she tell you why she'd recorded the second conversation? Mansfield asked.
No, said Bruce, she didn't tell me why.
Mansfield: Did much of what you told the police in your statement come from the discussion that night?
Bruce: Yes.
Bruce said he and Hanna would also speak on trips to and from the airport when she'd visit Hawke's Bay to see their ailing mother.
She'd talk about her relationship with Philip.
She might say he's stressed at work, or away this weekend, and she'd roll her eyes, he remembered.
Mansfield asked if she was open about the fact Philip was seeing other women.
Yes, Bruce replied.
Had Pauline been open before the recorded conversation about situations involving group sex?
No, Bruce replied: the recorded conversation was the first time he'd heard about the group sex.
Bruce said he was aware Polkinghorne had retired from his hospital work but was not aware of his retirement from Auckland Eye and the negotiations involved in that.
Pauline had said they were restructuring at Auckland Eye and Philip was looking at his retirement down the track, Bruce remembered.
Bruce agrees with Mansfield that the source of his client's anger was the financial issues arising from Auckland Eye and his impending retirement.
She had made it clear how much she loves her husband? asks Mansfield.
Yes, said Bruce.
Jury to make trip to Polkinghorne's Remuera home
Helen Van Berkel
Justice Lang is taking the afternoon adjournment.
The judge has revealed that on Friday the jury is to visit the Upland Rd property Polkinghorne and Hanna shared.
"You're going to leave here by bus as close to 10am as we can make it."
Helen Van Berkel
Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield has produced an email, sent by Pauline Hanna and received by her brother Bruce, his daughter Rose and originally sent to Ben and Bridget Polkinghorne, Philip's son and daughter-in-law.
Bruce did not know the background to the email, which says: "I doubt that anything will eventuate but I need to let you know but with accountability for the public purse there is media".
She was forwarding an email originally sent to Ben and Bridget around 9pm on May 9.
It reads:
"Hello there you two gorgeous ones.
Thank you again for the flowers.
Today is my full first day off in eight weeks."
It apologises for not being in touch.
Mansfield, pausing there, said it seems Pauline Hanna is working long hours, eight weeks with no break?
Bruce: I don't disagree. I probably wasn't aware of at the time.
The last eight weeks, writes Hanna, have been amazing.
"I've experienced the best and worst in human behaviour," said Hanna.
She had received an amazing response from Health Source, where she had been seconded from the DHB.
In the email, said Mansfield, Hanna said she had been bullied and marginalised at work.
The lawyer said the email suggests Hanna was coping somewhat differently, less well in fact, with work than Bruce had said.
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield continues to refer to medical records showing Hanna dealing with a mental health crisis team.
When you spoke to the police you were aware she was under some pressure at work? asks Mansfield.
No, she was finishing her contract, said Bruce.
He could not recall Pauline's exact title – Mansfield says she was national lead logistics for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout – but says she was set to open a vaccine clinic on Wednesday April 7, when her contract was coming to an end.
"Didn't she hold a fulltime position?"
"I'm not sure, I don't think it was a fulltime position."
Polkinghorne trial bombshell: lawyer says Hanna tried to kill herself in 1992
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield asked Bruce if he had ever asked Pauline about the medication she was on.
No I didn't, said Bruce Hanna.
Mansfield tells the court of upcoming evidence of Pauline disclosing an attempt to kill herself in 1992, shortly after her father's death.
"Were you aware of that?" he asks Bruce.
"No, I was not," replies Pauline's brother.
Was Bruce aware that from 2001, she was prescribed anti-depressant medication?
No, said Bruce.
Mansfield said her medical records show she had severe depression and lots of relationship strife with Philip's children.
Was Bruce aware of that, he asks. Again, he was not.
In 2011, Hanna was referred to a psychiatrist, said Mansfield. Was Bruce aware of that? No he wasn't, he said.
In 2013, she was diagnosed with alcohol dependence syndrome, the defence lawyer claims.
Bruce wasn't aware.
She had reported to have been drinking a bottle of wine a night over the previous 10 years.
In 2019, Mansfield said her alcohol consumption remained above sensible limits, according referring to medical records.
Later notes say she was distressed and suffering suicidal thoughts, Mansfield said.
"She was referred to the crisis team. Were you aware of that?" the lawyer asked.
"No," said Bruce Hanna.
Helen Van Berkel
He had gone fishing and crayfishing with Philip "the odd time", said Bruce, and would also go to the Polkinghorne bach at Rings Beach.
Mansfield: When did you see the change in Philip's physical appearance?
Bruce: Probably 12 to 18 months before Hanna died.
"He didn't look very well," Bruce said, adding he'd asked Pauline if her husband was okay.
"I thought he actually looked physically unwell."
Did the change in appearance suggest a change in lifestyle? asks Mansfield.
No, said Bruce, I thought he looked ill. He again talks about Pauline describing her husband as "on the roof" meaning angry.
Helen Van Berkel
She met Philip, Bruce replied under questioning, around 1995 or 1996.
December 1996, says Mansfield.
Bruce said he met the couple about 1997 and Bruce conceded he has not had a lot to do with Philip. However, the families had spent time together at Christmas and the odd holiday at the beach.
What was Pauline doing when she met Philip? asks Mansfield.
Bruce said by that point she was already working in public health, and she met him at work in Auckland, he believes.
At the time, Bruce was just finishing in Otago, where he was a fisherman. He headed back to the family farm in Longlands Rd in July 1998, where he still lives.
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield then returned to the siblings' earlier years.
"How old were you when [Pauline] headed off to Massey?"
"I would have been about 17," Bruce said.
At the time he was a farm cadet.
Pauline did not spend long at Massey as her chosen degree "wasn't for her".
She then moved to Wellington. But Bruce can't remember what she did or how long she was there.
That would have been back in 1978. He can't remember exactly.
After that, Bruce said she returned to Hawke's Bay, working for a stock and station agent before heading to the UK.
She then might have returned from the UK around 1986, Bruce thinks and went to Otago University to do an MBA in business.
Did she not do a BA in economics at Auckland Uni first? Mansfield asked.
She could have done, agrees Bruce.
