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Speaker 1: Kiyota. I'm Chelsea Daniels and from the team behind the

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Speaker 1: front page the New Zealand Herald's daily news podcast, This

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Speaker 1: is Accused the Polkinghorn Trial. Over the next six weeks,

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Speaker 1: in conjunction with our usual daily episodes, will be bringing

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Speaker 1: you regular coverage as one of the most high profile

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Speaker 1: trials of the year makes its way through the High

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Speaker 1: Court at Auckland. A warning, this podcast contains disturbing content.

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Speaker 1: How did Pauline Hannah die? That's the question for the jury,

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Speaker 1: who for weeks will consider evidence and ultimately decide was

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Speaker 1: it murder or suicide. It's also a question put to

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Speaker 1: two different pathologists tasked with exploring how the sixty three

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Speaker 1: year old died in her Remuera home in April twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one. Philip Polkinghorn is accused of murdering his wife,

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Speaker 1: but maintains she took her own life. We also hear

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Speaker 1: from a longtime friend of Pauline and about an incident

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Speaker 1: that worried her and her husband, and we get the

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Speaker 1: first glimpse into Philip's work life. What were the issues

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Speaker 1: at Auckland I We've heard so much about. On day twelve,

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Speaker 1: the Crown called forensic pathologist doctor Keelak Kesher of Auckland

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Speaker 1: City Hospital. He conducted the autopsy of Pauline Hannah's body

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Speaker 1: and he's done around four thousand of them over ten years.

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Speaker 1: He did Hannah's post mortem on April sixth, twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 1: the day after she was reported dead.

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Speaker 2: There were particular which are small pinpoint hemorrhages on the face,

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Speaker 2: the aural and the mouth, the contractarverrahs of the eyes.

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Speaker 2: There was blood emerging from the right ear. There was

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Speaker 2: an abrasion on her nose on the bridge of the nose, sorry,

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Speaker 2: one on the left side of the nose, another abrasion

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Speaker 2: on the left side of the back. There was a

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Speaker 2: cluster of bruising on the back of the right arm.

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Speaker 1: These small pinpoint hemorrhages or contusions are commonly seen when

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Speaker 1: there's an obstruction to the neck veins. On the injuries

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Speaker 1: to her nose, he said, any number of things could

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Speaker 1: have happened. She could have fallen or been struck. You

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Speaker 1: can never know.

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Speaker 2: There was no evidence of any healing or like a

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Speaker 2: scab formation on the injury, so it was quite recent.

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Speaker 3: Beyond quite recent. Can you be more particular on timing.

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Speaker 4: No, all I can say is at or around time

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Speaker 4: and death.

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Speaker 1: Red discoloration on her back was different to a scrape

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Speaker 1: and indicated lividity when the blood begins to pull in

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Speaker 1: a part of the body after death.

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Speaker 2: So if you die and line your back, the blood

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Speaker 2: will pull to the towards your back.

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Speaker 3: And so that's the reddening we can see here. Yes,

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Speaker 3: how quickly will it occur or repair?

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Speaker 2: It'd say they If you read the textbook, they say

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Speaker 2: about thirty minutes to three hours it starts to appear,

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Speaker 2: and then there's maximum around about twelve hours ten ten hours, So.

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Speaker 5: Any time between that period, depending how you're placed post there,

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Speaker 5: the levedity may present in that area or certain areas. Yes,

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Speaker 5: associated with how you've been positioned, how their bodies positioned.

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Speaker 4: Yes.

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Speaker 1: On the back of a right arm, there were several

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Speaker 1: round purple bruises in a.

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Speaker 2: Cluster vindicative of anything or are they say again mechanism

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Speaker 2: injury is a blunt impact. We see them quite often

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Speaker 2: if someone is held and those are the things marks

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Speaker 2: on the back of the arm.

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Speaker 5: Right So you're not saying that are at your finglets,

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Speaker 5: but that's they could.

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Speaker 4: Be absolutely correct.

