1 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: Hilda. I'm Chelsea Daniels and from the team behind the 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: front page. The New Zealand Herald's daily news podcast, This 3 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: is Accused the Polkinghorn Trial. Over a series of weeks. 4 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 1: In conjunction with our usual daily episodes, we'll be bringing 5 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: you regular coverage as one of the most high profile 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: trials of the year makes its way through the High 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: Court at Auckland. A warning, this podcast contains disturbing content. 8 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:42,919 Speaker 1: Philip Polkinghorn is accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hannah, 9 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: who was found dead on April fifth, twenty twenty one. 10 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: He maintains she took her own life. Week eight of 11 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: the trial began with the Crown delivering their closing statement. 12 00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: Now it's the defense's turn. 13 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 2: Your honor, mister Foreman and members of your jury. What 14 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 2: a final insult. The final insult doctor Pulkinghorn faces from 15 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 2: five April. 16 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 3: Twenty twenty one through to the day's date has just 17 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:24,199 Speaker 3: been made. 18 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 2: It suggested that he's blamed her, his own wife, for 19 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:41,400 Speaker 2: her death. He's described as the master manipulator. The first 20 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 2: insult he faced was when the police attended at his 21 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 2: address on five April twenty twenty one, when they walk 22 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 2: through that door with our open mind, they would have 23 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 2: us believe, and I think we can accept. And then 24 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 2: very quickly saw the rope in the way in which 25 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 2: it was left by doctor Polkinghorn and gave it what 26 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 2: they describe as the tension check, and from there his 27 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 2: property and he was treated in a way that he 28 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 2: was alleged to have been involved. 29 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 3: In his wife's own death. 30 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: And so began the defense's closing argument, as given by 31 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: defense lawyer Ron Mansfield. He said, it has been a 32 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: long process leading up to the trial when Philip Polkinghorn 33 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: finally had the chance to show the evidence that vindicates 34 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: his position. Mansfield said his client wanted to help police 35 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: with his interview because he considered that was the right 36 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: thing to do. It was an insult because what lay 37 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: behind that was the suspicion they never informed him of 38 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,239 Speaker 1: or gave him the opportunity to respond to then and there, 39 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: Mansfield said, despite grieving the death of his wife, Polkinghorn 40 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: agreed to be interviewed at the scene when he detailed 41 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: quite consistently what happened that morning. 42 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 2: A master manipulator need not have done so, but he 43 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 2: did so in the state that he was in in 44 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 2: between taking messages, making calls, letting people know, as anyone 45 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 2: of us would like the dignity to do, to let 46 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 2: people know who loved Pauline off her passing, to allow 47 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 2: people to comfort you as you might when you suffer 48 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 2: such a loss. But nonetheless, during that interview, we know 49 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 2: this attention check took place, and we know things switched 50 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 2: from open mind and being objective by the attending police 51 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 2: officers to a focus now on establishing what they were 52 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 2: quickly coming to think was a potential homicide, despite any 53 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 2: objective evidence that might allow that assessment to be made. 54 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: They came into that address expecting a full suspension hanging, 55 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: said Mansfield, and failed to turn their mind to an 56 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: incomplete or partial suspension hanging. He said ambulance officers did 57 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: not harbor suspicions, no doubt, because of their more robust 58 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: and informed experience with these type of hangings. He said, 59 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: he can understand the detective going upstairs and pulling on 60 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: the rope and thinking it's odd, but there's no record 61 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: of that moment. 62 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 2: Wasn't doctor Polkinghorn being asked to assist the police, It 63 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 2: was the fact that they failed to tell him that 64 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 2: they considered the situation to be suspicious and that he 65 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 2: might be a suspect for his own wife's death. Not 66 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 2: providing him with an opportunity to explain what he had 67 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,719 Speaker 2: done and how he had done it by perhaps showing 68 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 2: them but without touching anything, just lured him to the 69 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 2: police station, albeit under a false pretense that they wanted 70 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 2: an interview, not from a grieving husband who might find 71 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 2: it cathartic to sit there and talk about his wife 72 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,679 Speaker 2: and what he had found in the way in which 73 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 2: it appeared during the course of the interview he found it, 74 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 2: but treating him like a suspect for his own wife's death. 75 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: Mansfield said that Polkinghorn had no idea during his lengthy 76 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: police interview that an asound, forensic team and a photographer 77 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: had been set loose in his house. Mansfield says it 78 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: was another insult given he had been speaking with the 79 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:13,720 Speaker 1: police openly and honestly to find his home was being 80 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: violated and he was being treated as a suspect. On 81 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 1: the deleted WhatsApp messages, Mansfield said that came after the 82 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: revelation to Polkinghorn that he was being treated as a suspect. 