Helen Van Berkel
She never talked about any physical assault, Bruce said.
"She made it clear that there had been none, didn't she?" Mansfield asked.
"That's correct."
Bruce said he and Rose had been keen on Pauline separating from Philip, because of the infidelity and how she was being treated.
Bruce said they then sat down for dinner but could not remember whether Pauline was staying with us.
"We probably would have talked some more, laughed, talked about family."
Defence cross-examination of Bruce, Pauline Hanna's brother
James Wheeler
Ron Mansfield KC begins his cross-examination of Bruce Hanna, Pauline's brother, who confirms he, his wife and Rose, his daughter, were there on the night of the recording.
It was on November 24, 2019, Bruce thinks, but admits he could be wrong about the date.
Pauline was visiting their ailing mother that weekend, Bruce said.
The conversation that Rose recorded was made "before dinner, 5.30pm or 6pm", Bruce told Mansfield.
Mansfield wanted to know when the drinking had started but Bruce didn't know.
"Probably cracked a beer at 5pm."
"Is it fair to say she [Pauline] had a wine or two before this conversation?" asked Mansfield.
"I wouldn't think so," Bruce replied.
Bruce Hanna questioned over contents of recording
James Wheeler
(The Herald caught much of the recording but there will have been exchanges missed due to the pace of the speech and the faintness of the recording at times.)
Crown solicitor Brian Dickey has asked Bruce Hanna if it was a social occasion, the night the recording was made.
Hanna said it was "just a family get-together" and that drinks "may have been" served.
Dickey questioned Bruce about his sister Tracey, who is nine years younger than Bruce and went to London in her early 20s.
"We kept in contact but we're not close," Bruce said.
Pauline Hanna recording finishes
James Wheeler
P: I'm sure it's gorgeous, I can't eat anything.
[Pauline Hanna sounds by far the drunkest of the four. She is slurring her words and having trouble modulating her volume.]
R: Because I'm not coming to Hawke's Bay for Christmas...
P: We'll be doing Christmas at the beach. We're going to probably go down on Monday.
R: Historically you've done a Sunday family Christmas.
P: So we're going to have family Christmas on the 21st or the 20th.
R: I'm coming regardless.
P: On Saturday we're going to have the Polkinghorne Christmas.
P: Philip loves having you around, actually.
R: Well I'll be there. With bells on.
The recordings end.
'I think he's seeing someone'
James Wheeler
P: He is a good man... going through a lot of stress.
[The recording is fainter, picking up clattering about, as if the group has moved into the kitchen of the Longlands home in Hawke's Bay.]
P: He is out of control. He is having counselling. I think he's seeing someone.
R: You're really smart, and intelligent.
S: Now we're eating, guys.
Helen Van Berkel
P: Oh he does. He wants the [brains and the beauty] and actually I'm both.
S: (Shelley) He's not worthy of you.
P: He is very proud of me.
S: He's a complex character.
B: We don't think he's a beast darling.
[The covert recording from Rose's cellphone fades out, then comes back.]
R: So where is the benchmark on temporary to permanent? [re Pauline's deadline for Philip changing his ways.]
P: It's next year [2020].
Pauline Hanna: 'I'm not going to let him destroy me'
Helen Van Berkel
Pauline is saying that on Sunday night before this recording, her husband "turned on her".
P: I had six really important meetings and I lashed out at people. It's not fair and I'm not going to stuff myself up for the rest of my life. I've got the most amazing role! I've got $200 million to spend. I'm not going to let him destroy me.
B: No, good on you.
R: That's the power you've got Pauline. He wants a sex doll of a wife. He doesn't want a smart, intelligent woman.
'I'm not going to put up with it forever'
Helen Van Berkel
P: He was in Sydney the other weekend. He would have contacted Ell [or Al]. Ell loves me. She wanted to contract me to be a prostitute for her and make 20k a night. Ell's a lovely woman.
P: I would go to the parties... with five or six or seven [people]. And that's what disappoints me. He said to me he didn't want to do it anymore. So I pulled out.
P: Yeah but it's not love, Rosie, it's sex. Look, I'm sorry that you hear this.
P: He just gets so shitty and I just can't be bothered. It's control. I'm aware of that.
TO RECAP: This is a drunken conversation between Pauline Hanna (P), her brother Bruce Hanna (B) his daughter Rosie (R) and Bruce's wife (S).
Pauline Hanna in her own words: 'He's just such a sex fiend'
Helen Van Berkel
P: I love him, but I'm not going to be a scapegoat. I'm not a doormat.
R: But you're not doing whatever the f*** you want.
P: And I've actually got quite a few men who fancy me. Because I'm f***ing hot. But I don't want to because I love him. I'm not going to put up with it forever.
B: Does he have a regular women?
P: No, he screws prostitutes when he's in Australia. He uses condoms. But here's the real oil. I used to join the prostitutes and be part of the f***ing thing. You don't want to hear it, Rosie. But I did it because I wanted to make sure that he didn't go off the rails. But I can't do it anymore.
Pauline Hanna then said she had to drink two bottles of wine to have sex with other people.
The Longlands Recording
Helen Van Berkel
P: There will be a point if it continues next... he’s got a sexual appetite that’s extraordinary.
R: He’s not a f***ing underwear model, who does he think he is?
P: He’s been under watch at Auckland Eye because of his outlandish behaviour. It’s cost us two million dollars which... he has been renegade, he has been hurtful, he’s been revolting. [To Rose] Sorry you’re hearing all this.
B: Our daughter’s robust, she can take it.
R: Having you right now is different from having you with Philip.
B: Well I’m delighted we’re all together tonight.
Helen Van Berkel
Brian Dickey is asking Bruce Hanna about the Longlands recording, made on November 24, 2019.
On the recording is Bruce Hanna, his wife Shelley, his daughter Rose and Pauline.
Here are some key quotes from the recording so far, in which Pauline sounds intoxicated, and is talking to her family, including brother Bruce, niece Rose and sister-in-law Shelley.
P: (Pauline): We are all fallible, we all make mistakes. We all have brain fades. We’re getting older. Do you know actually, family is f***ing more important than [inaudible].