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Speaker 3: You can't look at that and say, therefore summon's being held.

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Speaker 4: No, I can't say that for sure.

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Speaker 1: The bruises on the arms had no signs of yellow

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Speaker 1: wing that would indicate that they were older bruises, he said.

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Speaker 1: Onto the belt impression on her neck, Kesha said he

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Speaker 1: had seen it himself at the scene, a criss cross

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Speaker 1: pattern on the right side. An officer there alerted him

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Speaker 1: to a belt found. He said that looked identical with these.

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Speaker 3: Taken at the post mortem.

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Speaker 2: Yes, this is taken out of the post mortem roughly

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Speaker 2: twenty hours later, and as you can see, there is

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Speaker 2: no markings left right.

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Speaker 5: So the markings have gone away to some greater or

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Speaker 5: lesser extent. Yes, what does that suggest to you? Was

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Speaker 5: there any bruising underneath the skin?

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Speaker 4: No, there was no bruising under the skin or the

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Speaker 4: muscles of the neck.

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Speaker 3: And what does that sug you see?

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Speaker 2: You in the terms care thought that there was an object,

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Speaker 2: most likely the belt on the neck.

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Speaker 4: After death.

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Speaker 1: The shape of the marks on her neck was also

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Speaker 1: more consistent with a ligature applied from directly behind her,

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Speaker 1: rather than one secured to a point above, like the

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Speaker 1: balustrade where the orange rope was tied. That being said,

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Speaker 1: his final finding was that she died via neck compression,

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Speaker 1: a broad finding that encompasses manual or ligature strangulations, hangings,

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Speaker 1: and auto erotic asphyxiation. Normally, though Kesha said, when people

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Speaker 1: are strangled there'd be more injuries.

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Speaker 2: But normally with people that have that are strangled, they

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Speaker 2: have a lot more injuries, not just to the neck

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Speaker 2: and the face, but also the arms, hands, even the legs.

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Speaker 5: We do have some injuries to the arm in this case. Yes,

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Speaker 5: so what are you saying they're not enough to provide.

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Speaker 2: You I would normally see a lot more than what

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Speaker 2: I saw necessarily, so it's not necessary if she subdued

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Speaker 2: some other way.

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Speaker 1: On cross examination, Ron Mansfield asked about the belt mark.

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Speaker 1: He quickly had kesher can see the belt could have

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Speaker 1: been used in her death then removed shortly after she died,

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Speaker 1: and if it had.

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Speaker 6: Been removed one to two perhaps longer hours after her death,

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Speaker 6: then that might also explain. Might it not why it

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Speaker 6: was seen on the fifth but it wasn't seen on

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Speaker 6: the six.

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Speaker 4: It's possible, but I'd say it's less than two hours.

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Speaker 6: Well, we can agree the time period might be one.

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Speaker 4: To two hours couldn't we It's possible yet.

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Speaker 3: Well, both possibilities.

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Speaker 6: Are equal, aren't they.

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Speaker 4: Yes, So the.

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Speaker 6: Absence of the belt impression by the time you do

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Speaker 6: the autopsy on the sixth simply means one of two things.

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Speaker 6: Perhaps it was placed on her neck after.

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Speaker 4: Her death, yes, Or.

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Speaker 3: She was discovered dead and.

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Speaker 6: It was removed one to two hours following her death. Yes,

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Speaker 6: And you can't tell us, can you which one of

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Speaker 6: those is more likely than the other.

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Speaker 4: That's correct, They can't.

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Speaker 1: Mansfield pointed out that the talk of the belt impression

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Speaker 1: was not included in his report.

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Speaker 4: Why not include it, I've never included in the past.

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Speaker 6: Well on how many occasions have you undertaken an autopsy

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Speaker 6: having seen it the scene, an impression or literature mark,

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Speaker 6: and then.

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Speaker 4: The next day not seen it.

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Speaker 6: Never So, given that, and if you thought it was significant,

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Speaker 6: why would you not report on it within your autopsy report?

