WEBVTT - Days 22 and 23: Defence opens their case with Pauline Hanna's sister 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:10.680 Kiota. I'm Chelsea Daniels and from the team behind the 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:15.040 front page. The New Zealand Herald's daily news podcast, This 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:20.360 is Accused the Polkinghorn Trial. Over a series of weeks, 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:24.079 in conjunction with our usual daily episodes, will be bringing 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:26.920 you regular coverage as one of the most high profile 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:30.000 trials of the year makes its way through the High 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:34.959 Court at auckland A warning, this podcast contains disturbing content. 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:42.840 After nearly five weeks of witnesses, the Crown has closed 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:47.200 its case in the trial of Philip Polkinghorn. The former 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:51.479 auckland Ie surgeon, is accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hannah, 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.960 who was found dead on April fifth, twenty twenty one. 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.520 He maintains she took her own life. The Crown closed 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:03.840 its case with more on Polkinghorn's arrest, police searches, and 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.360 a last minute witness on cell phones. The rest of 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:09.680 the trial is now in the hands of the defense, 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:14.320 and for their first witness, they called up Pauline Hannah's 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:22.960 own sister. Day twenty two started with former detective John 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:27.160 Cleveland Kennedy. He was with police in August twenty twenty two, 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:31.720 but since retired. Philip Polkinghorn's arrest happened at seven point 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:37.560 fifty five am on August sixteenth, twenty twenty two. It 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.959 was by appointment at the police station in the presence 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:45.760 of his lawyer. Detective John Cleveland Kennedy arrested Polkinghorn and 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.120 charged him with the murder of his wife and possession 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:53.600 of meth and a meth pipe. He cautioned Polkinghorn and 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:58.400 read his riots. Polkinghorn made no comment, Kennedy says. The 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:02.320 Crown then called detectives. Being your Sergeant Chris Allen, he's 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.560 one of the officers in charge of the investigation. He 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:10.399 entered the court carrying a box. After clarifying the investigation 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:15.639 name Operation Cayenne was generated by a computer, Crown Solicitor 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.600 Alsia McClintock asked Sergeant Allen to go through a series 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:23.840 of photographs from evidence. Copies of the photos were handed 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:27.760 to the jury. McClintock asks Allan if he's seen the 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:32.240 CCTV footage from Auckland I already discussed as evidence during 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.959 the trial. He confirmed he had seen the videos. The 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:40.000 footage was filmed in October twenty twenty, the weekend before 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.840 a meth pipe was found in the medical practice. The 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:47.440 selection of clips played to the court shows Polkinghorn walking 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.440 down a corridor to the laser room where the meth 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:54.639 pipe was found. So to take a senior sergeant, whereabouts 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:56.760 do you take the figure? As it's a very long 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:57.560 way away? 0:02:57.720 --> 0:02:59.679 Let me seek for the jury hard to see and 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:07.800 where do you see the figure? In this excerpt stwet Sorry, 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:09.160 where does he move? 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:09.880 Yes? 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:14.520 Whereabouts? The movement is as you see a light wash 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:20.080 at the top of the sphere at the corridor, and 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:26.520 it's I suppose the figure object is emerging in and 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.440 around that sort of area left to right or right 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:30.919 to left. 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:35.040 McClintock moves her. Questioning to the price of math. 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:40.200 Yeah, there's arrange nationally between. It can range from a 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:42.520 couple of one hundred dollars up to one thousand dollars 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:47.560 program depending on a number of factors Auckland, because there 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:53.880 is a lot more probably supply basic economics. It's a 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.920 little bit cheaper. At that point in time, the intelligence 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.440 was suggesting it was about three hundred and fifty dollars 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:04.600 a gram. If you buy a number of grams, is 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:07.640 it potential to get it at a bit of price. Yeah, 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:11.080 this again a little bit of a wholesale expect if 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:11.920 you buy in bulk. 