83 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 3: And will come back to that. 84 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 2: But when you think about the timing of that, and 85 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 2: given the level of suspicion he is now facing and 86 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 2: the focus of the police investigation, why would he Why 87 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 2: would he want the police to learn of something that 88 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 2: was private and always had been as far as he 89 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 2: was aware, private between him and his wife in relation 90 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 2: to what they or what he got up to by 91 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 2: way of sexual relations outside of their union. It is 92 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 2: entirely understandable at that point why he might seek to 93 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 2: delete or remove WhatsApp messages that revealed something which was 94 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 2: intimate and potentially embarrassing, and certainly something that would damage 95 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 2: both of their reputations. 96 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: Mansfield said. The police sealed off the Upland Road home 97 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: from April fifth to April sixteen. Hannah's funeral was in 98 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: April fifteen, and Polkinghorn had to investigate purchasing new clothes 99 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: for fear he wouldn't be able to get any of 100 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: her personal effects from the address. Hannah's autopsy happened on 101 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: April six but Polkinghorn wasn't advised of its outcome or 102 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: given any access to either a briefing or a report. 103 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: Mansfield said Polkinghorn reached out to another pathologist because he 104 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: was concerned and couldn't understand what was going on. 105 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 2: Further in soul, not treating him as a loved one, 106 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 2: not treating him with any respect, and giving him any 107 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 2: information in relation to the autopsy. And what would the 108 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 2: harm have been to share that information with him, To 109 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 2: share the information that she had died, albeit doctor Keisha 110 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 2: would have us accept by net compression as if that 111 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 2: was the only pathology outcome that could be given. What 112 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 2: would have been the harm to confirm to him that 113 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 2: what he had found and seen was entirely consistent with 114 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 2: the pathology that was revealed through the autopsy. 115 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: Polkinghorn then asked to have his own pathologist you the 116 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: position via a second autopsy. 117 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 2: Why if he had known that he had taken his 118 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 2: wife's life by way of a homicide, why would he 119 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 2: involve a pathologists to conduct a second autopsy. 120 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 3: What he was. 121 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 2: Seeking to do was just learn why this was being 122 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 2: treated as suspicious and why he was being treated as 123 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 2: the suspect. 124 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: Mansfield said. Tongues were wagging around Remuerra because of the 125 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: presence of the police, and soon the press was onto 126 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: it and people soon came to know the death was 127 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: being treated as suspicious. 128 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 2: When this became public that the death was being treated 129 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 2: as suspicious and he was the suspect, then everyone around 130 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 2: him starts to shut down, treats him differently, and he 131 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:08,319 Speaker 2: becomes isolated. As a matter of common sense, that's how 132 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 2: you might react if. 133 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 3: You were told by an authority to whom. 134 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 2: You thought you could place some reliance on for being 135 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 2: objective and only relying on evidence, that if someone was 136 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 2: being treated as a suspect, there must be something to it, 137 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 2: and that changes everybody's attitude other than those really close 138 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 2: to him, and that knew better everybody else's attitude towards him. 139 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 2: What further insult could there be other than being accused, 140 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 2: as he was now of being the suspect, But for 141 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 2: it to be effectively leaked in this way through the media, 142 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:59,839 Speaker 2: so that everybody friends and family became aware of this 143 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:05,679 Speaker 2: allegation and hence reacted and treated him differently. 144 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,880 Speaker 1: Mansfield said it made people think differently when it eventually 145 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: came time for them to be interviewed by police. Things 146 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: that might have otherwise been duly explained or seen as 147 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: drunken banter that they didn't place much weight on then 148 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: became quite important. Mansfield said, is not asking the jury 149 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: to ignore the evidence from Hannah's family or close friends, 150 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: but to consider how their mind's attitudes and experiences were 151 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: informed by the fact that Polkinghorn was suspected by police 152 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: of killing his wife. Mansfield says, a legitimate issue with 153 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,959 Speaker 1: a contact lens, for example, became him dragging her away 154 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: from a party. Mansfield said, and as just one example 155 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: of how people's views changed in a flick of a switch. 156 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,439 Speaker 1: Then there's the reality he is on his own. The 157 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: only person who was engaging with him was Madison Ashton, 158 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: with whom he had been in a relationship with for 159 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: six years since twenty fifteen. Mansfield asked for the jury 160 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: to consider the context. 161 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 2: Firstly, as a result of this and police investigation and 162 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 2: the way in which they are conducting it, he has 163 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:23,839 Speaker 2: become entirely isolated. 164 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:26,319 Speaker 3: He is not getting. 165 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 2: Support other than from his sister Ruth, with whom he 166 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 2: is needing to stay during the period. 167 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 3: Of time that this address is out of bounds. 168 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 2: All others have been informed of the police suspicion, either 169 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 2: by the media or had been told or. 170 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:46,319 Speaker 3: By word of mouth. 171 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 2: The only person, and a person he has known for 172 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 2: five or six years as has his wife is reaching 173 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:59,359 Speaker 2: out and communicating with him, And yeah, there's sexual discussion 174 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 2: and sexual engagement within that entirely consistent with the nature 175 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 2: of their relationship for that entiret period from twenty fifteen, 176 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 2: that entire period that both he and Pauline have known 177 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 2: this woman and utilized her services and support. 