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Speaker 4: I just didn't report it.

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Speaker 7: But nonetheless, doctor, even if you thought then that this

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Speaker 7: might be significant, it doesn't appear to have had any

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Speaker 7: bearing whatsoever on your ultimate conclusion in your report.

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Speaker 2: The reason I didn't report it is I thought it'd

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Speaker 2: be there during the post mortem, So first time I've

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Speaker 2: ever had one disappear.

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Speaker 6: Well, when it didn't, when it didn't appear on post mortem.

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Speaker 6: And although you've told us that there are two explanations

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Speaker 6: for this, it would not be difficult to report on

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Speaker 6: it within your report, would it.

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Speaker 4: It's correct, but you chose not to. That's correct because

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Speaker 4: it had no.

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Speaker 6: Significance if, in fact was noted, did it?

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Speaker 4: It's incorrect?

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Speaker 6: Well does it impact on your ultimate conclusion within your report?

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Speaker 4: No? Well, why does it today, doctor, I don't understand.

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Speaker 6: Well, why does it today impact on what you can

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Speaker 6: tell us?

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Speaker 4: Why is it today?

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Speaker 6: For the first time, you're telling us that the position

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Speaker 6: of the belt impression might have some significance.

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Speaker 2: I've told the police from day one, Well.

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Speaker 6: Where is it within your report?

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Speaker 4: I didn't put on my report?

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Speaker 1: Okay, As you conceded, the direction of the belt impression

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Speaker 1: didn't have an impact on his overall conclusion of neck

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Speaker 1: compression as the cause of death, which did not rule

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Speaker 1: out the possibility of suicide by hanging. Mansfield brings up

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Speaker 1: the lack of injuries one might see in someone who's

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Speaker 1: been manually strangled.

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Speaker 4: So even if.

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Speaker 6: And there's an absence of any evidence on this, but

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Speaker 6: even if a choker hold was applied, then there's just

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Speaker 6: no injury that you observed on missus Polkinghorn, or any

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Speaker 6: injury reported to you on doctor Polkinghorn. There might be

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Speaker 6: consistent with any form of resistance by missus Polkinghorn.

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Speaker 4: Correct, that's correct.

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Speaker 1: He goes through her injuries. The pinpoint hemorrhages, for example,

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Speaker 1: could be a result of suicide by hanging. Bruises on

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Speaker 1: her right arm, which he earlier said were consistent with

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Speaker 1: being grabbed, were difficult to age and could have been

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Speaker 1: caused Kesher agreed by Hannah being steadied by a personal

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Speaker 1: trainer at the gym. The trial heard earlier she'd been

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Speaker 1: at a personal training session in the days before her death.

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Speaker 1: Mansfield asked about the abrasion on her nose.

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Speaker 6: Are you able to tell us whether they occurred before

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Speaker 6: her death or whether they could have occurred shortly.

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Speaker 4: After her death at or around time of death.

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Speaker 6: So, for example, if she was moved one to two

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Speaker 6: hours after her death and her knees came into contact

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Speaker 6: with a surface, either the floor, a wall, or a step,

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Speaker 6: then that might explain such abrasions. No help me with that.

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Speaker 2: And then because there's a hemorrhage under the ambrasion on

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Speaker 2: the nose, so she was alive when it occurred.

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Speaker 1: Mansfield asked the pathologist on the particulars of full suspension

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Speaker 1: versus partial suspension hangings. Both the judge and lawyers have

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Speaker 1: urged extreme caution in reporting these details, and we've chosen

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Speaker 1: to leave out much of what was said about the

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Speaker 1: particulars of the method. Essentially, what we know is that

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Speaker 1: a full suspension is when someone's feet are off the floor.

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Speaker 1: A partial one could be when someone's sitting or slumping.

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Speaker 1: He goes on to clarify there aren't any indications that

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Speaker 1: Pauline was fighting back, but.

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Speaker 4: Also just in the fight.