B: (Bruce): And we have to look forward.
P: And actually none of us is perfect. If I had my husband expecting to be perfect... So he goes off and screws women when he was away. And I’m sorry, Rose, to say this in front of you. But I know he loves me but he’s just such a sex fiend, he wants to have sex with everyone. He’s really hurt me to the extent that sometimes... Actually, it’s just his malfunction.
R: (Rose): What’s this 'on the roof' business?
P: He’s an angry man because... he’s not angry at me. He is somebody who doesn’t handle stress like you. He is somebody who gets very very very wound up. He’s a very busy person.
B: Two million dollars cash from Philip.
P: To be honest, I've considered just chucking myself over the bridge.
B: I don’t want you to do that, Pauline.
P: I love my husband but he’s... very angry with the world [says they had lost millions at Auckland Eye]. He’s out of control. He doesn’t understand how to control himself.
Polkinghorne trial resumes
Helen Van Berkel
The third session of the ninth day of the trial of Philip Polkinghorne is set to begin. Pauline Hanna's brother Bruce remains in the witness box.
Earlier, he told the court his sister was unhappy in her relationship with her husband Philip, who was seeing sex workers and encouraging her into group sex sessions. She hoped it was just a phase.
He would also get angry at Pauline, Bruce remembered. Pauline described it as her husband being "on the roof".
But otherwise, Pauline was happy, Bruce said.
He spoke to her on the Thursday before her death on the following Easter Monday in April, 2021.
She was looking forward to finishing a DHB contract, opening a vaccination centre then heading down to Central Otago for a trip with friends.
It was a trip she would never make.
Now, the jury is about to hear a piece of evidence called the "Longlands recording". It's a recording of a conversation involving Pauline Hanna at Bruce Hanna's farm and orchard in Hawke's Bay.
The Herald live blog is on a 10-minute delay to abide by court restrictions, including possible suppression orders as they arise.
In the meantime, read Steve Braunias' piece published this morning: The expressive doctor.
Court will watch recording of Pauline Hanna after lunch break
Vera Alves
Bruce Hanna lives on the family farm on Longland's Rd.
A recording made of Hanna by a relative, not Bruce, when she was visiting the Hawkes Bay property will be played to the jury.
The recording is 20 minutes long. We will take the lunch break and resume at 2pm.
The trial is on tenterhooks, about to listen to a covert recording described by prosecutor Brian Dickey as the "Longlands Recording".
Her brother Bruce Hanna said it was made by a relative when she was visiting.
Earlier, the trial heard how Pauline had told her brother of problems in their relationship. He was sometimes angry, which she described as "on the roof".
The eye surgeon was also forcing her into group sex with his other female companions, Bruce told the jury.
'Hadn't heard her that happy in a long time': Brother recalls final chat with Hanna
Vera Alves
Crown solicitor Brian Dickey is taking Bruce Hanna back to the call with his sister Pauline on the Thursday before she died.
There was no discussion of Hanna's relationship with Philip Polkinghorne.
"She was very happy. She was very happy that day."
She was finishing a contract, opening a vaccination clinic.
"In fact, I hadn't heard her that happy in a long time. It was good to hear."
And it was the last time he heard from her, Bruce Hanna told the court.
Pauline said Polkinghorne was 'very angry' – brother tells trial
Vera Alves
What about events that might have upset Pauline Hanna involving her husband, Crown solicitor Brian Dickey asked Hanna's brother Bruce.
"Oh, sometimes she used to suspect that he was 'on the roof' and that he was a very angry man," Bruce Hanna said.
She'd say she couldn't talk to her husband because he was "on the roof," he said.
These conversations about his anger happened in 2020, Bruce said.
Did she speak about what was causing the difficulty? asks Dickey.
She used to say Philip had trouble with the business in which he was involved, Auckland Eye. He was losing money out of the business, Bruce believed.
"I would say well does he get violent, what do you do when he's like this?" he said.
Her solution for it was to go to the gym or leave the house, Bruce remembered.
How did you learn of Pauline's death? asks Dickey.
Philip phoned him about 8.30am on Easter Monday.
"It was odd because he very seldom phoned me particularly at that time of the day."
Philip told him: "I've got some terrible news, it's Pauline, she's dead, she's hanged herself."
He's not sure what was said after that.
"I was in a real state."
Bruce recalled he out of the car, walked down the road, pulled himself together, back to the car, and back home. He told his wife.
Polkinghorne got wife involved in group sex
Vera Alves
"She wasn't very happy with the way the relationship was going. Philip had other women on the side, which she told us about," Pauline Hanna's brother Bruce Hanna said.
"He had a women in Sydney, and he had other women... he visited prostitutes in Auckland. Yeah I remember saying to her, does he use a condom, is he safe to have sex with you after this. And she assured me that it was all okay."
Who was the Sydney woman? Crown solicitor Brian Dickey asks.
It was some woman called Ell, Bruce Hanna said.
"I think there used to be group sex. Philip used to get her involved. I don't think she was very happy about it."
"I think Philip was pushing his wife into it."
"I think Philip wanted her to do sexual acts that she wasn't happy with. And that's why he went other places," Bruce Hanna said.
What about the prostitutes? asks Dickey.
Just that he had other sex workers he visited, Bruce Hanna said.
"She kind of said it was his foibles, was the word she used."
Bruce remembered Pauline saying she hoped her husband would get over his interest in prostitutes.
These conversations arose repeatedly in 2019, two or three times, Bruce Hanna said.
What about that period of time later on nearer her death? asks Dickey.
Things at that time were more focused on their ailing other, who died in early 2021, Bruce Hanna said.
'She appeared happier when she was not with him,' brother says
Vera Alves
"Did you notice anything different in your communications with Pauline in terms of their relationship?" Crown solicitor Brian Dickey asks, referring to the marriage between Hanna and Polkinghorne.
"I didn't think she was very relaxed when she was with Philip," Bruce Hanna said.
She appeared happier when she was not with him, he said.
"I think she was just on edge really. Philip seemed quite detached, had other things on his mind."
He had lost weight and appeared pale, even ill, said Bruce Hanna.