178 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 3: And I'll come back to that. 179 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 2: And secondly, given that she's the only person that's reaching 180 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 2: out to him, that's communicating with him, it is hardly 181 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 2: surprising that their relationship draws close and of the kind 182 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:38,439 Speaker 2: that you. 183 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: See discussed in that context, Polkinghorn's meeting with Ashton in 184 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: Mount Cook Village twenty five days after Hannah's death can 185 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: be understood. Mansfield said that isolation continued for sixteen months 186 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: as police continued their investigation and then charged him with murder. 187 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 2: He might have thought that was the final insult he 188 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 2: would face and have to bear, the final insult he 189 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:10,360 Speaker 2: would need to address when it came to trial, But no, 190 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,200 Speaker 2: the final insult came when it was suggested that he 191 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 2: was to be blamed for blaming his own wife for 192 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 2: her own death. If you want to add insult to 193 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 2: injury there you have it, and that is with the 194 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 2: Crown knowing full well that the forensic material in this 195 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 2: case does answer this case for you. It provides the 196 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 2: complete answer and it always has it has provided the 197 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 2: complete answer from the sixth of April, the date that 198 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 2: the autopsy was conducted and the report was given. 199 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: Mansfield said that the pathology and what was found at 200 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: the house provides the complete answer that Tanner sadly died 201 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: by a partial or incomplete hanging. When you look at 202 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: the scene fairly, it was entirely consistent with Polkinghorn's police interview. 203 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: He said, the. 204 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 2: Answer has always been in the pathology. The answer is 205 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 2: still in the pathology. The problem is the answer doesn't 206 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 2: justify the way in which doctor Polkinghorn was treated. The 207 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 2: answer doesn't justify how long his address was under the 208 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 2: control of the police so that they could search it 209 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 2: in the way that they did. 210 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 3: The answer doesn't. 211 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 2: Justify the very long way he had to wait until 212 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 2: he found out that he was going to be accused 213 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 2: of his wife's death, and it justified or answer why 214 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 2: we're here today. So they had to seek to justify 215 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 2: it through some other means by seeking to build a 216 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 2: motive for a crime. That has simply not been conducted, 217 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 2: a murder that has not been committed, And that is why, 218 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 2: and that is the only reason why. The absence of 219 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 2: pathology that helps him, the absence of forensic evidence from 220 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 2: the scene, the absence of any other evidence that you 221 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 2: would ordinarily find associated with a homicide. That is why 222 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 2: we have been here weeks touring through potential motives for 223 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 2: a crime that has not been committed, For a murder 224 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 2: that has not occurred. 225 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 3: He has needed to. 226 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:13,159 Speaker 2: Effectively take over and prosecute as if he needed to 227 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 2: establish that his wife died by way of suicide, even 228 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 2: though he has no onus or burden to prove anything. 229 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 2: And that you might think is entirely consistent with an 230 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 2: innocent man who finally gets an opportunity to establish his 231 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 2: innocence before our community, some of which has already condemned 232 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 2: him before having heard any evidence. This has been a 233 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:51,160 Speaker 2: trial prosecuted by emotion, and where the victim is logic. 234 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 3: A trial run by emotion. 235 00:17:54,920 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 2: Allows our murder mystery fantasies to run wild. And what 236 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 2: a blockbuster by learn of friends closing address was to 237 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 2: you our own very own modern day murder mystery. 238 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,639 Speaker 3: It was like a binge of every murder. 239 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 2: She wrote, all in one session, by our own, our 240 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 2: very own Angela Lansbury presenting, or I suppose more correctly 241 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:34,440 Speaker 2: put she was presenting the script written by the police. 242 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 3: The murder. 243 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 2: The police wrote the murder they started writing immediately after 244 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 2: the tension check. 245 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 1: Mansfield said, of the four pathologists heard in the case, 246 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: only two had potential examples of this phantom theory of 247 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: a potential death by way of homicidal strangulation but leaving 248 00:18:58,560 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: no injury at all. 249 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 2: Is this where we are to see this particular case 250 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 2: falling to be that exception, to be that phantom, to 251 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:13,639 Speaker 2: be that case where despite the absence of any expected 252 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 2: injury from a homicidal strangulation, there is none. 253 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 3: We have unmarked the phantom. 254 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 2: Folks apparently, and it's doctor Polkinghorn. 255 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: It's a phantom murder that none of the four pathologists 256 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: had been able to confirm themselves, Mansfield said. In Polkinghorn, 257 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,879 Speaker 1: without any training in martial arts, without being a big 258 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: or strong man, while yes he did brag about his fitness, 259 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: managed to kill his wife without leaving any of the 260 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: telltale signs. 261 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 2: It sounds absurd because it is it sounds unachievable because. 