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Speaker 6: While the assailant is applied the required pressure through their

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Speaker 6: hands to their neck, not only might we see variable

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Speaker 6: bruises with shape and intensity to their neck on the outside,

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Speaker 6: we are also likely to see bruises to the rest

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Speaker 6: of their body correct yes, reflecting the fact that they're

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Speaker 6: held down or pinned down, yes, or that they're punched

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Speaker 6: or kicked.

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Speaker 4: That's correct.

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Speaker 1: So we don't see bruises on her neck. No scratches

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Speaker 1: and other injuries on her are minor. Kesha agreed. You

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Speaker 1: can tell the difference. If an injury is caused due

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Speaker 1: to being restrained, you'd see bruises around the rest if

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Speaker 1: they're being held down. For instance, the finger type bruising

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Speaker 1: on her arms was light, they'd be more intense. Kesha

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Speaker 1: said they spoke more about lividity. This can happen as

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Speaker 1: soon as thirty minutes after death. Mansfield mentions the defense

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Speaker 1: pathologists view that areas of Hannah's body suggest she was

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Speaker 1: sitting when she died.

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Speaker 6: That that postward and lividity has moved when she's been

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Speaker 6: taken off the chair and laid on the ground.

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Speaker 3: Yes, because that's what occurs. Correct. Yes, so whilst post.

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Speaker 6: Wartem lividity might be obvious if she had remained on

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Speaker 6: the chair, given that she was moved and laid down

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Speaker 6: on the ground, the post wartem lividity has moved consistent

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Speaker 6: with lying flat on the ground.

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Speaker 2: Yes, so after about ten hours, it becomes fixed. Before

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Speaker 2: ten hours, no matter if you move the body delibery,

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Speaker 2: it can change.

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Speaker 1: Brian Dickey then had a chance to clarify a few things.

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Speaker 1: When we say Hannah's injuries weren't indicative of a violent assault,

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Speaker 1: what does that mean that.

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Speaker 2: None of them were path and your monarka of or

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Speaker 2: Pathan monarka of an assault?

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Speaker 4: What does that mean that none of the.

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Speaker 2: Injuries that I found or saw are consistent with a assault?

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Speaker 3: Could they have been caused by the soul? Yes?

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Speaker 5: So, I think the words my learned friend use with

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Speaker 5: you were in with the indicative of an assault, and

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Speaker 5: I think you've indicated they're not indicative injuries.

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Speaker 4: That's correct.

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Speaker 5: Does that exclude them from having occurred in an assault?

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Speaker 4: No? They could have occurred during an assault.

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Speaker 1: What about a choke hold? Can only someone train to

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Speaker 1: do one do it?

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Speaker 5: You've been asked about the chokehold variously and at different

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Speaker 5: times referred to police officers and the sas officers for reasons.

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Speaker 3: I mean, a friend knows. Do you need to be

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Speaker 3: expert to apply a choke hold?

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Speaker 4: I'm not an expert. I read a lot. I think

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Speaker 4: I could apply it.

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Speaker 1: The abrasion on her back isn't the usual scrape marks

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Speaker 1: you'd see if a body had been dragged, And.

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Speaker 5: If the body's carried rather than dragged, would you expect

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Speaker 5: to see any marks from that?

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Speaker 8: No?

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Speaker 5: If the body was inside of something else, something soft,

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Speaker 5: like a blanket or something, you expect to see marks

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Speaker 5: to the body if it.

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Speaker 4: Was carried or dragged.

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Speaker 1: No, and then onto choke holds.

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Speaker 5: Gus about the likelihood of injuries in a violence attack

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Speaker 5: causing a homicide attacker.

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Speaker 4: Have you considered it if it was by surprise, Yes?

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Speaker 5: What about if it was by surprise, there'd be less

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Speaker 5: injuries if a choke hold was applied.

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Speaker 1: Next was doctor Martin Sage. He's a forensic pathologist as well.

