Philip Polkinghorne at the start of his Auckland High Court trial. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro
Content warning: This story mentions suicide
A rope at the scene of Pauline Hanna's death was too loose to have been used for suicide, a detective says.
The High Court murder trial of former eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne resumed for a third day on Wednesday.
Polkinghorne stands accused of murdering his wife, Hanna, in their Remuera home on 5 April 2021.
The Crown argues Polkinghorne's financial situation, drug use and infidelity contributed to an aggressive outburst.
Meanwhile, the former surgeon's defence team claims Hanna hanged herself, though the Crown believed the scene had only been staged to look like a suicide.
Taking the witness stand on Wednesday, detective Ilona Walton described her first impression of the scene.
Polkinghorne had covered Hanna's body with a duvet. "As I walked up to the duvet I could see an arm and some hair sticking out of it," Walton said.
"I went past Hanna upstairs... I saw the orange rope tied to the balustrade at the top. I noticed there was a short portion of the rope hanging below the landing... part of it was frayed like it had been cut, but it was in otherwise good condition."
After taking several photos of the scene, she approached her fellow police officer Christian Iogha to remove the rope.
"He then performed a tension check on the rope ... and it very quickly unraveled," she revealed.
"He gently pulled it and it started to come down... a gentle, light pull. It didn't just stop when he pulled it, it kept unraveling and coming undone," he said.
"It's not in line with how we would normally expect a ligature of a person who has hung themself to react. It seemed unusual, and not normal that the rope would unravel in that manner."
She also described the garage, where two white Mercedes were parked.
"One of the vehicles had its boot open. One with a personalised registration: 'RETINA'."
Walton corroborated previous reports that Polkinghorne appeared to have a forehead wound.
"There was a small shallow cut to his forehead. Horizontal, maybe about one to two centimetres."
The trial continues.
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