262 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: It is if that is the way this case is 263 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: being prosecuted based on this theory, this phantom that potentially exists, 264 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 1: that tells you a great deal, said Mansfield. He said 265 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,400 Speaker 1: that the pathology is evidence based, and the two defense 266 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: pathologists said they would have reported this death by way 267 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,479 Speaker 1: of hanging, and there's no need to leave it open. 268 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: In cases of a strangling of an intimate partner, the 269 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 1: red mist comes down and the assailants don't care about 270 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:37,040 Speaker 1: if they're leaving injury. But there are none on Hannah's neck, 271 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: which you'd expect in a partial or a complete hanging. 272 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: There were no injuries on Hannah from her fighting for 273 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: her life, none of the scratches or bruises that can 274 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: occur as she fought back and trying to release the 275 00:20:51,560 --> 00:21:00,720 Speaker 1: pressure for coverage of other news events in New Zealand. 276 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: Listen to the front page The Herald's daily News podcast 277 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts onto the injury to Polkinghorn's head. 278 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,159 Speaker 1: If that injury was left by Hannah, there was no 279 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,400 Speaker 1: signs in her nails, nor in her three rings. It's 280 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: an injury. Polkinghorn didn't even know he had Mansfield said. 281 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 2: And you might think, as a matter of logic, if 282 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 2: he had been involved in an altercation with her where 283 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 2: there was some form of struggle and he sustained any 284 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 2: form of injury, then he would know and might seek 285 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 2: to attend to that that he might have an explanation 286 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 2: for it, given he's the master manipulator when he's asked 287 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:51,439 Speaker 2: about it, as he was at the scene by the 288 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,920 Speaker 2: attending ambulance and by the police. 289 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: The other injuries to Hannah's body, like her nose, her back, 290 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: her bruises on her arm, could not be shown to 291 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: be consistent with any assault or altercation that might occur 292 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: between two people in a homicidal strangulation. Mansfield said. 293 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 2: The crowns say you should use your logic and consider 294 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:21,679 Speaker 2: them as consistent with an assault, because the Crown has to. 295 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 2: Doesn't it point to some form of injury of an assault, 296 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 2: even though on the evidence it's not there. 297 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,719 Speaker 3: Because the Crown wants you to accept. 298 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 2: Its emotional plea that this was a homicidal strangulation which must, 299 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 2: by its varying nature, have incurred some struggle at some 300 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 2: time for some length, and the Crown, once it realized 301 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 2: that the absence of those kinds of injuries was a 302 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 2: real problem for its case. And despite the proferet or 303 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 2: advice you have had from four pathologists tells you that 304 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 2: logically you should consider these injuries as consistent with an assault, 305 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 2: entirely contrary with. 306 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,960 Speaker 3: The evidence that you have heard in this trial. That's 307 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 3: not logic. 308 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:29,400 Speaker 2: That's the crown and you going rogue if you agree 309 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 2: with that kind of approach. 310 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 1: Blood pulling in her legs and the disappearing belt mark 311 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:41,119 Speaker 1: also fit with her death being a suicide, Mansfield said. Next, 312 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: the defense lawyer told the jury he'd take them through 313 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:48,919 Speaker 1: the relationship between husband and wife and the use of math. 314 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 2: It's murder, one oh one. For there to be a murder, 315 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,959 Speaker 2: their first must be a culpable homicide. And we've already 316 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 2: discussed whether on the forensic evidence you have before you, 317 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:13,560 Speaker 2: a case where a culpable homicide, so a strangulation, homicidal 318 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 2: strangulation has been established, and it hasn't. Every good murder 319 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 2: mystery starts at that point. Someone dies, usually in the 320 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 2: first five minutes, and usually the death is obvious, as 321 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:36,120 Speaker 2: is the cause. The real issue is looking for who 322 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 2: might be the perpetrator of it. Here we can't even 323 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:46,960 Speaker 2: start from that position. But a lot of time in 324 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 2: this trial has been invested in creating the villain that 325 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,160 Speaker 2: every murder mystery requires. 326 00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: Mansfield said that Alicia McClintock's framing of Polkinghorn as the 327 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: master manipulator is designed to turn the jury off his client. 328 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,680 Speaker 1: He said that the Crown solicitor has attributed an arrogance 329 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: to Polkinghorn not born out by the evidence. 330 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 2: None of us would want to be exposed as the 331 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 2: two individuals the subject of this prosecution have ended up 332 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 2: being exposed, but no one more so than doctor Polkinghorn. 333 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 2: His entire lifestyle has been laid bare. I would say, 334 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 2: unnecessarily before you simply to create the villain that the 335 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 2: Crown want you to see him as. 336 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 1: Mansfield said, Polkinghorn had a number of faults and some 337 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,680 Speaker 1: members of the jury may see his traits or conduct 338 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: as something they might not like in a friend or partner. 339 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: But this is not a court of morals. That includes 340 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 1: not judging his meth use or his use of sex workers. 