Murder or suicide? Jurors to decide in Philip Polkinghorne case

Monday, 29 July 2024

The Crown says Philip Polkinghorne had a meth habit, was spending thousands on sex workers and was unhappy in his marriage when he murdered his wife.

His lawyers say the couple were in an “open” relationship and her death was a tragic suicide.

The trial is due to hear from 62 witnesses and has been set down for at least six weeks.

Warning: The details of this case may upset some readers.

Doctor Philip Polkinghorne was a successful eye doctor with a four bedroom home in Remuera and a “quite good” marriage with Pauline Hanna.

But the Crown says his methamphetamine habit, his sexual affairs and an earlier instance of him being violent towards his wife shows he was living a double life.

The Crown says Polkinghorne murdered Hanna and then went about staging the scene of their idyllic home as a suicide.

Polkinghorne’s defence lawyers say Hanna took her own life. They say she had been struggling with poor mental health, was taking medication for depression and had previously attempted suicide.

Polkinghorne has denied a charge of murder, but pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine and a methamphetamine pipe.

On the first day of his trial at the High Court in Auckland on Monday, the Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock compared Polkinghorne’s life to that of his wife.

She said Polkinghorne was preparing to retire, had a significant meth habit and was spending money on sex workers.

Hanna had an important job, was uncomfortable with her husband having sex outside of their marriage, and was unhappy with their relationship.

The Crown says this was a marriage in steep decline and that Polkinghorne treated his wife with disdain.

McClintock said Polkinghorne was conducting a secret relationship with a sex worker in Australia and making daily sexual demands of Hanna who described him to family as a “sex fiend”.

McClintock said friends of Hanna would tell the court she visited them in January 2021 and told them Polkinghorne had attempted to strangle her with his hands and threatened “he could do it at anytime”.

She said there were explanations for why the murder was carried out by a man who “perhaps to the outside world, he had it all”.

McClintock told jurors Polkinghorne made a 111 call on April 5, 2021.

“My wife’s dead… she’s hung herself,” a breathless Polkinghorne told the emergency operator in the call played to jurors. He could not remember his wife’s age but told the operator Hanna was cold, blue and had no pulse.

McClintock said when police and ambulance staff arrived they found a staged scene with Hanna lying beneath a duvet on the floor in the entranceway.

“The only evidence of Ms Hanna hanging herself at all comes from Mr Polkinghorne, it comes from his account,” she said.

McClintock said an orange nylon rope was tied half-way up the balustrade above and was too long and too loose to provide the required tension.

She said Hanna had unexplained injuries to her face, arm and back.

Polkinghorne was also injured, with a fresh mark on his forehead.

The night before her death, the pair had slept in different rooms at opposite ends on the top level.

McClintock said Hanna’s room was found in disarray - there were scattered pillows, the sheets had been pulled back on the bed and an Ottoman had been tipped on its side.

The toilet in the neighbouring ensuite was unflushed and, as well as the urine in the bowl, it tested positive for methamphetamine.

McClintock said that put Polkinghorne in the room where a struggle appeared to have taken place.

There was more of the class A drug in the bedside cabinets in the master room and amongst male toiletries in a bathroom. In all, 37.7g was found around the house.

And while it was Polkinghorne’s DNA on the plastic containers containing the drug, there was no evidence of Hanna using meth - none in her urine or hair samples taken after her death.

McClintock said Polkinghorne was later interviewed by police.

“Mr Polkinghorne described his relationship with his wife in one of two ways - ‘quite good’ and ‘perfect’. Those descriptions proved to be one of many lies that he told.”

He also told police he had woken that morning and went to make his wife toast and tea.

But McClintock said the toaster had bread in it - not toast - and electricity usage indicates the kettle was never turned on.

Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC said the evidence would show Hanna died by suicide and the Crown had only presented a “carefully crafted” version of one side of the evidence.

He said there was no evidence of a fight, no evidence of meth use on the night and no evidence of a murder.

Mansfield said a police officer became suspicious after spending less than an hour at the address. Detectives then took 16 months to lay the charge of murder.

“You’ll hear evidence that Dr Polkinghorne wasn’t perfect, or perhaps the relationship wasn’t perfect… I don’t know what perfect is, the perfect person, or the perfect relationship and I’m sure you’re much the same,” Mansfield said.

He said the couple had an “open relationship” and there was recreational drug use but that had nothing to do with Hanna’s death.

“Dr Polkinghorne simply went to bed and when he got up in the morning, he discovered his wife in that position, having hanged herself.”

The Crown is due to call 62 witnesses during the trial.

On Tuesday, the jurors are expected to hear from police and paramedics who were first on the scene and spoke to Polkinghorne.

The trial has been set down for at least six weeks.