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Speaker 1: He started doing homicide cases in nineteen eighty nine. He's

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Speaker 1: undertaken more than ten thousand autopsies. I stopped counting a

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Speaker 1: couple of years ago. He said he couldn't determine one

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Speaker 1: way or another whether the beltmark on her neck happened

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Speaker 1: before or after death. He spoke of something called a

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Speaker 1: corrotid hold, which is different to a choke hold.

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Speaker 9: And I've been listening here this morning, and I want

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Speaker 9: to make very clear the distinction between a choker hold

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Speaker 9: and a carotid hold. So when people talk about a

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Speaker 9: choker hold, they mean you're using your hands on the

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Speaker 9: neck like that, whereas.

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Speaker 4: A carotid hold is a very specific.

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Speaker 9: Martial arts move that you have the front of somebody's

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Speaker 9: neck and the crock of your elbow, and as you

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Speaker 9: move this towards your shoulder, you squeeze both sides of

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Speaker 9: the neck and that cuts off both the venus and

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Speaker 9: the arterial drainage and people go unconscious very quickly.

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Speaker 4: Indeed, I've seen this done.

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Speaker 1: Sage said, you can kill someone without causing injuries.

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Speaker 4: From a diagnostic point of view.

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Speaker 9: As a forensic pathologist, it's really nice if they're there,

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Speaker 9: and it's terribly inconvenient if they're not, But they're absence

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Speaker 9: doesn't prove that it didn't happen.

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Speaker 1: Essentially, net compressions are always a problem for pathologists because

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Speaker 1: the extent of the injuries very considerably.

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Speaker 5: I think you will have heard questioning about injuries not

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Speaker 5: present on her is does that really establish anything to

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Speaker 5: your mind that she doesn't have certain.

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Speaker 3: Types of injuries.

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Speaker 9: We're not alone as a part of medicine in the

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Speaker 9: fact that positive findings are very useful, but negative findings

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Speaker 9: don't exclude things.

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Speaker 1: So to summarize, the jury spent Day twelve listening to

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Speaker 1: evidence from those two New Zealand pathologists who both came

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Speaker 1: upon the agreed conclusion Pauline Hannah died from a net compression.

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Speaker 1: For coverage of other news events in New Zealand, from

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Speaker 1: foreign interference on our shores to new sanctions for beneficiaries.

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Speaker 1: Listen to the front page The Herald's daily news podcast

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Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Day thirteen began with testimony

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Speaker 1: from Pauline Hannah's friend Alison Ring. She requested not to

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Speaker 1: be filmed or recorded, but you'll remember we can report

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Speaker 1: what she said. Ring met Hannah through Polkinghorn. Her husband's

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Speaker 1: not phomologists too. That'd meet for dinner when on walking holidays.

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Speaker 1: They had a canal barge holiday in France. She spoke

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Speaker 1: to Hannah about her mother's death. She said she was coping.

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Speaker 1: Ring said her friend's last words to her were, Polk

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Speaker 1: has been trying his best over the last few weeks.

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Speaker 1: She remembered he was agitated about what was happening at

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Speaker 1: auckland I, and Hannah was worried about his mental health.

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Speaker 1: Hannah had told Ring that polking Horn was argumentative, condescending

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Speaker 1: and putting her down. She also confided in her friend

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Speaker 1: Polk's having an affair. Hannah had apparently broken into his

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Speaker 1: computer saw obscene photography. She said, I don't care how

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Speaker 1: many prostitutes he fucks in Sydney, but he's not going

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Speaker 1: to have anybody in my space. She remembers her friend

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Speaker 1: saying Hannah said she was going to see a lawyer

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Speaker 1: and sought out her will and finances. If he doesn't

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Speaker 1: give her up, I'm leaving him, she said. Ring said

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Speaker 1: polking Horn told her after Hannah's death, I've let her down.