341 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:08,120 Speaker 1: Mansfield said the evidence shows that Hannah was involved at 342 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: the outset of the relationship between Polkinghorn and Ashton in 343 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, and spoke of his use of sex workers 344 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 1: in the Longlands recording where she was less concerned about 345 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 1: sex workers and more that her husband was seeing a 346 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: woman in Auckland. Mansfield asked the jury not to put 347 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: their values on other people, and this is how Hannah 348 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:34,360 Speaker 1: and Polkinghorn chose to live their life, and she made 349 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:39,359 Speaker 1: her own choices in twenty nineteen around those relationships. He 350 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: said that Hannah was independent, intelligent, and earning an incredibly 351 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,879 Speaker 1: good salary and would have been entitled to her share 352 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,679 Speaker 1: of around ten point five million dollars worth of assets 353 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: if they separated. Mansfield said it would have been divided 354 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: between the two of them. He said messages from the 355 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,120 Speaker 1: end of twenty two twenty and early twenty twenty one 356 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: show that Hannah and Polkinghorn still loved and supported each 357 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: other despite how they operated their relationship, and there's no 358 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: evidence Polkinghorn wanted to run off with Ashton. That might 359 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: have changed after Hannah's death when he was isolated and desperate. 360 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,320 Speaker 1: There were clear tensions behind some of the things Hannah said, 361 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,160 Speaker 1: such as the dispute at Auckland die but Hannah made 362 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 1: it clear to her family that she was not physically 363 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: battered despite Polkinghorn being beastly. Mansfield said he can't comment 364 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: on the recollections of the readings of a dinner with Hannah, 365 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: in which she allegedly described Polkinghorn attempting to strangle her. 366 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,679 Speaker 2: No, I'm not going to suggest that Physic and John 367 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 2: read and are liars. 368 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 3: But I am going to. 369 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 2: Sedest that you need to look with Kia at what 370 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,919 Speaker 2: they say when you contrast that against what she was 371 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:03,160 Speaker 2: clearly saying to her own Bruce and Rose at Longlands. 372 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 2: I'm not physically bettered, i am not abused. I am safe, Darling, 373 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 2: Please think I am safe. I'm not a scapegoat or 374 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 2: a door mare. 375 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:18,240 Speaker 1: There is absolutely no other evidence of physical violence in 376 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: Hannah and Polkinghorn's relationship. He said. To go from no 377 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: violence to controlling and violence doesn't fit comfortably with what 378 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: others report of their relationship, Mansfield said. Onto auckland I 379 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: and the issues there, Mansfield said Polkinghorn's anger was not 380 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: about money, but about getting less than two doctors who 381 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: had left acrimoniously despite him being a founder of the clinic. 382 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: Onto the mathe Use, Mansfield said Crown witness Dr Emma 383 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: Schwartz's evidence was that people who use myth might be 384 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: prone to increased violence, but she made it clear it 385 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: wasn't a risk for everyone who used math or even 386 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: those with a meth use disorder. It would be hard 387 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: to understand why polking Horn would resort to violence when 388 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: it hadn't been a signature of their relationship, says Mansfield. 389 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 2: And you might just see that from the basic stats 390 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 2: that exist within our community regarding methamphetamine use. It's everywhere. 391 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 2: And if everyone who used methamphetamine and the kind of 392 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 2: way that we know doctor Polkinghorn used methamphetamin became violent 393 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 2: or became homicidal all of a sudden, then our courts 394 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 2: would be even fuller than they are, and considerably so. 395 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: Thirty seven point seven grams of math may have been 396 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: found at the Upland Road home, but Mansfield said there's 397 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:56,280 Speaker 1: no evidence of Polkinghorn's meth use and that just represents 398 00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 1: how much had been bought at one time. Mansfield said 399 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: there's no evidence of Polkinghorn having turned agitated because of 400 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 1: meth use, with only one reprimand at Auckland Eye for 401 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: being critical of support staff. Meth can linger in urine 402 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: for up to seven days in regular users, so the 403 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: meth found in the toilet water in Hannah's bathroom might 404 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: have nothing to do with its use the night of 405 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: her death, Mansfield said, and the investigation into the discovery 406 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: of the sweet puff pipe at Auckland Eye in October 407 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:39,320 Speaker 1: twenty twenty did not prove conclusively that it belonged to Polkinghorn, 408 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:44,120 Speaker 1: and meth traces were also found in other consultation rooms. 409 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,720 Speaker 1: Paramedics and the police officer who took Polkinghorn's first statement 410 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: didn't notice anything to suggest he was on a come 411 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 1: down from meth use. Onto sex workers, Mansfield said, Polkinghorn 412 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: developed an interest the lives of these women and the 413 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: fact he helped them with personal and financial issues says 414 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: a great deal about him. Ultimately, the use of sex 415 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,479 Speaker 1: workers may have been another factor that led to Hannah 416 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,719 Speaker 1: feeling down and seeking to take her own life. 417 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 4: Mansfield said, if a relationship was tested, if she fared 418 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 4: being on her own, or she was. 419 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 2: Concerned about how that might appear to others, especially if 420 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 2: the concern related to medicineation are known. A well known 421 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 2: sex worker in Australia that might have had an impact 422 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 2: on her that impacted on a decision to take her 423 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,880 Speaker 2: own life that morning. The problem with the crown theory 424 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 2: regarding his relationship with sex workers equally applies to providing 425 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 2: another risk factor for Pauline that might have meant that 426 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 2: she saw suicide as a decision for her that morning. 