The Philip Polkinghorne murder trial has been told a forensic analysis of Pauline Hanna’s phone found no searches relating to depression or self harm – and messages between Polkinghorne and an Australian escort have also been revealed.
Warning: This article contains content that could be disturbing to some people.
Polkinghorne, 71, is accused of murdering Hanna at their home at Easter 2021. His defence is that he woke to find her already dead from suicide. The Crown said he staged the scene to make it look like one.
The trial, which began in late July at the High Court in Auckland, is nearing the end of the Crown case.
Detective Andrew Reeves this morning continued evidence that began last week.
He probed phones belonging to Polkinghorne, Hanna and Polkinghorne’s Australian escort mistress Madison Ashton.
WhatsApp messages between Polkinghorne and Ashton were today read out in court.
They were from December 2020 and revealed a fight during Covid-19 quarantine measures.
Ashton told Polkinghorne she was sick of him “flaring up”, “being an absolute a******e”, and carrying on “like an immature prat”.
She told him he had ruined Christmas, “the whole thing”, and tells him to “f**k off” and that she does not want to hear from him.
An examination of Ashton’s phone showed the first contact between the pair.
It was in 2015, with an appointment in her calendar with Polkinghorne. He paid her $800 for a “one hour girlfriend experience”.
‘I haven’t come this far to walk away’
Pages of messages between Polkinghorne and Ashton after Hanna’s death were also read out in court.
Preparing for their trip to a luxury lake lodge at Mt Cook, the pair talk about their 14-month relationship.
At one point the pair talk about whether they will argue in person or not.
“… Whilst I have plans for the future, I’m sure you do too,” Polkinghorne told her.
Ashton replied that it sounded like he is breaking up with her.
“F**k no… I haven’t come this far to walk away,” Polkinghorne replied.
Court hears Hanna’s phone search history
Reeves’ search also included scouring the web browsing history of Hanna’s iPhone 8.
The web history search spanned from December 12, 2019 to April 4, 2021 – her last day alive.
Reeves said he found no record of any deleted searches, nor were there any “privacy browsers” designed to keep browsing hidden. He said that, in more than 400 web searches, none related to suicide, hanging or self-harm.
But there were searches for “P pipe”, “what does P look like”, and “what sensation does P give you”.
Those searches were on Christmas Eve 2020. The day after, Christmas Day, photos were taken with the iPhone’s camera.
Reeves said they showed what looked to be a shopping bag with two glass pipes in it.
“These are the same kinds of pipes used to smoke methamphetamine,” he said.
There were also short videos, or live images, of the carry bag in an open drawer.
The Crown has argued that Polkinghorne was caught in a web of meth, infidelity and money troubles when he killed Hanna.
Photos on Hanna’s phone were generally of her family and her grandchildren.
Combing through text messages, police did find one from Hanna to a mental health crisis team arranging to meet when she returned from the couple’s Coromandel beach house – but Reeves said he could find no follow up to formalise the meeting.
The trial has heard previously that Hanna contacted her GP to say she had suicidal thoughts.
Her doctor then asked her to contact the mental health crisis team.
Reeves was also able to comb through data about the phone’s physical movements.
In the early hours of April 4, Hanna’s last day alive, it moved about 11 metres over a few seconds at 2.48am.
That night, it took several minutes between 10.24pm and 10.47pm to move about 36 metres.
This was the last movement recorded by the phone. It was then plugged in to charge.