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Speaker 1: I wish I was dead and I wish I was

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Speaker 1: with her. Ring supported him. After the death. She was

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Speaker 1: asked by Dicky if that changed. She said, yes, it

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Speaker 1: did slightly, she said. After the news had broke that

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Speaker 1: meth was found in the Remuera home, Polkinghorn claimed it

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Speaker 1: was Pauline's. Ring also said she was devastated to learn

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Speaker 1: he'd been in Mount Cook with escort Madison Ashton only

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Speaker 1: weeks after his wife's death. The biggest upset, said Ring,

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Speaker 1: was when Polkinghorn came around one evening with a little

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Speaker 1: bit of paper and claimed she did leave a suicide note.

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Speaker 1: Ring said it read dear p I Love you forever

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Speaker 1: from p all words to that effect. Polkinghorn said it

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Speaker 1: was in the bedding. Ring remembers being very distressed about this.

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Speaker 1: It didn't sit well with her. The note incident happened

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Speaker 1: after he was charged with murder. In his cross examination,

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Speaker 1: Ron Mansfield asked about the no note the conversation took

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Speaker 1: place after he was charged. She maintained she told police

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Speaker 1: of it well after she made her initial statement. Mansfield

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Speaker 1: suggested she was mistaken about the purpose of why Polkinghorn

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Speaker 1: showed her the note. She reiterates the conversation about Hannah's

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Speaker 1: suspicions of another woman. The topic wasn't raised again because

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Speaker 1: she hadn't left him. She assumed that worked it out.

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Speaker 1: She also knew of Polkinghorn's frustrations at Auckland Eye and

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Speaker 1: that he was going to try and get onto the board.

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Speaker 1: Victoria Pheasant Riordan took to the stand. She goes by Pheasant.

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Speaker 1: Her and her husband John live in the Hawk's Bay.

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Speaker 1: She met Hannah when she was seventeen years old. They

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Speaker 1: ended up flooding together in Candala in about nineteen seventy

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Speaker 1: eight for six or seven months. They were doing a

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Speaker 1: secretarial course at the Wellington Polytech. Pauline was a bridesmaid

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Speaker 1: at her wedding in nineteen eighty four. Pheasant would be

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Speaker 1: matron of honor at Pauline and Philip's wedding and Havelock North.

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Speaker 1: Pauline was the Randan's son's godmother. Pheasant says Philip was

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Speaker 1: very controlling from the get go. She'd always make excuses

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Speaker 1: for him. She said. She told the court of a

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Speaker 1: time Pauline visited in twenty twenty. They had dinner, they

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Speaker 1: got onto the subject of her marriage.

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Speaker 10: She became quite agitated, and she described to us that

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Speaker 10: Philip had done this to her.

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Speaker 3: It were just kept that in our records.

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Speaker 8: So you've got your hands across one another up around.

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Speaker 10: Union yes, with the thuns on either side of the windpipe,

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Speaker 10: and that he had done that to her and told

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Speaker 10: her that he could do that anytime. So she took

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Speaker 10: that as a threat, a real threat.

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Speaker 11: That he might do that to her.

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Speaker 1: Pheasant and her husband, John immediately said she needed to

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Speaker 1: leave him. They knew there were emotional problems, financial issues,

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Speaker 1: but this was the first time she told them of

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Speaker 1: anything physical happening. She got emotional on the stand, remembering

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Speaker 1: the conversation with her.

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Speaker 11: Friend that that it would be okay.

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Speaker 4: I think that's what she said. I'm sorry.

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Speaker 10: We were really quite stressed and wanted her to leave,

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Speaker 10: but at that point.

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Speaker 4: She kind of.

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Speaker 1: Pheasant text Pauline the next day she said to her

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Speaker 1: friend she wished she could help take her pain away.

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Speaker 1: You are so strong, it read, and we are here

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Speaker 1: for you if you run out of that strong.

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Speaker 8: See there's sentence where she says, it was such a

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Speaker 8: treat to spend time with you and Connor. Yes, and

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Speaker 8: underneath that, don't worry about me. I will be fine,

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Speaker 8: as you say, I am strong.