427 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 3: It seems odd, you. 428 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:10,200 Speaker 2: Might think, when if he was interested in a relationship 429 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 2: with medicination aught along and Pauline was in the way, 430 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 2: he couldn't just separate as they had discussed in twenty 431 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 2: nineteen and go their own way, he said. 432 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: The Crown relies on a number of actions they say 433 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 1: were inconsistent with a grieving husband, such as the search 434 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:35,959 Speaker 1: for leg edema after strangulation. Mansfield said that with police 435 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: giving him no information, Polkinghorn wanted to know why the 436 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: death was still being considered suspicious. 437 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 2: There is nothing indicative of this search unmasking the murderer 438 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 2: as promoters. That is just scare tactics and frankly quite bizarre. 439 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 2: He is not simply conducting a search checking to see 440 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:08,720 Speaker 2: whether he left behind a clue. What he's endeavoring to 441 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 2: do is to find out why it's thought that his 442 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:16,400 Speaker 2: wife's death was suspicious and whether the swelling he's noted 443 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:21,479 Speaker 2: in her leg might be indicative of that concern, and 444 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,720 Speaker 2: you know it wasn't. It wasn't indicative of that concern, 445 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 2: because that kind of swelling is indicative of death by 446 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,680 Speaker 2: way of homicidal strangulation as much as it is death 447 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:38,000 Speaker 2: by way of suicide. 448 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 1: Mansfield said that police had no reason to influence Paul 449 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: Adrian's into not making a statement other than saying people 450 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: don't have to talk to police onto Alison Ring. Interactions 451 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:57,160 Speaker 1: between the two souring was understandable, but there's nothing suspicious 452 00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: in him showing her the note he believed to be 453 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: a suer side note from Hannah. On the Crown's suggestion 454 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:07,600 Speaker 1: that Polkinghorn planted blood on the steps of his home 455 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: to explain his head injury, there was no evidence otherwise 456 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,160 Speaker 1: of any altercation with Hannah, and the injury to his 457 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:21,760 Speaker 1: head could be described as nonspecific, Mansfield said. Polkinghorn always 458 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: knew there was going to be the risk of contamination, 459 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:28,920 Speaker 1: and the report furnished to the Crown makes that clear, 460 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 1: but consistent with an innocent man. He went to the 461 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:39,280 Speaker 1: expense of enlisting overseas expert Dr Timothy Scanlon to assess 462 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: that area. 463 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 4: Mansfield said, why would you go to that cost and 464 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,760 Speaker 4: face that obvious criticism unless you were driven to prove 465 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,880 Speaker 4: as beast you could that you didn't have an altercation 466 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:55,480 Speaker 4: with your wife and this was not an injury caused 467 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:59,880 Speaker 4: by that altercation, even though you knew that. 468 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 2: But no pathologist, no doctor could say it was specific 469 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,880 Speaker 2: of an altercation, And if there had been an altercation, 470 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 2: they would have expected quite different injuries to different parts 471 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:15,600 Speaker 2: of both of them. The reality is that that evidence, 472 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 2: despite criticism, simply establishes his motivation to establish his innocence. 473 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 1: And onto the blood found between Hannah's fingers. 474 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,719 Speaker 2: Not one pathologist placed any weight on the blood that 475 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:35,839 Speaker 2: could be found between her fingers as indicative or of 476 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:39,759 Speaker 2: assistance to you in relation to the manner upon which 477 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:44,200 Speaker 2: your death might have occurred. And that's relevant, folks, because 478 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:47,880 Speaker 2: now the crown seek to rely on that is somehow 479 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:51,320 Speaker 2: indicative of it being a homicidal killing. 480 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:53,640 Speaker 3: Rather than death. 481 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:57,239 Speaker 2: By way of hanging, whereas the expert evidence you have 482 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 2: heard tends to suggest that also. 483 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 1: Other factors like redness on Hannah's legs, bruises on her 484 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 1: right arm, and the disappearing beltmark are consistent with what 485 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 1: Polkinghorn reported about Hannah's death. When you think about the 486 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: suggestion that he is a master manipulator, Mansfield asked the 487 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: jury to consider the other aspects of Polkinghorn. Mansfield turned 488 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,200 Speaker 1: to people who spoke highly of the accused, noting that 489 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:39,520 Speaker 1: they do so despite knowing they'd be named and associated 490 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:44,000 Speaker 1: with him. He referenced colleagues and patients who thought highly 491 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,480 Speaker 1: of him, of how Polkinghorn would wave fees on surgeries 492 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,839 Speaker 1: for those who couldn't afford them, even meeting them on weekends. 493 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:56,319 Speaker 1: Despite this, Mansfield said, Polkinghorn is not a perfect man, 494 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:59,560 Speaker 1: but none of us are, and the jury can't deliver 495 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,840 Speaker 1: just if they only focus on the negative. 496 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:05,960 Speaker 2: None of us would like all our messages drawled through 497 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 2: our inter net searchers, reviewed by others, or our personal 498 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 2: lives turned upside down in the way in which his 499 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:18,160 Speaker 2: life and his wife's life was turned upside down as 500 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 2: a necessity because of this allegation. None of us could 501 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:25,480 Speaker 2: stand there and say we are perfect, and none of 502 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:27,520 Speaker 2: us would try if we knew that that kind of 503 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,680 Speaker 2: review of our lives would take place. There would always 504 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 2: be things we wouldn't want others to know, and there 505 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,320 Speaker 2: would always be things that we would want to keep 506 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:41,440 Speaker 2: to ourselves and not be judged for. If you expect 507 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:44,640 Speaker 2: that for yourself, I just asked that you expect and 508 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:45,960 Speaker 2: ensure that for him. 509 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:46,360 Speaker 3: Police. 510 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:51,360 Speaker 1: Paulkinghorn didn't need to provide his voluntary statement to police, 511 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,840 Speaker 1: Mansfield said, but he thought he was doing justice to Hannah. 