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:16.120 Allan has then questioned about travel documents police sourced from 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:21.839 Customs regarding Polkinghorn. Customs records show he departed from Auckland 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:26.800 on December twenty third, twenty nineteen, at eight am, traveling 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.279 to Sydney. You'll remember from earlier on in the trial, 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.839 Polkinghorn had gone missing around this time, not showing up 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.760 to a family Christmas at their Rings Beach batch in 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:40.080 the Corimandel, Hannah had to lie to friends and family 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:44.680 about his absence. According to the customs records, he returned 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:49.479 from Sydney on December twenty seventh, twenty nineteen. Earlier in 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.599 the trial, evidence from a letter from Polkinghorn to Hannah 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:56.599 in late twenty nineteen claimed he was attending to enroll 0:04:56.640 --> 0:05:00.440 in a retreat in Auckland called Moving On and Up. 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:04.880 Defense lawyer Ron Mansfield started his cross examination of Allen 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.880 by showing a series of videos from CCTV footage. Rather 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:13.320 than videos from the night like the ones the Crown played, 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:17.400 these videos would show the same scene inside the clinic 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:21.880 from the morning. The clips show people including cleaners and 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:25.960 a patient with a support person arriving and leaving Auckland. 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:27.200 I do you see that? 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:30.400 Now on the end there appears to be one off 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:33.560 the mow that go down the corridor off to one 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.839 side and then joining the other as they come and 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:37.400 walk out. 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:41.360 Did you see that they emerge from that lightwashed sort 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.760 of area at the end, came to emerge from different sides. 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:45.400 Did you see that? 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:47.680 But I'm not sure if I. 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:51.880 Could tell that. Mansfield is challenging the Crown's argument that 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.200 Polkinghorn left the pipe in his clinic after visiting with 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:59.479 friends over the weekend. Mansfield's questions move on to the 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:04.080 discovery of panic buttons in the polking Horn's Remuera home. 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:09.000 They were found by Sharon Jenkins, a staff member from Auckland. 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:13.440 I Allan says his memory was hazy whether he interviewed her. 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.520 Can you remember her evidence about that or not her evidence, 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:21.359 but his statement to the police about that, if I 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:27.240 refresh your memory. She confirmed that she had been and 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:30.560 stayed at the address to look after the cats, the 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:35.480 pits of and missus Polkinghorn. Can you remember that? 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:38.160 And by themous? 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.640 In a statement, Sharon Jenkins said she stayed at the 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:45.560 polking Horn home and looked after their cats. Police had 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:49.040 not discovered the panic buttons during their search of the home. 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:53.839 There we see a photograph of the upstairs spare bedroom 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.400 or the bedroom where it was believed that missus Polkinghorn 0:06:58.279 --> 0:06:59.120 had been that night. 0:06:59.279 --> 0:06:59.640 Correct. 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:06.400 Yes, see the giraffe on the little side table soft toys. 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:07.120 Yeh. 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:12.320 See underneath that we see another white panel with a 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:17.520 red circle or buzzon. Yes. Are you having to help 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.560 me as to whether, in fact they are the two 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.760 panic buttons in the house at night in the bedroom. 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:25.960 I would have thought there'd be a Christian bes directed 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:26.800 at the OC scene. 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:30.320 He made no note of that, so we'll come back 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:31.520 to that, thank you. 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:36.040 Mansfield questioned the taking of a hair sample from Hannah 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:40.200 during her autopsy, referring to evidence heard earlier about the 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:45.400 testing of that sample in Australia. Mansfield asked Alan questions 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:49.680 about rope samples, and Alan confirmed the rope was initially 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.880 only sampled for DNA. It took a year for ESR 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:58.080 to test the rope for both male and female DNA, so. 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.080 It was it identify that it could be problematic that 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.920 the instruction to ESR was the only test for male 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.240 DNA rather than use the I called it general, but 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:14.840 I think the actual precise word is standard DNA testing, 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:18.600 which would identify both male and female. 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.400 Sorry, I'm not sure there was a specific construction to 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:23.720 ESR to only test for male DNA. 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:28.840 Mansfield refers to ESR scientist Fiona Matheson, who worked on 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:32.800 the examination of the Polkinghorn home. Matheson was called to 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.040 the Remuer home on April fifth, and again for a 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:40.640 briefing on April six, the day after Hannah was reported dead. 