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Speaker 4: Yes.

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Speaker 8: Is it the sort of thing you were referring to before,

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Speaker 8: the sort of don't worry type yes suggestion.

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Speaker 4: Yes.

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Speaker 1: She saw Pauline on more occasions in twenty twenty when

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Speaker 1: she went down to visit her ailing mother Fae. Pheasant

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Speaker 1: saw her at Fay's funeral in February twenty twenty one

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Speaker 1: and said her friend seemed in control, but sad. She

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Speaker 1: stayed with the couple in Auckland once. She can't remember

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Speaker 1: when it was.

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Speaker 10: Yeah, she's really animated and excited. And then Philip came home.

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Speaker 8: When Philip came home, and what what do you mean

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Speaker 8: by that?

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Speaker 4: Well, the whole mood changed.

401
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Speaker 1: Crown Solicitor Alicia McClintock asked about whether she knew Pauline

402
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Speaker 1: took antidepressants.

403
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Speaker 8: We've heard evidence in this trial that Pauline took antidepressants.

404
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,000
Speaker 4: Is that something you were aware of? Oh yeah, I

405
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Speaker 4: mean who doesn't.

406
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Speaker 10: Sorry, it was not something that was of concern. It

407
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Speaker 10: was just a thing. It's like I'm taking my heart pills.

408
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:39,479
Speaker 10: I mean it was. Yes, Yes, we were aware that

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Speaker 10: she was taking antidepressants.

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Speaker 1: Pauline had told her about Philip's insatiable desire to have sex,

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Speaker 1: but that was about the extent of it. On cross examination,

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Speaker 1: Ron Mansfield asked Pheasant about her and Pauline's early days.

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Speaker 6: I can see by the information that you provide the

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00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:03,560
Speaker 6: police that at that time you were both quite heavy drinkers.

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Speaker 4: By the looks of it, I.

416
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Speaker 10: Think we lived on potato soup and whiskey. But I mean,

417
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,879
Speaker 10: obviously we were studying, so it wasn't it wasn't a

418
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:15,040
Speaker 10: big It wasn't a big thing.

419
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 4: It wasn't a get drunk thing. It was just a

420
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Speaker 4: bit of a joke, right.

421
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 1: She spoke about being concerned about Pauline's drinking at one

422
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,640
Speaker 1: stage and telling her so, but she thought she'd cut back.

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00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 1: He asked whether Pauline had spoken to her about being

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00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 1: stressed at work, Pheasant can't recall, but she said Pauline

425
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:37,120
Speaker 1: enjoyed what she was doing. They spoke about twenty nineteen

426
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:41,960
Speaker 1: being a terrible year. She agreed Polkinghorn's issues at auckland

427
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,119
Speaker 1: I and the financial trouble was it caused added to

428
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Speaker 1: it being a bad year. At the dinner where Pauline

429
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 1: confided in her friends, Philip had taken to her neck

430
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Speaker 1: with his hands. Pheasant admits she doesn't remember the exact

431
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,880
Speaker 1: words she used, but took it to mean he could

432
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 1: do it at any time. Pheasant and Mansfield ran through

433
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 1: a series of text messages between the pair, lots of exes,

434
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 1: hearts and flower emojis, and a mention of a poem,

435
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,520
Speaker 1: one that would later be read out at Hannah's funeral.

436
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 1: Dean Corbett, an ophthalmologist, took to the stand. He's worked

437
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,160
Speaker 1: at Auckland Eyre since two thousand and worked with Polkinghorn

438
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Speaker 1: he met him in nineteen ninety one. He gave the

439
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 1: court a glimpse into the inner workings of the practice.