"I did notice that when they were together, she wasn't as happy, that's for sure."
She'd visit when their mum was ill.
Philip would call, Bruce remembered, and how that conversation went dictated how the rest of the night in Hawkes Bay would go, Bruce said.
"In the end, I was pleased to see her come down by herself."
Pauline Hanna's brother 'got on okay' with Polkinghorne
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Now on to Bruce Hanna's view of Philip Polkinghorne.
When did he first come to meet or know him? Crown solicitor Brian Dickey asked.
Probably 1995 or 1996, Bruce Hanna said.
"I suppose she brought him down to meet us all," he said.
Bruce said he and Polkinghorne did not have a lot in common but "got on okay".
Bruce said he might have done a bit of fishing with Polkinghorne at the bach his sister and he owned at Ring's Beach in the Coromandel.
"And you got on okay?" Dickey asked.
"Yes," Hanna said.
Hanna said he had stayed with them in Auckland from time to time.
He used to come up here often, because he sold commercial shipping, and would stay with them overnight.
'She seemed fine to me': Pauline Hanna's brother knew she was on antidepressants
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Bruce Hanna said their mother had severe dementia. "It was a struggle."
He looked after their mother at home until it became too much and she went into a specialist care unit.
"It was tough on us both."
How did Pauline present in that trying period? asks Crown solicitor Brian Dickey.
"She was sad and upset like we all were, but she got through it. And she was busy at work."
Over the years, were you aware of Pauline having mood difficulties?
"She seemed fine to me," Bruce Hanna said.
Some years ago she had told him she was on the "chill pills" he said.
"I didn't really question it much," he said.
"Did it concern you to learn that she was having 'chill pills' as she called them?" Dickey asked.
"Not really," Bruce Hanna replied.
Pauline Hanna was in 'high spirits' before death, brother says
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Bruce Hanna, brother of Pauline Hanna, continued to trace his sister's history, telling the court how, in the early 80s, Pauline was down in Massey, then at Auckland doing a degree in commerce. Then in the 90s, she did an MBA in Otago, when Bruce was down there working as a fisherman.
Her MBA was in economics. After that, she moved to Auckland in the 90s, taking up work in public health with the Counties Manukau DHB, Bruce Hanna said.
She progressed through the ranks to a senior role.
"She always had kind of short-term contracts," Bruce said.
Before her death, was there much discussion about her work? the Crown solicitor asks.
Yes. She discussed a lot about Covid and the vaccine rollout.
How did she seem? asks Crown solicitor Brian Dickey.
She saw it as a challenge. She was pleased to be getting on with it, getting PPE sorted.
"Yep, nah she was good,' said Bruce.
Bruce said he spoke to Hanna on the Thursday before her death.
"We had a good conversation, she was in high spirits."
She was opening a vaccine clinic the next Wednesday in south Auckland and then she was headed down to central Otago for a 10-day holiday with friends.
"She was really proud of herself and the team. She was in high spirits," said Bruce of his sister.
Pauline Hanna's brother takes the witness box
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The Crown has called Bruce William Hanna, the brother of Pauline Hanna.
Brian Dickey is leading the evidence for the Crown.
The victim's brother is telling the court Pauline was older than him and that they grew up just out of Hastings.
We had a good family life, he said.
It was a rural upbringing, on a small farm with an orchard.
Bruce is the middle sibling. Pauline is just over two years older. He's 63, so Pauline would have been 66 last February.
The other sister, Tracey, is younger than Bruce. She lives in London.
Bruce Hanna was a commercial fisherman down in Otago for years but has been back in Hawke's Bay for 26 years. His mother passed away early in 2021, six weeks before Pauline died.
"I've always had a very good relationship with Pauline."
They'd lived different lives but always kept in contact, Bruce Hanna said.
In her last two or three years, he said their mother had failing health, suffering from dementia. Pauline and I lived after her, he said. Pauline used to come down to Hawkes Bay once a month.
They'd message and speak on the phone regularly.
He described their relationship as "close".
Bruce has adult children, Rose and Jacob.
They were also close with Pauline, and used to see each other regularly.
Jury shown more photos from the scene
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Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield is asking if she agrees it would be unusual for police to say at the home for longer than a day for a routine suicide inquiry.
Detective Ilona Walton said that's a question for Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Allan, the man in charge of the case.
The defence then shows a photo of the scene showing cat food in bowls.
All the cats had been fed, correct? asks Mansfield.
Yes, said Walton.
Mansfield shows the jury a photo of Hanna's gym bag and exercise equipment all laid out for the Monday morning session they had planned with personal trainer Barry Payne.
Mansfield has thanked Walton for the polite way she dealt with his client that afternoon, despite his criticisms of her earlier in the cross-examination.
The cross-examination finishes.
Defence presses detective on details of Polkinghorne interview
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The total interview time was three hours 47 minutes, correct? asks Mansfield.
That sounds about right, said Walton.
And there were total breaks of around 58 minutes? asks Mansfield.
Yes, probably, said the detective.
Emergency services were called to his Upland Rd home by Polkinghorne and later his sister Ruth just after 8am.
There'd been no break or rest for him since then? asks Mansfield.
There were breaks where he was speaking to his sister, said Walton.
"We stopped and got that muffin at BP on the way," she said.
It took him a while to put away the muffin, said Walton.
Mansfield said it had been "all go" since 8am to when the interview finished at 5pm.
"That is a long day," said Walton.
He'd answered every question as best he could? asks Mansfield.
Correct, said the detective.
After the interview, police asked for his consent to remain at the home for an examination of the scene.
The point of all this is Mansfield is trying to box police in on his point they were not upfront with Polkinghorne on his status as a suspect. He has further suggested they drew the interview out so he did not find out about the scale of their inquiries at his Remuera home, far beyond what was usual for a suicide.
Walton agreed there was no reason to ask for a blood or urine sample.
You did not think there was any need to? Mansfield asked.
Correct, Walton said.
How long had you been in the police by this stage? Mansfield asked.
About 15 years, Walton said.
Walton, who is now a detective sergeant, had some familiarity with intoxicated people, she agreed under cross-examination.