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:46.000 Alan rejected the defense's theory that homicide was predetermined, stating 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:50.200 the homicide focus referred more to the method of evidence collection. 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:55.120 The Crown called their final witness before the defense started 0:08:55.160 --> 0:09:00.760 presenting its case. June Lee is a digital forend analyst 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.960 with the police. He isn't a sworn officer, but is 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.640 qualified in computer and mobile phone forensics. Lee was a 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.480 last minute witness. Dickie asked him overnight to comment on 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.720 certain logs presented at court the previous day. You'll remember 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:20.760 from Day twenty one that during cross examination of Detective 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:25.960 Andrew Reeves, who was responsible for examining mobile phones, Mansfield 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:30.360 asked about two bits of phone activity he alleged showed 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:34.440 Hannah had drafted two messages at about four am the 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.360 morning of her death. Dickie refers to Hannah's iPhone eight 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:43.600 plus and whether it's log entries suggest user activity. Lee 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:48.319 stated they are sourced from the Identity look up service. However, 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:53.040 the date or time log entries aren't immediately clear. Lee 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.800 says the logs show background services that don't relate to 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:01.280 a user interacting with the device. This doesn't mean anyone 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:05.079 is actually using the phone. Lee further stated the phone 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.560 wasn't used again after it was plugged in at ten 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:14.040 forty seven on April fourth. Mansfield's cross examination focused on 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:17.880 whether the phone would pick up on the user drafting messages. 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:22.360 Dicky objected to his line of questioning, stating he was 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:26.600 asking the same question over and over. Mansfield asked if 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:28.720 there was always a record of the phone turning on 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.720 and the screen coming on. Lee confirmed this was the case. 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:36.640 Mansfield further probed if the log would create an entry 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.880 if a person goes into messages and selects a number. Again, 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:45.840 Lee confirmed this was the case. Lee was the final 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:49.800 Crown witness. The Crown has now closed its case or 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:54.440 their argument about what happened on April fifth, twenty twenty one. 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.400 The defense will now be able to argue its version 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:01.840 of events, specifically why why Pauline Hannah may have took 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:06.080 her own life while the crown case is over. Notably, 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:09.559 there is one major absence from the roster of sixty 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:12.880 two potential Crown witnesses read aloud at the start of 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:18.679 the trial. Sydney based escort Madison Ashton, the seventy one 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.560 year old surgeon, is accused of having formed a double 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.720 life prior to wife Pauline Hannah's death. The wider jury 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:28.839 poul has commonly read aloud a list of potential witnesses 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:31.520 at the start of a trial, so that anybody who 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:34.360 has a conflict of interest can be dismissed before the 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:38.040 final group of twelve is selected. No reason has been 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:47.440 given as to why she's not been called for Coverage 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.800 of other news events in New Zealand, including the legacy 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:54.920 of Prime Minister Norman Kirk and what's causing the country's 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:59.120 energy crisis. Listen to the front page The Herald's daily 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:08.440 news podcast wherever you get your podcasts. After the court 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:12.000 took the day off on Thursday, day twenty three started 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.720 on Friday. No explicit reason was given for why the 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:20.240 court didn't sit. Then Philip Polkinghorn walked into court flanked 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.000 by three of his sons, the first appearance from two 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.880 of them. In a packed court room with the public 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:32.360 gallery largely full, defense lawyer Ron Mansfield began his opening address. 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:36.480 You don't need a motif if a crime hasn't been committed, 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.440 and you don't need a motif if there has been 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:45.440 no murder. This trial is really as focused as that. 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:51.160 Your issue for you to determine is whether there has 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:56.760 been a culpable homicide, and that's really murder one oh one. 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.640 During the course of the trial, Mansfield says, we've spent 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.319 a lot of time looking at evidence that does not 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:08.400 focus on that fundamental issue, but instead looked at potential 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:13.160 motives for a crime that has not actually been established. 