512 00:37:55,920 --> 00:38:00,319 Speaker 2: If he was this intelligent master manipulator, then he would 513 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:03,080 Speaker 2: be in that interview driving home a couple of things. 514 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:07,239 Speaker 2: He would be in that interview driving home how he 515 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:11,440 Speaker 2: found his wife, and being very clear around the arrangement, 516 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:14,200 Speaker 2: the way in which the rope was tied, how long 517 00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:16,839 Speaker 2: it was horrod was connected to the belt, and how 518 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:18,680 Speaker 2: the belt was around her neck. 519 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:20,799 Speaker 3: He would be able to. 520 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 2: Tell you about that with clarity or the detective, because 521 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:28,879 Speaker 2: that would be key to the very setup he's meant 522 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:32,359 Speaker 2: to have made this mocked suicide. What would be the 523 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:36,439 Speaker 2: point of going to this effort of showing a mock 524 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:39,480 Speaker 2: suicide in then not being able to tell the police 525 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,680 Speaker 2: with some accuracy around how it was. 526 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,520 Speaker 1: If Polkinghorn was a mastermind, cold blooded killer, he wouldn't 527 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,440 Speaker 1: have got Hannah down and covered her with a sheet. 528 00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:54,240 Speaker 1: Despite what people think about his interest with sex workers 529 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:59,319 Speaker 1: and fascination with pornography. Polkinghorn loved Hannah and she loved him. 530 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:02,880 Speaker 1: Man's Field said he told the jury those who have 531 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:06,719 Speaker 1: had long term relationships or friendships will know they're not 532 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 1: always perfect. Onto the evidence from the electricity experts, Mansfield said, 533 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,279 Speaker 1: both of them said the washing machine could have been 534 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,000 Speaker 1: used up until eleven thirty pm the night before her death. 535 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:23,919 Speaker 1: That's important because it shows her large acrylic toenail did 536 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:28,120 Speaker 1: not come off in the fight. On Hannah's room, Mansfield 537 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:31,040 Speaker 1: said it was not disheveled, but in a state of 538 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 1: being tidied, and Hannah had planned on finishing doing the 539 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:38,640 Speaker 1: washing later. Mansfield then addressed Hannah's trip to the tip 540 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,960 Speaker 1: and said it showed she knew where the rope was. 541 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:46,040 Speaker 1: He said there also isn't any evidence of the rope 542 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 1: being cut that night. 543 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,920 Speaker 2: Doctor Polkinghorn talks and his interview about handling the rope 544 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:56,880 Speaker 2: days earlier and sealing the rope by burning the inns. 545 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 2: He doesn't talk about two ripes and a fair in 546 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:05,040 Speaker 2: the interview. He seems very confused by the suggestion that 547 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:08,760 Speaker 2: there were two ropes, which adds weight to this point 548 00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:11,920 Speaker 2: I've made earlier that if he had secured the rope 549 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,240 Speaker 2: to secure her in a way to mask her death 550 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:18,880 Speaker 2: by suicide, he would know whether there was one or 551 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:22,200 Speaker 2: two ropes and make it very clear, because why would 552 00:40:22,239 --> 00:40:26,480 Speaker 2: he not want to look very clear about that? But 553 00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:30,080 Speaker 2: there was no rope cut as part of the exercise 554 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 2: of Pauline taking her own life. If so, there would 555 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:38,279 Speaker 2: have been tailtale signs of rope fiber found in that 556 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:42,759 Speaker 2: house and around, and Fiona Mathison would have found it 557 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:45,359 Speaker 2: because she was specifically looking for it. 558 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:49,960 Speaker 1: He said. It's pointless to view Polkinghorn's phone being placed 559 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:54,120 Speaker 1: on airplane mode as being suspicious, as the only benefit 560 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:56,960 Speaker 1: of this would be to track his movements if he 561 00:40:57,080 --> 00:40:59,759 Speaker 1: left the address, which no one in this case is. 562 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,320 Speaker 1: Polkinghorn only remembered his phone was on airplane mode after 563 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,319 Speaker 1: his one one one call, and he told police about 564 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:13,839 Speaker 1: the airplane mode situation, Mansfield said. Polkinghorn also never said 565 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,680 Speaker 1: he turned on the toaster and the jug at the 566 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:20,240 Speaker 1: same time, only that he put toast in the toaster. 567 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:24,400 Speaker 2: It needed to be responded to because this suggestion he 568 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,200 Speaker 2: didn't turn the jag on and put toast and the 569 00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:30,440 Speaker 2: toaster became a key point for the Crown in trying 570 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,440 Speaker 2: to establish he was telling lies. Believe it or not, 571 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:39,400 Speaker 2: Tea and Toast was meant to disclose whether he was truthful. 572 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:43,200 Speaker 1: Removing the belt from around Hannah's neck and lying her 573 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:47,799 Speaker 1: down is entirely a natural consequence and would not have 574 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:53,080 Speaker 1: been convoluted. Polkinghorn's account of the rope matches with the evidence, 575 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,320 Speaker 1: and the rope expert confirmed the knot would have held 576 00:41:56,360 --> 00:42:00,720 Speaker 1: Hannah's weight, Mansfield said. On the cut on his head, 577 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 1: Polkinghorn told the police he didn't know how he got it, 578 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,640 Speaker 1: but one of the Crown prosecutors described it as a cut, 579 00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:10,879 Speaker 1: not a scratch. Mansfield said it could have happened at 580 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:15,680 Speaker 1: any occasion. On Hannah's mental health, Mansfield said the death 581 00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:19,080 Speaker 1: of her mother, fears of Polkinghorn seeing someone else, the 582 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:24,359 Speaker 1: combination of medication and alcohol, and her perfectionist attitude can 583 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:29,160 Speaker 1: contribute to poor mental health or depression. Mansfield said there's 584 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 1: no evidence she was dragged after her death, or that 585 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:35,920 Speaker 1: there was a fight between the two that left her 586 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:37,160 Speaker 1: with no injuries. 587 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:42,399 Speaker 2: It's implausible tissitis that could happen, that her life could 588 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:46,319 Speaker 2: be taken by way of a homicidal strangulation, and there 589 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:50,680 Speaker 2: be no injury and or a sign anywhere in that 590 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:57,680 Speaker 2: bedroom consistent with that. No urine, no blood, no DNA nothing, 591 00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,760 Speaker 2: no damage, no scrape, no dragging, nothing. 