She is saying again she saw no reason to take a blood or alcohol sample.
Crown objects to defence's line of questioning
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Detective Ilona Walton said at the time of the interview, police were in the early stages of the police investigation.
Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock has interjected, objecting to the line of questioning.
"It's just a question," Justice Graham Lang said.
The judge said the defence lawyer has made it clear in his questioning the detective does not accept police were acting in a way that was not upfront.
Walton is reiterating that she told Tony Bouchier, his barrister friend, that Polkinghorne was not at the police station as a suspect, but as a witness.
Defence suggests police misled Polkinghorne
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Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield is questioning detective Ilona Walton's claim that she wasn't paying attention to what Polkinghorne was saying to his lawyer friend.
The defence lawyer refers to evidence yesterday from Rob Masters, a former cop who kept a close watch on his block of units, where Polkinghorne would visit a woman the neighbours believed to be a sex worker. That showed even former cops kept a close watch on surroundings, he said.
Walton is again saying she wasn't listening to Polkinghorne speak to the lawyer, even though she was in a neighbouring room receiving an audio and video feed from the victim room.
Mansfield has directly suggested his client was misled as to why he was at the police station.
Defence lawyer asks detective about Polkinghorne's call with barrister friend
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Ron Mansfield is asking about the call from Tony Bouchier, his client's barrister friend. He received the call during a break towards the end of the interview, close to 5pm.
Was she listening to see if he'd say something interesting while outside the room? Mansfield asks.
No, says Detective Ilona Walton.
Where was the microphone feed going? Mansfield asks.
To the room next door, says Walton.
Did she ask if he'd like to go somewhere to speak to his barrister friend where he wouldn't be recorded? Mansfield asks.
No, but he knew he was being recorded, Walton said.
Trial resumes after short morning adjournment
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The jury has returned.
Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield will resume his cross-examination of Detective Ilona Walton, who conducted the first interview with Polkinghorne after he reported his wife dead on April 5, 2021.
Earlier this morning, the jury finished watching the interview. The public gallery is nearly full to capacity.
Defence lawyer cross-examines detective who interviewed Polkinghorne
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Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield is starting his cross-examination.
He is referring to evidence heard earlier that detectives became suspicious after the "tension test" of the orange rope.
"We thought it might be suspicious, well, suspicions arose from that tension test," Walton said.
Why didn't you caution him, asks Mansfield, that he was now under suspicion?
Well, said Walton, he was being treated as a witness.
By that point they only thought the death might be suspicious. They didn't read him his rights.
"In my mind there were plausible explanations at that time that he could have provided," Walton said.
Mansfield is canvassing all the breaks Walton took during the interview, about four or five.
Walton agreed he was free to come and go, but then confirmed to Mansfield she had told him he couldn't go for a walk. That was because the break was just planned to be short and she wanted to wrap the interview quickly.
Mansfield asks what would have been the harm in a walk?
Nothing, but they had a duty of care to make sure he was okay, Walton said.
Mansfield said she could have gone on the walk too.
Now to the point. Mansfield is asking whether Walton was instructed to keep Polkinghorne there so he doesn't realise the extent of their scene examination at the home.
That's not correct, Walton said.
Mansfield is suggesting he thought the detectives and pathologists were there as part of standard coronial inquiries, not that he was a suspect.
It was only when he got the call from Tony Bouchier, his barrister friend, that he realised the scale of the police inquiries, Mansfield said.
And by now it was being reported in the media that there had been a death, correct?
I wasn't aware of that, said Walton.
Justice Lang: "Just choose a time, Mr Mansfield."
That time is now. We are breaking for 15 minutes.
Polkinghorne asked police if they'd found a note from Hanna
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Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock is questioning Detective Ilona Walton, three and a bit years on from her interview.
In a reversal of roles, Walton is now being quizzed on the ropes and the photos.
Before that interview commenced, were there some questions Polkinghorne wanted to ask you? McClintock asks.
Yes there were, says Walton.
What were they? McClintock asks.
Polkinghorne wanted to know if there was a note found, whether there was any relevance from the Covid vaccine they'd had the day before, and if he could take clothes to the mortuary, Walton says.
Did he say anything about whether there was any note he had seen at the address? McClintock asks.
No, said Walton, Polkinghorne said he hadn't found a note at the property.
On to the breaks in the interview, which were removed from the video.
He took a call from someone called Tony? McClintock asks.
Yes, Walton says, and he also spoke to the man.
The man was Auckland barrister Tony Bouchier.
Did she ask for a blood or urine sample from Polkinghorne that day? McClintock asks.
No, there was no reason to, replies Walton.
At that point in time, they weren't aware of the amount of meth police would find at the property, she says.
Even so, at that point police could only have asked for a voluntarily sample, Walton says.
Walton caught an Uber back from the College Hill station in the end, Walton says.
Jury finishes watching police interview with Polkinghorne
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"Is there anything else you can think of that might be important, just in relation to this?" Walton asks.
"No," Polkinghorne says.
She ends the interview.
Polkinghorne asks for a ride home.
Walton had asked if he would be okay if they continue to examine the scene at his home. He'd have to talk to Tony, the barrister mentioned early, Polkinghorne said.
The interview finishes.
There's silence in court.
Detective presses Polkinghorne on rope layout
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Polkinghorne, speaking quickly, is telling himself off for speculating. He's telling the detective and possibly himself he should just say he doesn't know, when he doesn't know.
"Because it's an unexplained death and police do a lot of worth on behalf of the coroner on mental health and all these kinds of things... so we do have a scene examination at the house," said Walton.
The pathologist is coming in and they want to continue the scene exam tomorrow.
Would you be willing to allow that, asks the detective?
Polkinghorne said he'll have to talk to Tony, the barrister he just spoke to on the phone.
Walton is suggesting he stay with his sister for the evening.
He'd have to think about that, Polkinghorne said.
Walton is showing Polkinghorne two sets of photographs now.
One set is of a whole bunch of electronic devices. She's asking which are his and which are his wife's.
Walton, once again, is asking if he undid the ropes from the balustrade. He said he thinks he did.
