Week 1 of the latest saga in the strange, morally complicated story of Dr Philip Polkinghorne was not exactly a non-event but there was a sense of waiting for something to happen that didn’t happen, that the only new development is going to happen in Week 2, when the story will finally be told by the saga’s smallest man and largest character: Dr Philip Polkinghorne.
Polkinghorne is set to give evidence, probably this coming Tuesday at the coronial inquest into the death of his wife Pauline Hanna. He did not appear as a witness at the High Court of Auckland in 2024, when a jury found him not guilty of murder. The trial was conducted as a compelling spectacle and wildly entertaining pastime for the New Zealand peasantry. Prosecution made much of his two consuming hobbies, hookers and methamphetamine. It made Polkinghorne not just famous but immortal. He will forever remain fixed in our island history as the caricature presented by the Crown—a malignant sex dwarf—with his acquittal regarded as a kind of unimportant postscript.
His acquittal has led to the coronial hearing. It seeks to establish the cause of Pauline’s death at her Ōrākei home on April 5, 2021, when Polkinghorne called 111 and said, “She’s blue! She’s cold!”
Police immediately viewed the scene as suspicious. They formed a theory that he had killed her, and then ran around the house gathering props to create an elaborate hoax that she died by suicide. Polkinghorne views the police theory as a travesty and a nightmare he has to continue to suffer. Charged with murder, hounded, demonised—but he has withstood it all, and I complimented him when I ran into him in court on Friday.
“You’re looking good these days, Phil,” I said. His figure was strong and trim in a tight little buttoned waistcoat. “It’s my healthy lifestyle,” he said.
Friday’s hearing ended early. It was Day 5 of the inquiry, presided over by Coroner Tania Tetitaha, a judge of considerable charm and a magnificent mop of white hair. The courtroom is just down the road from the City Fitness gym at Westfield Mall, where Polkinghorne and his wife were set to train on the Easter Monday morning she died. There are no windows in court. The interior design is shaped like fish scales, and the temperature is around the same as the Ross Sea in Antarctica. The aircon conked out during the week and everyone froze. Polkinghorne’s lawyer Ron Mansfield came prepared on Friday in a thick flannel suit but the aircon had been fixed overnight, warm air flowed through the courtroom, and Mansfield cooked like a goose.
The Coroner is seeking to determine the cause of Pauline’s death. She has narrowed the inquiry to Pauline’s last 24 hours and the hours immediately afterwards. The puzzle she wishes to solve is ultimately the same exact issue put to the High Court jury: whether Pauline’s death was self-inflicted, or whether Polkinghorne had a role.
“Evidence will overlap with the High Court trial,” the Coroner said on Day 1 of the inquiry. It’s lapped it time and time again all week. Very little was new and all of it was given by the same police witnesses who appeared in the trial. ESR scientist Fiona Matheson also repeated herself. She talked about forensic evidence that was there and was also asked about forensic evidence that wasn’t there. The absence pointed to holes in the police theory, to a lack of evidence of Polkinghorne taking his wife’s body downstairs to position it in a charade of death.
On Friday, she was asked about Pauline’s bedroom, the landing outside the door, and the stairs.
Mansfield: You were looking for any indication of movement of a body, perhaps by dragging it or carrying it, but there was no evidence of that, correct?
Matheson: This is correct. I didn’t see any evidence of that movement occurring.
Mansfield: And you examined the walls for any damage?
Matheson: Yes. I looked for anything that indicated a point of contact, for something that stood out.
But nothing stood out. As well, there was a water bottle and a cup of tea “half drunk”, to quote Mansfield, on a side table. “They appear upright, and in situ. Correct?” Matheson agreed that was correct. Again, no sign of a struggle.
Most of it, just as most of Week 1, was old news. The most stunning moment of the hearing came from Pauline’s brother Bruce Hanna. He read out a statement on Monday morning in a loud, clear voice. His statement was only 328 words in length but the volume of it and the power of it made it feel epic.
“That terrible day—yeah, it was a terrible day. The 5th of April 2021 was the worst day of my life. Not only was I devastated at Pauline’s death but what I was told on that day I did not believe. And I still don’t believe it.
“Five and half years have gone by and my dear sister’s death is still unexplained.
“Over this period of time I have learnt much about the evidence and I suppose I am in a unique position here having not only learnt all about this case but I also know most of the backstories and obviously I’ve known Pauline all my life.
“The other person in the house that night was her husband Philip John Polkinghorne.
“He was later charged and convicted of possession of the class A drug, methamphetamine.
“I believe he was on drugs the night that Pauline died. That is a serious layer and one that cannot be ignored. It needs to be a major part of this inquest.”
He talked a little about his disappointment at the quality of the forensic evidence at the murder trial. The volume dropped, and he spoke in a normal, conversational manner, with a lot less energy; it was as though he was momentarily bored with the way his speech was going. But the volume rose and the energy returned as he tore into another subject.
“There have been many, shall we say tall stories, misconceptions, lies and absolute garbage that I have heard and read. I hope these will be exposed in the coming days. They need to come out if we are going to get to the truth. The truth is there. It’s always been there. But we need to get through all the lies.
“Sometimes it seems like a case of the elephant in the room. My challenge to you all is please expose the elephant.
“Don’t do this for me or my family. But please do it for my dear sister Pauline—because she deserves it.”
It was the best oratory of Week 1 and deserved a round of applause. Somehow I doubt this was the way Polkinghorne felt. He stared straight ahead. He was facing a lovely framed portrait of Pauline. Bruce Hanna had placed the photo and a bouquet of proteas in front of the courtroom on Monday morning.
The next morning, another framed photograph of Pauline had been placed next to it, along with a vase with lilies. I didn’t see who put it there but can take a wild guess. Pauline was not alone in the photo. She shared the frame next to that small man with main-character energy, Dr Philip Polkinghorne.
