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Detective found meth in a number of spots at Philip Polkinhorne’s Remuera home

Wednesday, 31 July 2024

In Philip Polkinghorne's trial, first responders testified about the scene of his wife's death, which he claims was a suicide. Police initially found the situation suspicious, noting injuries and inconsistencies.

Warning: The details of this case may be distressing for some readers.

Health boss Pauline Hanna was found dead on April 5, 2021 at the Remuera home she shared with her husband.

After an extensive and lengthy police investigation, her husband, eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne, was charged with murder.

Polkinghorne has pleaded not guilty and the trial under way at the High Court at Auckland.

In the days after police were called to Pauline Hanna’s death at her Remuera home, they began searching the property and found meth inside what they believed to be Philip Polkinghorne’s bedside drawer, and a glass pipe underneath the bed.

Philip Polkinghorne at the High Court in Auckland
Philip Polkinghorne at the High Court in Auckland

Polkinghorne, a 71-year-old eye doctor, has admitted charges of possessing methamphetamine and a pipe to smoke the A-class drug but has denied murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna.

Hanna was found dead in the entranceway to their Remuera home on April 5, Easter Monday, in 2021.

The Crown’s case is that Polkinghorne was living a double life, that he had obsession with sex and meth and was in a covert relationship with an escort in Sydney. It argues Polkinghorne murdered Hanna before staging their home to make it look like suicide.

Polkinghorne’s defence case is that Hanna had a history of mental health issues, was on medication and tragically took her own life.

About an hour after police were called to the Remuera home, they deemed the scene as suspicious after they tested tension on the rope said to have been used by Hanna.

Sergeant Christian Iogha was a Detective Constable back in April 2021 when he was called to the property.

The orange rope found tied to the balustrade inside the Upland Rd address in Remuera.
The orange rope found tied to the balustrade inside the Upland Rd address in Remuera.

He told the High Court at Auckland on Wednesday he was the officer in charge of the scene and looked for a suicide note but didn’t find one.

Iogha said he’d been asked by another Detective Sergeant to analyse the rope, which is usual practice in suspected suicides to make sure there are no suspicious circumstances.

“It looked like there was a lot of excess slack and I didn’t believe it would be able to hold much weight,” Iogha said.

He analysed the knots before then donning a clean pair of gloves and lightly pinching the knots, and with minimum tension he was able to pull it quite easily.

“I didn’t believe it was able to sustain any weight,” Iogha said.

He was assisted by Detective Ilona Walton who took photos of the rope prior and after, but not the whole process.

Iogha told Crown Prosecutor Alysha McClintock said the rope slipped down the balustrade with ease.

Various containers of methamphetamine were found around Philip Polkinghorne
Various containers of methamphetamine were found around Philip Polkinghorne's home in Remuera. (Composite image)

“I informed my supervisor what I had just done and my belief that this rope wouldn’t be able to support any weight,” Iogha said.

It was shortly after the tension checks that the scene was considered suspicious. That decision was made by Iogha and a number of other staff at the scene, he told the court.

At one point, while Iogha and Walton had been assessing the rope, Polkinghorne walked past them and past Hanna who was still lying under a duvet, and he fetched a belt from a wardrobe.

“For me it was just a bit odd he would walk up past the deceased, past us while we were conducting our investigation,” Iogha said.

The bedroom where Pauline Hanna slept the night before she died was found in disarray.
The bedroom where Pauline Hanna slept the night before she died was found in disarray.

Over the following days, Iogha said he searched the house and noticed a brown smudge on the mattress where Hanna had slept on April 4. Forensic testing of the smudge would later show that there was probable blood present.

Iogha went through a number of photos taken from around the house showing small containers of meth found.

A container with meth inside was found in the bedside drawer of what Iogha determined to be Polkinghorne’s side of the bed in the master bedroom.

Under the bed a butane lighter and glass pipe was found, Iogha said.

In a satchel and drawer in the office, more meth was found.

Flanked by defence council, Murder accused Philip Polkinghorne arrives at the High Court.

On Wednesday afternoon, Iogha was questioned at length by Polkinghorne’s lawyer Ron Mansfield KC about whether or not police had consent to search the property.

Iogha said police initially didn’t need consent as they were there under the Coroner’s Act and that it was “a very complex situation”.

“Is it fair to say none of the [Criminal Investigation Branch] staff, despite being aware of the need to approach for consent, no one actually asked Dr Polkinghorne?” Mansfield asked Iogha.

Iogha said he couldn’t recall or answer whether anyone had asked Polkinghorne if police could search the house. Later that evening, at 9.25pm a search warrant was obtained.

Mansfield said it was “practically unprecedented” for police to search the Remuera house for as long as they did, and suggested Iogha didn’t have an open mind right from the point he did the rope tension test.

But the detective said he had kept an open mind, and argued the search took time as the Polkinghorne home was a lot larger than the average New Zealand house.

“We have a duty to the public to make sure we do a thorough investigation,” Iogha said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Detective Ilona Walton said she was tasked with taking photos of items inside the house, including Hanna’s body that was beneath a duvet in the entranceway.

She also inspected the orange rope, dangling from a stair balustrade nearby.

“Detective Iogha conducted a quick tension check on the rope and it quickly unravelled.”

Walton said Iogha only used his fore-finger and thumb to pull on the rope.

She said she alerted a senior detective to the issue with the knots.

The evidence is important as the Crown’s case is the rope was too loose and could not have provided the tension needed to achieve death.

In her opening address to the jurors on Monday, McClintock said the Crown would call an expert to give evidence on the rope.

The Upland Rd property owned by surgeon Philip Polkinghorne, who is charged with the murder of his wife, Pauline Hanna.
The Upland Rd property owned by surgeon Philip Polkinghorne, who is charged with the murder of his wife, Pauline Hanna.

Walton also told the jurors that Polkinghorne cleaned a smear of blood from his forehead and she could see a 1-2cm horizontal cut.

She read through a brief statement Polkinghorne had earlier made to a constable and asked Polkinghorne to come to the station to fill in some more details.

On the way to the station they stopped for food and Polkinghorne told Walton a bit about himself and his wife.

The detective said Polkinghorne spoke of his wife’s work as a senior administrator in the Covid response.

Walton interviewed Polkinghorne on camera. A recording of the three hour interview will be played to the court at a later date.

Under cross-examination from Mansfield, Polkinghorne’s lawyer, Walton confirmed that, in hindsight, she should have filmed the “tension check” on her phone.

She also confirmed that, rather than the knots coming undone, it was the loose rope that pulled away

Mansfield read a section of Polkinghorne’s first brief statement to police in which he said “because I was so flustered, I undid the belt and rope and then went upstairs to undo the knot in the rope”.

Mansfield asked Walton why she didn’t just talk to him at his house.

Walton responded: “There were some things not lining up for which we had questions for.”

She later explained: “Because if the scene was treated as suspicious, you want to reduce any further contamination.”

The trial, before Justice Graham Lang and a jury, is due to hear at least six weeks of evidence.

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