Now she's showing him photos of the rope and asking him to mentally prepare, because it will be unpleasant.
You told me there was only one rope, but there's one rope on the stairs leading to the garage, and another tied to the top of the balustrade, Walton said.
"I didn't know that. I thought it was at the bottom," he said.
He's unclear again.
"It was definitely not up there when I saw it, I'm pretty sure of that."
"It's two bits of rope," said Walton.
"I didn't know that. I thought there was only one bit of rope," Polkinghorne said.
He's speaking more quickly again and appearing agitated at this line of questioning, leaning forward in the couch.
Walton is pressing him on the rope layout.
"I don't think I've ever seen it up at the top... unless I lifted it up to undo it, I don't know," Polkinghorne said.
He's asking her what it's like now.
"I might have well lifted it up to undo it," he said.
"I thought I got rid of it and I thought I put it there."
Now, in an even and kind tone, Walton is asking if he recalls seeing the other section of rope.
He doesn't.
"It's a lot to take in, all at once," said Walton.
Another pause from the detective.
Polkinghorne on when he and Hanna were last intimate before her death
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Did you see any injuries on your wife, grazes, bruises, anything like that, asks Walton?
No, nothing like that. She trained with their PT on Saturday. Also, she doesn't bruise easily, Polkinghorne offers.
When was the last time you were intimate with her? Walton asked.
"I think Saturday. Actually, yesterday. Every day, just about," Polkinghorne said.
Yesterday when, asks Walton?
"No, I think it was Sunday morning," said Polkinghorne.
Polkinghorne is receiving a call. He's telling the caller he's at College Hill police station. The caller is a barrister.
Polkinghorne interview with police draws to a close
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Polkinghorne has occasionally laughed but has otherwise looked impassive as he listens to his interview from three and a bit years ago.
Polkinghorne and the detective are yarning about transcription software now, finding they both use the same software to transcribe notes.
Polkinghorne said his wife used her Middlemore work email for "everything" and he had cautioned against that.
As an aside, he is right. The trial heard from a private investigator this week who said Hanna had used the work email to inquire into the possibility of conducting an "infidelity investigation" into her spouse in 2020.
Polkinghorne asks the detective if he's the worst person she's ever interviewed because of all the "rubbish" he's talked.
The detective has left the room and Polkinghorne is standing up again, fussing about with objects.
Now he's tried to leave the room and encountered Walton.
"You've left all your notes there, did you know that?" Polkinghorne said.
"I know... I trusted you," she said.
He retreats back into the room.
Walton returns and Polkinghorne is back to mumbling and speaking quickly. The time is 16:53, the detective said.
The interview is close to ending, only about 10 minutes left.
Polkinghorne lists minor details of domestic life with Hanna
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Now on to the tip trip from April 4. Polkinghorne is remembering she took curtain rails to the tip.
Now he's talking about Hanna's foibles, which included a love of lots of pillows.
"Every bed's got bloody pillows on them."
It was the same with the sofas, Polkinghorne tells the detectives.
There were even cushions behind the sofa.
He is asked if he has been back into his son's room since today.
"Oh god, I don't know," he says.
This is the guest bedroom where Hanna slept, according to Polkinghorne, the night before he said she committed suicide. He slept in the master bedroom, despite napping in the guest bedroom upstairs that afternoon, according to his account.
Now he's joking around with the detective about the prevalence of left-handed people in society.
The detective is trying to drag the interview back to the bedroom and their actions in the morning.
"If I was in the master bed or vice versa, we would join each other in the mornings prior to getting out of bed, as it were," Polkinghorne says.
Then they'd listen to the news or something like that. Then he'd go downstairs, make breakfast and bring it back to bed.
He wouldn't put the cushions on to the bed "because I'd never get them right".
Usually she'd only "involve" half of the bed when sleeping on it, placing pillows on the other side of the bed, he is telling the detective.
He's mumbling something about whether his son's bedroom has an electric blanket.
She slept with the windows and even the doors open, Polkinghorne said, sounding incredulous.
"It was like having a howling gale."
As a result of all these open windows and the underfloor heating in the bathroom, the winter power bill was horrendous.
"It just about drove me nuts," Polkinghorne says.
When she had a shower, she would "hermetically" seal the bathroom then "go off and milk the cows or something, I don't know".
Some regulars in the public gallery are laughing at all the non-sequiturs and minor details of domestic life. Others look embarrassed or pained.
Dogs, history, mosquitos and phone chargers: Polkinghorne races through topics in police interview
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"She wanted a dog," Polkinghorne tells the detective interviewing him.
"What kind?"
"She always wanted a bulldog."
Polkinghorne, careening through topics as he has done during the hours-long interview, is on to Winston Churchill now, then to something about South Africa, then is back to dogs.
Walton is trying to get things back on track.
"It's interesting. We call this in our line of work taking a history," Polkinghorne tells the detective.
"We should value the history more. But I don't tend to listen too much to the history. It's usually unreliable."
He's off again, on to another story about his boss going on a date in London. The point of the story is the unreliability of memory. He said he got the date of the interview badly wrong. "I would have sworn it was when I was a fellow, not when I was a consultant, five years later."
He's back to medicine, and is offering more information about how doctors get a patient's history to the patient detective.
The officer asks him: "So yesterday afternoon, you slept in your son's room?"
"Yes," replies Polkinghorne.
"Can you describe the state of the room?"
"There's a long seat that's normally in the bed. That was on a funny angle. because Pauline was trying to get onto a high cupboard containing soft toys."
Polkinghorne has raced off on to another tangent about chargers in bedrooms.
Now the eye surgeon is talking about how mosquitos were more likely to attack her than him. So she used those mozzie guard things, he offers.
Polkinghorne suggests wife felt like a 'failure' over Covid vaccine rollout
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Polkinghorne, speaking quietly, said: "It's a shame we didn't have a camera on the bloody inside."
Do you have a camera on the outside of the home, asks Walton?
No, said Polkinghorne.
However they had paid for a monitoring firm. But the monitoring had not worked for a period of about eight months prior.
It was getting to the point of being a "Commerce Commission thing", said Polkinghorne, because he was paying for a service not received.