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.880 He said, And you might have thought that when the 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:21.800 police conducted the search and they found evidence of methamphetamine use, 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:28.000 and when they made further inquiries and found evidence of 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:34.480 sexual relationships outside of the marriage of mister and Missus Pulkinghorn, 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:40.360 that they became intoxicated by the thought of establishing a 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:45.520 murder even though when they stood back, as they should 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:51.040 have objectively, there was no evidence at all of a 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:57.120 culpable homicide. And the more and more time they invested 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:02.040 in the scene at one two one Upland Road, and 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:05.520 the more and more money they spent over that sixteen 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:13.000 months we're told of investigation, the focus became not of 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:20.120 learning of what actually happened, but instead seeking to prove 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.600 a crime that hadn't happened. 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.920 Mansfield urges the jury to give some thought to what 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.480 they know of Polkinghorn when they hear he is accused 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:33.600 of killing his wife, rather than be intoxicated as the 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:37.920 police were with the evidence of drug use and other relationships. 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:43.000 Mansfield said that police jumped to a conclusion that Hannah's 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.600 death was suspicious because of the rope check at the scene. 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:50.280 This was discussed early on during the Crown's testimony. 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:55.320 Now the police are believing they are investigating a homicide, 0:14:55.480 --> 0:15:00.320 or at least the potential for one, and everything now 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:04.560 moves in that direction without stopping and without thinking. 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:11.160 The pathologist arrives on request, the photographers arrive on request. 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.920 We even get two ESR staff. 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:18.640 Coming to the premises and being therefore an extended period 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:25.720 or because it's now being investigated as a potential homicide. 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:29.280 And it doesn't stop. It's like a junket that just 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:33.400 gets bigger and bigger, and the more time and the 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:37.200 more money spent on it, the more there was a need, 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:38.840 you might think to get a result. 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.560 Mansfield said there's no evidence in the house of a 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:47.920 fatal assault or a struggle, no blood, bodily fluids or damage, 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:52.280 no signs that Hannah's body had been assaulted or was moved. 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.080 He said that the two pathologists for the Crown concluded 0:15:56.080 --> 0:16:00.600 that Hannah died by way of neck compression. The argument 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.080 is that Hannah took her own life. 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:08.440 However, it's the crown case that it's possible to die 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:15.680 by net compression and leave no evidence of that. I suppose, folks, 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:20.560 that's the perfect murder. No evidence that the scene, no 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:25.520 evidence on the body. There would have to be the 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.760 perfect murder, or if it was real, can I suggest 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:32.480 it's not it's a phantom. 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.600 Mansfield said that the defense case won't focus on Polkinghorn's 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.320 meth use all the relationships the couple had outside of 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:44.600 their own. Instead, they will call a number of witnesses 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:50.360 to break down the myths of suicide. Two overseas pathologists 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.800 will weigh in on how Hannah died. An electrical expert 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:58.440 will testify on when appliances were turned on in the 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:03.240 couple's Upland Road home. An engineer would give evidence relating 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:07.280 to how the mechanism described by Polkinghorn could result in 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:13.240 death by hanging by applying sufficient pressure. Psychologist and psychiatrist 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:18.000 would give evidence for the defense on suicide factors. Mansfield 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:22.040 said they then call a suicide expert from the mental 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.400 health sector to put to bed what he says are 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:29.440 the myths the Crown rely on regarding who commits suicide. 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.119 And if at the end of the day you remain 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:34.919 concerned about the drug use, or you remain concerned about 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:40.240 the relationships outside of their marriage, then you might think 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:46.199 that might just have added further to the burden that 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:52.520 Pauline was living with at the time, rather than provide 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:56.199 some motive as a suited by the Crown for a 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.439 murder that never took place. 