Polkinghorne trial: Wife worked long hours before death

Warning: This story mentions suicide and domestic disputes.

Pauline Hanna was working long hours in the week before her death.

Her husband, former eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne, is on trial for murder but his defence claims Hanna's death was suicide.

Hanna was an executive at Healthsource during the Covid-19 pandemic response, and her job involved sourcing protective equipment, including masks.

Based on her email records in the days leading up to her death, Hanna would sometimes work from midnight to late the following evening with short and irregular breaks.

Polkinghorne's lawyer, Ron Mansfield KC, argued Hanna was under extreme stress during the pandemic and had previously struggled with depression.

Mansfield resumed his cross examination of Detective Andrew Reeves, one of the officers tasked with examining Hanna's electronic devices.

"On 28 March we see emails in the morning, for example an email sent at 2.26am, [then] 3.28am, 6.09am there's two sent, 7.06am," Mansfield read from Hanna's email history.

"Then if we pick up at the end of the work day we see emails from 5.52pm pretty solidly all the way through to 8.45pm," Mansfield read.

A few days later, on 31 March, Hanna sent several emails between midnight and 6.12am, before resuming at 9.57am after a short break.

"So Mrs Polkinghorne (Hanna) is sitting pinned to her laptop or her phone, receiving emails, reviewing emails, reviewing reports, preparing responses and sending responses," Mansfield said.

"There's quite a lot of work activity, given all of these emails are work-related."

Reeves said this was not particularly unusual.

"Mrs Polkinghorne appears to work a night shift, correct," he said.

"Is that what we call it, a night shift?" Mansfield said.

Reeves had previously given evidence that Hanna typically woke up between 4.52am and 7.39am on weekdays, based on her phone activity and step-count.

"Well when you look at the emails, just the emails she's sending out, that's not correct at all, is it? In fact, we can see she is doing the night shift on a number of those days," Mansfield pressed.

"Do you not think it leaves a misleading impression... When you know damn well she was sending emails through these hours."

Reeves acknowledged the oversight. "I didn't review the emails in detail, I looked at the device movements and created that pattern of life. I realise now that I should have cross-referenced them."

Mansfield criticised Reeves for not writing a detailed report on the messages between Polkinghorne and Hanna, instead focusing on Polkinghorne's relationship with escort Madison Ashton.

"We've gone right back through Dr Polkinghorne's history in relation to his relationship with [Madison] Ashton... You seemed very interested in that, but not in the messaging between him and his wife," he said.

Reeves said he did review those messages, but they were "general day-to-day messaging".

"I did review the messages; I didn't create a detailed report on it," he explained.

"Was that because the messages didn't support the police narrative?" Mansfield asked. "Did those messages reveal a working, loving relationship between the two of them?"

"Yes, they did," Reeves admitted.

"Did those messages reveal any conflict between the two of them leading up to her death?" Mansfield continued.

"I didn't see any of that, no," Reeves said.

Mansfield quoted a message from Pauline Hanna to Philip Polkinghorne on 5 May 2020.

"'Love you so much and you are so clever!!' And then a number of kisses," he read.

"[Another] message from Mrs Polkinghorne... 'How's the morning going big boy??? Can't wait for weekend with ya!!' And there appears to be an emoji."

Mansfield spent the next hour reading hundreds of similar messages.

"We just see consistent messaging between the two of them... Showing interest in each other and professing their love for each other," he concluded.

Mansfield turned his attention to Polkinghorne's search history.

On the day after Hanna's death, Polkinghorne had searched phrases like "how to delete iCloud storage" and "how to transfer iCloud to a new Mac laptop".

Mansfield offered an explanation.

"By 6 April 2021, police had seized the electronic devices from the Polkinghorne home, so Dr Polkinghorne was left without a laptop," he said.

"So if he was to purchase a new laptop and want to re-establish his ability to have personal and work details on that laptop he may need to transfer his iCloud storage to that laptop."

Polkinghorne also used search engine DuckDuckGo to search "leg edema after strangulation" the day after Hanna died.

Reeves previously characterised DuckDuckGo as an untraceable browser.

But Mansfield noted DuckDuckGo was also used by people who wanted to avoid sharing their data with corporations like Google or Microsoft.

Mansfield sought to explain why Polkinghorne may have searched the phrase "leg edema after strangulation".

"He knows at the time of making these searches... That the police are investigating his wife's death as a suspicious death and he is treated as a potential suspect.

"Strangulation - that would include hanging, wouldn't it? Strangulation is a very general term."

But Reeves did not agree.

"The reason this search drew my attention is because of the distinction, in my mind, between hanging and strangulation," he said.

The trial is set to conclude next week.

Where to get help:

Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.

Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357

Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202

Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)

Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz

What's Up: free counselling for 5 to 19 years old, online chat 11am-10.30pm 7days/week or free phone 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 11am-11pm Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm or text 832 Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English.

Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254

Healthline: 0800 611 116

Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155

OUTLine: 0800 688 5463 (6pm-9pm)

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.