592 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:05,360 Speaker 1: The other suggestion put to the jury by the Crown 593 00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,640 Speaker 1: is that Polkinghorn did it by stealth, that he managed 594 00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,799 Speaker 1: to achieve his wife's death without leaving an injury, and 595 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,439 Speaker 1: he was able to bring her downstairs to mock up 596 00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:19,040 Speaker 1: the hanging. Mansfield said this suggestion made no sense as 597 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:23,720 Speaker 1: there was no premeditation, no planning, no evidence he planned 598 00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:26,920 Speaker 1: to kill his wife. He alleges this is some of 599 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:31,879 Speaker 1: the most gravest nonsense New Zealand courts had heard for 600 00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:37,160 Speaker 1: a long time. Continuing on mental health, Mansfield addressed to 601 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:41,520 Speaker 1: the evidence of Hannah's sister Tracy. Mansfield said he fully 602 00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:45,600 Speaker 1: accepts anxiety and depression can come and go, but said 603 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,840 Speaker 1: it's important not to lose sight of the evidence about 604 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,800 Speaker 1: Hannah's mental health issues. He reminded the jury of evidence 605 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:56,440 Speaker 1: from Hannah's sister, Tracy Hannah, who claimed Hannah told her 606 00:43:56,640 --> 00:43:59,920 Speaker 1: she'd tried to kill herself back in nineteen ninety two, 607 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:04,280 Speaker 1: who Mansfield said that the suggestion Tracy has lied about. 608 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:06,000 Speaker 1: This is unfortunate. 609 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:08,920 Speaker 2: She was upfront and told you what she knew in 610 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:11,520 Speaker 2: the extent of it, and she was text about what 611 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:14,560 Speaker 2: she did or didn't do back then when she was 612 00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:18,759 Speaker 2: a young person herself, and she needed to respond to 613 00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:25,280 Speaker 2: that as be she could, and entirely emotional circumstances. Anyway, 614 00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:28,759 Speaker 2: I obviously endorsed that evidence as reliable was given to 615 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:32,239 Speaker 2: the police. It was consistently given to you, and it 616 00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:35,400 Speaker 2: wasn't embellished in any way that you might expect it 617 00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:38,120 Speaker 2: could have been if it was aimed at assisting one 618 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:39,200 Speaker 2: party over the other. 619 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:43,360 Speaker 1: Mansfield said that Hannah had tensions with her brother Bruce 620 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:47,200 Speaker 1: over dealings with their family farm. He said that in 621 00:44:47,239 --> 00:44:50,840 Speaker 1: Hannah's own words in the Longlands recording, she spoke about 622 00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:55,880 Speaker 1: not being physically battered, though perhaps emotionally so, and that 623 00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:59,280 Speaker 1: she loved Polkinghorn and didn't want to leave him, despite 624 00:44:59,360 --> 00:45:03,320 Speaker 1: knowing other men who fancied her. Mansfield said no one 625 00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:06,880 Speaker 1: was forcing her to participate in the sexual activity with 626 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,440 Speaker 1: sex workers, and when she wanted to stop, she did. 627 00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:15,720 Speaker 1: Hannah's own emails detail how Polkinghorn was being supportive during 628 00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:20,600 Speaker 1: her work stresses. Other witnesses testified about noticing Hannah's stress. 629 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:24,839 Speaker 1: In early twenty twenty one, Hannah's boss approached her over 630 00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:29,080 Speaker 1: her habit of sending emails early in the morning. In closing, 631 00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:33,400 Speaker 1: Mansfield said, there cannot be a suggestion that Hannah was 632 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:37,640 Speaker 1: trapped from a relationship that she couldn't exit. If Polkinghorn 633 00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:40,399 Speaker 1: didn't realize how good he had it, that's a matter 634 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:43,600 Speaker 1: for the couple. And there's a difference between being selfish 635 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:48,680 Speaker 1: or self focused and taking someone's life emotions aside. All 636 00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:55,000 Speaker 1: the evidence clearly establishes that Pauline died by suicide. Mansfield said, 637 00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:55,680 Speaker 1: there is. 638 00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:59,920 Speaker 2: No justice for Pauline if you ignore her vulnerabilities and 639 00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:04,920 Speaker 2: do not respect the decision she took. That is not respect, 640 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:09,480 Speaker 2: That is not understanding, and that is not following your oath. 641 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:15,440 Speaker 2: It is just being emotional vigilantes. We all need to 642 00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:21,160 Speaker 2: expect more. The decision you make must be on the evidence, 643 00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:25,799 Speaker 2: that is the oath that you swore. It can't be 644 00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:29,799 Speaker 2: based on emotion, and it can't be based on a 645 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:33,320 Speaker 2: foundless theory that he wanted her out of his life 646 00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:36,120 Speaker 2: and he was prepared to kill her, for which there 647 00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:42,640 Speaker 2: is no forensic evidence to support. Hold him morally to 648 00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:46,120 Speaker 2: account if need be, as he has been in this 649 00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:50,440 Speaker 2: very public way. But you cannot convict a man of 650 00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,920 Speaker 2: murder when they did not do it out of anger 651 00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:58,239 Speaker 2: or sympathy, let alone the man poorly loved with all 652 00:46:58,239 --> 00:46:58,719 Speaker 2: her heart. 653 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:01,360 Speaker 3: Is that the way she should be remembered. 654 00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:04,719 Speaker 2: If you believe in the need for evidence of a 655 00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:09,200 Speaker 2: crime before you convict any man, the crown obligation to 656 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:13,680 Speaker 2: prove a charge here at deliberate killing to the required standard, 657 00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:17,560 Speaker 2: and you believe in honoring your oath, you already know 658 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:21,520 Speaker 2: the correct verdict in this case, and it's not necessary 659 00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:28,280 Speaker 2: for me to tell you. 660 00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:31,920 Speaker 1: You can listen to episodes of Accused the Polkinghorn Trial 661 00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:35,279 Speaker 1: through the Front Page podcast feed or find it on 662 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:39,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. This series is 663 00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:44,000 Speaker 1: presented and produced by me Chelsea Daniels, with producer Ethan 664 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:48,080 Speaker 1: Siles and sound engineer Patti Fox. Additional reporting from The 665 00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:52,239 Speaker 1: Heralds Craig Capatan, George Block, and Katie Harris. And for 666 00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:55,520 Speaker 1: more coverage of the Polkinghorn Trial, head to Ends at 667 00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:57,600 Speaker 1: Harold dot Co dot enz