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.879 Field confirmed that Polkinghorn will not be taking the stand 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:07.359 as a witness. He said that Polkinghorn has already said 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.639 all he had to. On the afternoon of April fifth, 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:13.919 twenty twenty one, when he sat down with police for 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:18.000 that lengthy interview you heard earlier in the trial. You 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:20.520 could not get a better glimpse than the interview into 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:24.439 what he saw and experienced that morning, Mansfield said, and 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.919 that Polkinghorn was more open and honest in that chat. 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.840 Any testimony now would be more of a rehearsed version 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:39.800 of events. Then Mansfield called his first witness, Pauline Hannah's sister, Tracy. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.919 Tracy is eleven years younger than Pauline. She's lived in 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:54.520 the UK full time since nineteen ninety two and is 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:58.800 still based there with her husband and children. She, alongside 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:02.840 other defense witnesses, today, declined to be filmed or recorded, 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:06.879 but we can still report their words. She told the 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:09.840 court that the Hannahs were brought up near Havelock North 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:14.280 in the Hawk's Bay, on a small farm. Pauline first 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:17.560 left home when Tracy was about six. She went to 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:22.280 Victoria University initially, then she withdrew from university and went 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:26.640 to a secretarial course in Wellington before moving home. When 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:32.160 Tracy was about eleven, Pauline went traveling overseas. Tracy recalls 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:35.520 her sister being a kind of motherly figure, if a 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:39.560 bit controlling, but she speaks highly of her late sister. 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:44.480 She was an inspiration to me, says Tracy. Tracy says 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.200 that when she left the Hawk's Bay to move to Auckland, 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.399 Pauline was there too. She helped me get my flat. 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.600 Pauline and Tracy were in Auckland at the same time 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.080 for two years before Tracy moved home to the Hawk's 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.639 Bay to care for their sick farm when he died. 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:05.840 Tracy eventually moved to Australia then the UK, and that's 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:10.040 where she stayed. Did you remain in contact with Pauline, 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:15.800 asks Mansfield. Yes, Tracy replied. After Pauline met Philip in 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:19.280 the mid nineteen nineties. They would frequently visit the UK. 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.080 They'd see each other every other year or two, and 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:26.399 there were phone calls on Christmas in Easter. We weren't 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:30.080 in daily contact, but we were a fairly close family 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:34.680 at that time, Tracy said. Mansfield asks about an incident 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:38.240 in the family. There was an argument between Pauline and 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:42.240 their mother Fay in the kitchen around nineteen ninety two. 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:44.720 This isn't the wake of the death of their father. 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:50.080 It escalated Pauline was having an emotional crisis. She was 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:54.440 shouting and crying, and her mother, unusually was also crying. 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:59.280 Tracy says she went into the kitchen and intervened, asking 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:03.280 why she was upsetting their mother. Then she turned her 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:07.280 anger onto me, and I can't remember. There was toing 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.000 and frowing, and all of a sudden, she said that 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:13.399 she'd tried to kill herself. She flashed her arms up 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:16.280 at us, as if to say she'd tried to harm herself, 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:20.400 says Tracy. Did she say she'd try to harm herself 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:25.040 in that way? Asks Mansfield. No, says Tracy. She just 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:29.000 signaled it. Tracy said, the world stopped, and she can't 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:32.040 remember what she said. Next, she said she should have 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:35.639 followed up, but she was only twenty one and suicide 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:38.320 wasn't something spoken of in New Zealand at the time. 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:43.600 Did you ever follow up, asks Mansfield. I didn't, and 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:47.560 I deeply regret it, says Tracy. It was never mentioned again. 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.640 Tracy details the falling out she had with her siblings 0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:55.480 in recent years. It stems from the transfer of ownership 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:59.520 of the family farm, long Lands to Bruce, Pauline and 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:03.000 Tracy brother who testified for the Crown earlier in the trial. 