He said Hanna would not have had the time to renew the monitoring service.
"Maybe I put so many expectations on her?" Polkinghorne said.
"What expectations would they be?" asks Walton.
"When she did her MBA, a long time ago as it were, she still talks about it. She won the international prize for an MBA at a place in Montreal in Canada."
"Wow," said Walton.
"She talks about it a lot, probably I was a bit, for the first 10 years ago, I kept saying... you've got to do greater things."
Polkinghorne is now telling a story about how she had instituted a policy at Counties Manukau DHB where people could receive dialysis at home, rather than at hospital.
"Wow," said the detective again.
Polkinghorne begins musing about himself and Hanna. including whether things might have got too much for her.
"What have I got now, what has she got now? Nothing."
She didn't used to drink, but had lately drunk too much, he offers.
Hanna had started drinking too much once she got quite a way up the ladder in the health sector, Polkinghorne said.
Now he's off track again, talking about the temperatures at which vials of vaccines should be kept during transport.
"She arranged for Mainfreight to do it."
Then she got called to Wellington to explain why she was doing that, and got "hammered by the bloody ministry," who wanted it to be done by NZ Post.
But NZ Post has no experience with cold storage, said Polkinghorne.
"You bet your bloody oath" that would drive anyone to drink, he said.
"It's not politically desirable. They don't want Mainfreight."
Polkinghorne's now telling the detective how far off the DHB was on their vaccination targets.
"We used to talk about it. But it's like when I have a patient go blind, I should have known. When a patient goes blind, I feel a failure. Maybe she thought part of that too."
"Maybe I just didn't listen."
"When she tried to explain things to me sometimes, it was so complex, I couldn't understand it."
He may have glossed over things and not shown interest, said the eye surgeon. Maybe he didn't listen, he rues.
Polkinghorne drew picture of belt and rope for police
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We are resuming about a minute earlier in the interview so the jury is up to speed. Polkinghorne is sipping a cup of tea as he waits for a police officer to return to the room.
A male detective comes in and asks if he's all good.I'm freezing, says the eye surgeon.
"I prefer cold as a rule. I'll just stand up for a while."
Three and a half years on from the interview, and about two years since he was charged with murder, the 71-year-old is in court on a laptop not watching the interview. He wears an impassive expression.
Detective Walton returns, says "I know it's hard, but can we return to the rope."
She's asking him to describe how the rope's been tied to the belt and the balustrade.
He can't remember the belt, which was around his wife's neck, coming apart in his hands when he untied it from the orange rope to which it was affixed, said Polkinghorne.
I think the belt was going one way, and the rope the other, said Polkinghorne.
Polkinghorne, once again, is drawing a picture of how it was arranged.
"I'm only guessing, I've got no recollection of it at all."
His speech in the interview continues to be replete with mumbling and pauses.
The knots were granny knots, he said. They went around and looped in the thing, like that.
"And you've drawn about three or four knots?" asks Walton.
"Was there three? I don't know," he said.
Trial about to resume with footage from Polkinghorne's police interview
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About three dozen people, including several who have been coming to court each day to watch the evidence, have filtered back into the gallery.
Court is set to resume, with an hour left of Polkinghorne's police interview from the afternoon of April 5, 2021.
Here is Justice Lang – and in comes the jury.
The lights have dimmed and the five TVs are running the remainder of the interview, showing Polkinghorne speaking to Detective Ilona Walton in the victim room of the central Auckland police station.
Will the jury see his fast speech, sometimes erratic behaviour and inability to answer certain questions, including the origin of a fresh wound on his forehead, as nervous dissembling or the understandable response of a man whose wife has just hanged herself? Only time will tell.
The interview resumes.
Detective Walton is in the witness box as her interview with Polkinghorne plays.
Ninth day of Polkinghorne trial to resume with remainder of police interview
Vera Alves
Welcome to the fourth day of the second week of the murder trial of Philip Polkinghorne. It's the trial that's captivated Auckland and proceedings are scheduled to run for at least another four weeks. We are well into the dozens of witnesses the Crown is set to call. Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield has suggested via cross-examination of prosecution witnesses that the defence will call expert witnesses of its own, but it is not yet known if his client, a former eye surgeon, will enter the witness box.
At 10am, the jury will resume watching the interview Philip Polkinghorne gave to Detective Ilona Walton at a central Auckland police station on the afternoon of April 5. That morning, he had called 111 to report his wife had hanged herself. Police arrived and quickly became suspicious all was not as it seemed.
Until we resume at 10am, here are some of the standout pieces of evidence from the eighth day of the trial. Evidence was given at a frenetic pace on Wednesday, which changed the tempo and landscape of the trial.
- The jury watched Polkinghorne's police interview, where he spoke quickly, behaved somewhat erratically, often trailed off and could not answer some questions. Among the questions he couldn't answer: how did he come to suffer the wound on his forehead that added to the suspicions of detectives? "I've got no idea," he said. "I can't even feel it." Will the jury view his behaviour as dissembling, or the actions of a distressed man who was unloading his feelings after finding his wife had hanged herself? Only time will tell.
- Earlier, the jury heard from two neighbours at a Northcote Pt apartment complex who saw Polkinghorne frequently visiting a woman her neighbours strongly believed was a sex worker. They often noticed his white Mercedes, number plate RETINA, in the carpark. One of the neighbours, Myra Riddington, said he was a bad driver and parked poorly – this comment sparked laughs from the public gallery and Polkinghorne himself, who has been described as having a dry sense of humour. Riddington took a dim view of Polkinghorne bringing gifts of champagne to the woman, given she believed she was an alcoholic. He also appeared as a proxy for her at body corporate meetings.
- On Wednesday morning, the jury heard from Barry Payne, the Newmarket personal trainer who coached both Polkinghorne and Hanna. Unlike the family friend the previous day, Stephen MacIntyre, Payne said he did not notice a behavioural change or suspect his client was using drugs. He was not manic, did not "turn into a weirdo" and was not erratic, Payne agreed under cross-examination from Ron Mansfield KC. Instead, Polkinghorne was devoted to training and keen to "smash records" in a session shortly before his wife's death. Payne said he felt Hanna was under strain at work. "She seemed... haggard is not the word... but run down, I would say," Payne said.
