Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial

40 years ago, two bombs went off in Auckland's harbour when French agents targeted a Greenpeace ship. It was meant to be a warning against anti-nuclear protests, but the death of a photographer on board sparked a major police and political response.  From the NZ Herald and Bird of Paradise Productions, this six-part series re-examines the bombing, the events leading up to it, the investigatio...

Pauline Hanna on a boat, sea breeze, big smiles. It’s the image filmmakers of a new three-part documentary into her death, and subsequent murder trial of her husband, decide to open on. Philip Polkinghorne was found not guilty of strangling his wife and making it look like she’d taken her own life. The Front Page covered the mammoth nine-week trial in the series: Accused: The Polkingho...

It was a murder trial that gripped New Zealand, and the world. Pauline Hanna was found dead in a Remuera home she shared with her husband, Philip Polkinghorne, on April 5, 2021. What followed was a months-long investigation, Polkinghorne charged with murder, a mammoth trial and eventually, an acquittal. A jury came back with the not guilty verdict in September – a moment that would not be mark the...

After eight weeks at the High Court in Auckland, on the first day of the ninth week, the jury has found Philip Polkinghorne not guilty of the murder of his wife, Pauline Hanna.  For more on how the last day of the trial, NZ Herald crime reporter Craig Kapitan details the decision.  You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHea...

Week Eight has the Crown and Defence issuing their closing statements. The Crown alleges that Philip Polkinghorne killed his wife, Pauline Hanna, on April 5 2021. He maintains she took her own life.  After the Crown went first, it is now the turn of the defence - led by lawyer Ron Mansfield - to deliver its closing statement.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Week Eight has the Crown and Defence issuing their closing statements. First is the Crown, with Crown Prosecutor Alysha McClintock delivering it to the jury. The Crown alleges that Philip Polkinghorne killed his wife, Pauline Hanna, on April 5 2021. He maintains she took her own life.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After seven weeks and over 80 witnesses, we have finished hearing evidence in the trial of Philip Polkinghorne.   The former Auckland eye surgeon is accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, who was found dead on 5 April, 2021.  He maintains she took her own life.  In the final days of testimony, the debate over activity on Hanna’s phone continued, before the last two witnesses to take the sta...

Originally due to run for six weeks, the trial of Philip Polkinghorne is now in its seventh week.   The former Auckland eye surgeon is accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, who was found dead on 5 April, 2021.  He maintains she took her own life.  More witnesses from the defence took the stand to discuss their thoughts on how Hanna died, and the risk factors that could have pushed her to t...

Week six of the trial of Philip Polkinghorne continued with the defence’s case.   The former Auckland eye surgeon is accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, who was found dead on 5 April, 2021.  He maintains she took her own life.  Witnesses for the defence revealed a different side of Polkinghorne then what we’ve previously heard, with former colleagues and neighbours describing him as funn...

After nearly five weeks of witnesses, The Crown has closed its case in the trial of Philip Polkinghorne.  The former Auckland eye surgeon is accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, who was found dead on 5 April, 2021.  He maintains she took her own life.  The Crown closed its case with more on Polkinghorne’s arrest, Police searches, and a last minute witness on cell phones.  The rest of the...

Week five in the trial of Philip Polkinghorne has kicked off with more on what was found on the couple’s tech, a hint that Pauline Hanna found a P pipe months before her death, and what exactly is a ‘girlfriend experience’? And two messages, drafted, on the morning of Pauline Hanna’s death, have also been revealed by the defence.  You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial throu...

The end of the shortened fourth week in the trial of Philip Polkinghorne traverses a range of topics He’s accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, in April 2021 – but maintains, she took her own life.   More on the couple’s finances, the dark sides of meth use, a sex tape, Google searches about infidelity, and a series of intimate letters between a husband and a wife were all revealed and dis...