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:06.879 Their mother, Fay, wanted to stay on the property and 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:10.800 did for many years until her descent into dementia became 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:15.639 too difficult to handle. Bruce proposed a retirement home, which 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:20.760 Tracy disagreed with. Pauline did too initially, but eventually sided 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:25.200 with Bruce. When Faye did move into care, Pauline called 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.680 Tracy the day after to say her and Bruce had 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:33.119 had a big argument. When Tracy last saw Pauline in 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:36.560 twenty nineteen, at Ring's Beach in the Corimandel, where the 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:40.119 Polkinghorns had a batch, she said she was not coping 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:44.879 at all with mum's dementia development. Pauline worried how frequently 0:22:45.000 --> 0:22:48.360 she would be able to visit her mother. Tracy recalled 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:51.959 meeting Polkinghorn for the first time in the nineteen nineties 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:56.520 at a restaurant in Soho before he married Hannah. Polkinghorn 0:22:56.640 --> 0:23:01.400 was charming, generous, friendly and great company. I was really 0:23:01.440 --> 0:23:05.240 happy for my sister, Tracy said. She served as a 0:23:05.280 --> 0:23:09.520 bridesmaid for their wedding. Asked how the couple seemed when 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:14.439 they did meet, Tracy said, very typical couple behavior. Happy 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:18.560 couple behavior. Tracy and her husband would holiday with Pauline 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:22.440 and Philip. They took holidays together, including a canal holiday 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:25.600 in Wales and one in the Greek island of Santorini. 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:29.680 Pauline did a reading at Tracy's London wedding in two 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:34.119 thousand and five. Tracy would come to New Zealand too. 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:37.119 It always just seemed like a normal husband and wife 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:42.680 relationship to me, she said. Under questioning from Mansfield, Tracy 0:23:42.760 --> 0:23:46.200 said repeatedly that she did not see any signs of 0:23:46.280 --> 0:23:50.040 anything unusual between Pauline and Philip on the times she 0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:53.200 stayed with them. She did learn from her brother Bruce 0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:57.199 in April twenty nineteen about Philip having an affair with 0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:01.680 a woman in Australia. Tracy had testified that she never 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:06.520 discussed this with Pauline. Tracy said that she was concerned 0:24:06.560 --> 0:24:10.440 by an email Pauline sent in May twenty twenty, which 0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:13.520 we've heard about earlier in the trial, where Pauline had 0:24:13.560 --> 0:24:16.119 said she hadn't had a day off in eight weeks. 0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:19.879 In the midst of the COVID response. Like other witnesses, 0:24:20.320 --> 0:24:23.879 Tracy testified that Pauline was a hard worker and she 0:24:23.920 --> 0:24:27.560 took Pride in her appearance. She wasn't sure how much 0:24:27.600 --> 0:24:32.200 Pauline drank, though thinks Philip drank less than her. Tracy 0:24:32.359 --> 0:24:37.159 was aware that Pauline took antidepressants. The Crowns Brian Dickie 0:24:37.240 --> 0:24:41.439 then started his cross examination. He pushed Tracy to be 0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:46.520 more specific on timings of when the alleged suicide attempt happened. 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:50.520 She couldn't provide details other than it took place between 0:24:50.560 --> 0:24:55.960 May nineteen ninety and February nineteen ninety two. Tracy asked 0:24:56.000 --> 0:24:58.800 Dickie if he was accusing her of lying and that 0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:02.520 she took offense to that. Well, take all the offense 0:25:02.640 --> 0:25:05.560 you like, but just try and answer the questions, he said. 0:25:06.240 --> 0:25:09.119 Tracy said that she did not have any details on 0:25:09.160 --> 0:25:13.760 the specifics of Pauline's alleged attempt, saying her sister was 0:25:13.880 --> 0:25:17.040 having an emotional meltdown and she wasn't going to sit 0:25:17.080 --> 0:25:20.639 there questioning her. She said she didn't remember it until 0:25:20.680 --> 0:25:23.439 after she was told police had died in May twenty 0:25:23.520 --> 0:25:27.720 twenty one, but before she made her statement to police. 0:25:27.800 --> 0:25:31.240 Tracy admitted that she was critical of the police investigation 0:25:31.520 --> 0:25:34.879 and the focus on Philip. Asked by Dickie if she 0:25:34.920 --> 0:25:37.560 had already taken a point of view about what happened. 0:25:37.920 --> 0:25:42.959 Tracy said, so had the police. Dickie read a text 0:25:43.040 --> 0:25:48.080 exchange between Philip and Tracy after Pauline's death. I'm so 0:25:48.320 --> 0:25:52.760 toxic about the enz police, Polkinghorn wrote, saying he wasn't 0:25:52.760 --> 0:25:55.760 sure he could treat another police officer as a patient. 0:25:56.640 --> 0:26:01.440 They've treated you appallingly whatever happened to innoc until proven guilty, 0:26:01.560 --> 0:26:06.600 Tracy replied. In a further question by Mansfield, Tracy said 0:26:06.760 --> 0:26:09.960 that she had not been contacted by Pauline. Around Christmas 0:26:10.000 --> 0:26:13.480 twenty nineteen to say she had contacted a mental health 0:26:13.520 --> 0:26:22.840 crisis team. The next defense witness was Polkinghorn's first wife 0:26:22.840 --> 0:26:25.280 and the mother of his three sons, who has been 0:26:25.320 --> 0:26:29.240 granted interim name suppression. She and Polkinghorn were at the 0:26:29.359 --> 0:26:33.200 University of Otago in the nineteen seventies, but didn't meet 0:26:33.280 --> 0:26:36.400 until a mutual friend later invited them to a party, 0:26:36.880 --> 0:26:40.520 telling her Polkinghorn wanted to meet her. They started dating 0:26:40.640 --> 0:26:44.600 and later married. They spent some time in Nelson, where 0:26:44.640 --> 0:26:48.080 he was a house surgeon, traveled abroad, moved to Dunedin 0:26:48.200 --> 0:26:51.199 for four years for training, then went to London for 0:26:51.240 --> 0:26:56.040 Polkinghorn's postgraduate training at an eye hospital. They separated in 0:26:56.119 --> 0:27:00.160 nineteen ninety one. She said that their marriage broke up 0:27:00.240 --> 0:27:03.840 due to Philip having an affair. She said that Polkinghorn 0:27:03.960 --> 0:27:08.560 has never threatened or used violence during the marriage. The 0:27:08.640 --> 0:27:12.600 last two witnesses of the day were neighbors from Rings Beach, Corrimandel. 0:27:13.359 --> 0:27:16.639 Earlier in the trial, witnesses for the Crown testified of 0:27:16.760 --> 0:27:22.320 Polkinghorn's demeanor changing over the years. In twenty nineteen, Polkinghorn 0:27:22.359 --> 0:27:26.040 didn't come down for Christmas, which was noticed by his neighbors. 0:27:26.440 --> 0:27:30.680 As we've heard several times in this trial. Anglican priest 0:27:30.840 --> 0:27:34.320