- Detective Sergeant Lisa Anderson, of Auckland City CIB, described travelling to the Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat on April 30, 25 days after Hanna was reported dead. Polkinghorne was staying there in his own chalet, dubbed the Matariki Room, with an Australian escort, Madison Ashton. The detectives seized her two phones, but she would not give up their pass codes.
🎧 LISTEN | Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial
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Story continues
Jurors started watching Polkinghorne’s police interview - where he spoke quickly, behaved somewhat erratically, often trailed off and could not answer some questions - yesterday afternoon.
It gave jurors a first chance to hear Polkinghorne in his own words, other than his proclamation at the start of his murder trial last week that he’s not guilty.
During the interview, Polkinghorne shared his thoughts on a number of topics that had a tendency to stray off the subject at hand.
But Detective Ilona Walton kept steering the conversation back to the discovery of Pauline Hanna’s body, and eventually to another topic: How he received the horizontal scrape on his forehead.
“Well, I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve got no idea. I can’t even feel it.”
He then asked the detective how it looked.
“It’s horrible,” he said.
Police began investigating Hanna’s death as suspicious almost immediately after arriving at the couple’s home on the morning of April 5, 2021. The bright orange nylon rope that Polkinghorne indicated his 63-year-old wife had used to hang herself didn’t appear able to support the weight of a person – at least not in the way it was found tied in a series of loose “granny knots” to an upstairs balustrade – detectives quickly suspected.
In his interview with one of those detectives a short time later, Polkinghorne also expressed his doubts about the set-up.
“I was surprised that the balustrade would take a weight – shall we say a dead weight – of 70kg,” he said, referring to his wife’s weight.
He riffed off the thought several times: “I still think the 70kg on that balustrade is a hell of a weight ... I thought a sudden dead weight of 70kg would have shifted it.”
He also gave his opinion, at length, on the belt that he said he found loosely around her neck, attached to the rope.
“I would have thought that – I don’t know much about that sort of stuff, but I would have thought it had to be tight to do the business,” he said. “But I don’t know.”
Authorities found two ropes at the home, one of which was in a tangled coil on the stairway. It was that rope that Hanna used to kill herself, Polkinghorne told the detective, adding that he didn’t have any recollection of a second rope found tied to the balustrade when police arrived.
“It looked awful just hanging there. It just was awful,” he said of his decision to untie the rope. “It was offensive to me – the rope.”
But the rope was still there, hanging from the balustrade, Detective Sgt Ilona Walton interjected.
“Oh, no, it wasn’t,” Polkinghorne replied. “I’m 99% sure I did it, I thought before you guys arrived ... I thought I undid that at the top and either left it on the landing upstairs or dropped it down.”
Through most of the section of the interview viewed by jurors today, the surgeon’s body language looked relaxed – although it could alternately be interpreted as exhausted or peppered with the nervous ticks of someone still in shock – as he reclined on the couch and talked a mile a minute.
He said it was his habit to wake up every morning and serve his wife breakfast in bed (”She’s the only person I know who can drink a cup of tea lying on her back”), and that’s what he was preparing to do when he discovered her body. They often slept in separate rooms, he said, because of snoring issues.
“She was cold and I could tell she was dead right away,” he said, adding that he panicked and had to use the landline because he couldn’t operate his mobile phone. “I just didn’t know what the hell to do ... I was trying to get her down flat. As I did so I dropped the phone. That crashed all over the tiles. I’m sobbing uncontrollably. It was just horrible.”
His sister arrived and they put Hanna in a reclining position, putting a pillow under her head, he said. Hanna’s legs buckled as he tried to remove her from the chair she was found in, he said.
“I practically fell on her or something,” he said. “It was a dog’s breakfast, what I did there.”
On April 4, the night before her death, he thought she had been “pretty good, really”, he said.
“I thought we were” – he paused to collect his thoughts – “relating pretty well,” he explained. “The night before [April 3] was less, um, compatible. Everything was, uh, less friendly, shall we say.”
Sometimes when his wife drinks she gets argumentative, he said, explaining that the two had a disagreement on the 3rd about who might use their Coromandel bach. When she started drinking and would “niggle” him about something, the best tactic was to ignore her and not engage, he said.
“Last night was much more amicable,” he added. “We were on the same page with everything.”
He estimated she had drank a bottle and a half of wine – too much, he added – but he’d never seen her intoxicated that night or ever, he said. But looking back she probably was intoxicated, he added moments later. In his frequent asides, he sounded like someone in a long-term relationship well acquainted with his partner’s peccadillos, such as her tendency to get over-emotional during unrealistic medical dramas.
He did, however, put his head in his hands and sob later on in the interview while asking the detective if he could visit his wife in the mortuary.
“I didn’t say goodbye to her today,” he explained.
A short time later, defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC asked Justice Graham Lang to end the day about 30 minutes early, explaining that it had been a long day for his client. As the jurors left the courtroom yesterday afternoon, it appeared Polkinghorne had been crying in the courtroom as well.
The taped interview had followed a flurry of witnesses earlier in the day as the Crown case made an abrupt shift from the scene examination evidence that dominated the first seven days of testimony.
Just over three weeks after Hanna’s death and Polkinghorne’s interview, Auckland-based Detective Sergeant Lisa Anderson took a trip to a lavish Mt Cook chalet where the surgeon was staying. She was there to execute a search warrant, she said, explaining that Polkinghorne came to the door alongside Australian sex worker Madison Ashton.
Prosecutors have alleged Polkinghorne was leading a “double life”, spending large amounts of money on Ashton and other sex workers, before strangling his wife and staging the scene to look like a suicide.
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Two other witnesses said that Polkinghorne was a regular visitor to their small apartment complex on a quiet Northcote Point street, where he visited a neighbour of theirs believed to be a sex worker. His visits stood out, both witnesses said, noting that he drove a white Mercedes with a personalised registration plate that read RETINA.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
The Herald will be covering the case in a daily podcast, Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial. You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, through The Front Page feed, or wherever you get your podcasts.