The trial of Philip Polkinghorne has, in theory, hit the halfway mark – with Justice Graham Lang telling the jury it’s “broadly on schedule”.  Polkinghorne’s accused of strangling his wife, Pauline Hanna, at the couple’s Remuera home in April 2021 – before allegedly staging the scene to look like she’d taken her own life.   His defence maintains she committed suicide.   Day 16 focused on Auckland...

Questions around a certain dinner at a Havelock North restaurant, more on what prescription drugs Pauline Hanna was taking – and unravelling the issues at Auckland Eye.  Friends and colleagues have weighed in at the end of the third week of Philip Polkinghorne’s trial.  You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeartRadio or w...

Warning: This episode contains disturbing material and some explicit language.  How did Pauline Hanna die? That’s the question for the jury, who, for weeks will consider evidence and ultimately decide – was it murder, or suicide?   It’s also a question put to two different pathologists, tasked with exploring how the 63-year-old died in her Remuera home in April 2021.   Philip Polkinghorne is accus...

Day 10 saw the jury visit to the home of Pauline Hanna and Phllip Polkinghorne to see where Pauline had died. That was before a parade of ex-colleagues took to the stand to shed light on their relationship with Pauline, and what she told them about her concern for her marriage and her finances. Plus, an explanation as to why Pauline Hanna’s niece recorded a family conversation.  You can listen to...

Pauline Hanna’s voice echoed throughout the courtroom on Day 9 of the trial of her husband, Philip Polkinghorne, who is accused of murdering her.   It came in the form of a covert recording of a family dinner – providing Hanna a chance to explain their relationship in her own words to the jury, who’ll decide whether she died of foul play, or, whether she took her own life.   That was before a bomb...

The court has gotten its first glimpse of evidence from those closest to Philip Polkinghorne and Paulina Hanna – and some insight into his infidelity. And we have heard directly from Polkinghorne, with the court hearing his interview with Police for the first time.   The former Auckland eye surgeon is accused of murdering his DHB boss wife in April 2021 - but he says, she took her own life.   Day...

As the trial begins its second week, Day 6 began with a cross-examination of ESR forensic scientist, Fiona Matheson, and later the court heard from ESR forensic scientist Nicholas Curno, to discuss DNA evidence.  Last week, the jury heard how police and forensic scientists spent 11 days at the scene.   We already know the Crown isn’t relying too much on forensics done at the scene – but, it’s impo...

The first week of the trial of Philip Polkinghorne has come to an end.  While we’re in the early stages of evidence, the topics that will be covered in the case have been made clear.   Infidelity, threesomes, sex workers, a meth habit, financial concerns, depression, stress, and a Covid vaccine rollout: All this will be traversed over the next six weeks to answer the ultimate question of murder or...

Day three of the trial of Philip Polkinghorne centred around a bright orange rope hanging from a balustrade, and a detailed walk-through of the scene examination of the couple’s Remuera home.   The former Auckland eye surgeon maintains his wife took her own life on the morning of April 5, 2021 - an Easter Monday.   But, the Crown claims he staged the scene to look like suicide.  You can listen to...

Warning: This podcast contains disturbing content. The second day of the trial focused on those who first attended the scene where Pauline Hanna's body was found. Was Philip Polkinghorne reasonably calm on the morning of his wife’s death or just composed and trying to help? Was the injury on his forehead a scratch, graze, scrape, or cut? How was Pauline Hanna’s body found - and what injuries did s...

Warning: This podcast contains disturbing content.  The Crown has alleged extramarital affairs, dealings with sex workers, and a drug habit.  The defence claims a suicide, casual drug use, and an open and loving relationship.  All the cards were laid on the table on the first day of Philip Polkinghorne's trial.  He’s accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna – whose body was found in the couple...

On Easter Monday 2021, Paulina Hanna was found dead at the Remuera home she shared with her husband of 30 years, Philip Polkinghorne. For 16 months, her death was treated as “unexplained”. That’s until it emerged Polkinghorne had been charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty in August 2022. From the team behind The Front Page, the New Zealand Herald's daily news podcast, comes Accused: The Polki...