440
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,880
Speaker 1: All members are equal shareholders. There are now eighteen of them,

441
00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,680
Speaker 1: and they buy shares into the practice that is led

442
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,040
Speaker 1: by a board of directors. Around two thousand and nine,

443
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,320
Speaker 1: it moved to being an appointed, smaller board with some

444
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,800
Speaker 1: independent directors. Positions are voted on at the AGM and

445
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 1: terms of about two or three years. People can be

446
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 1: re elected for a maximum of three terms. This is

447
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,800
Speaker 1: important because the trials already heard on several occasions Polkinghorn

448
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,000
Speaker 1: was having troubles at auckland I and he was hoping

449
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:10,359
Speaker 1: to get onto the board. This is the first testimony, though,

450
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,600
Speaker 1: that focuses on those issues. Corbett said Polkinghorn had a

451
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 1: short fuse and an intolerance to things going wrong in

452
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,280
Speaker 1: the operating theater. He would get very upset if there

453
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,600
Speaker 1: would be something going wrong about the theater staff's performance,

454
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 1: he said, but it was never vindictive and always in

455
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 1: the patient's best interest, he said. Corbett said that when

456
00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,560
Speaker 1: he was chairman about twenty eighteen twenty nineteen, there were

457
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: some complaints from theater staff about Polkinghorn's aggressiveness to them personally.

458
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,360
Speaker 1: Auckland I told Polkinghorn to improve his conduct and approach

459
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 1: to theater staff while operating, and Corbett told police the

460
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,040
Speaker 1: surgeon had made an effort to change. In the year

461
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,199
Speaker 1: before Hannah's death, he was more emotional and seemed like

462
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,159
Speaker 1: a different person. A surprise exit of two doctors around

463
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,159
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen caused some stress. There was a rewriting of

464
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: the shareholder agreement, which was interpreted in different ways by

465
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,000
Speaker 1: those leaving and those who remained, and a disagreement ensued.

466
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 1: Corbett said Polkinghorn was very concerned about getting the same

467
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: exit value as those two other doctors. After Hannah died,

468
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 1: there was a shareholder meeting that Polkinghorn wasn't at. It

469
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: was raised he'd told another doctor he'd been using meth

470
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 1: and they reported it to the Medical Council. On cross examination,

471
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 1: Ron Mansfield asked about Polkinghorn's work as a vitrio retinal specialist,

472
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,640
Speaker 1: which focuses on the rear of the eye and as

473
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,160
Speaker 1: often the last chance saloon before someone goes blind. He

474
00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 1: agreed Polkinghorn had an excellent reputation within this profession. He

475
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,760
Speaker 1: was internationally respected for his work. He'd invested a considerable

476
00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 1: amount of money into Auckland Eye and when he retired

477
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 1: after Hannah's death, it was like an end of an era.

478
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 1: Mansfield asked about Polkinghorn being stressed when the two other

479
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:04,560
Speaker 1: doctors left in difficult circumstances, in twenty nineteen because their

480
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 1: two payouts meant the practice was not so well placed

481
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,920
Speaker 1: to pay him out upon his proposed retirement. Corbett agreed

482
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:16,480
Speaker 1: their departure created huge issues and endangered the company, requiring

483
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,280
Speaker 1: legal advice. Corbett said the practice was one hundred percent

484
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 1: behind Philip and trying to engineer the best possible retirement

485
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: for him. Mansfield asked if Polkinghorn was ultimately offered four

486
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,680
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand dollars upon retirement. Corbett isn't sure,

487
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,360
Speaker 1: but he agreed the other specialists received more like six

488
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,960
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He agreed Polkinghorn might have

489
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,520
Speaker 1: found it hard to take on a personal and professional level.

490
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:50,720
Speaker 1: The trial continues tomorrow. You can listen to episodes of

491
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,520
Speaker 1: Accused the Polkinghorn Trial through the front Page podcast feed

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00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 1: or find it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

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00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,560
Speaker 1: This series is present and produced by me Chelsea Daniels,

494
00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: with producer Ethan Siles and sound engineer Patty Fox. Additional

495
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 1: reporting from the Heralds Craig Capatan and George Block and

496
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,120
Speaker 1: for more coverage of the Polkinghorn trial, head to Enzidhrold

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00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 1: dot co, dot nz,