Philip Polkinghorne during his trial in the High Court in Auckland. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro
- A friend of Philip Polkinghorne said he showed her a supposed suicide note from his wife
- The friend of the couple said Pauline Hanna was ready to leave her husband after she found out he was having an affair
- Another friend of Hanna's friend alleges she said Polkinghorne threatened to strangle her before her death
Content warning: Mentions of suicide and domestic violence.
A friend of Philip Polkinghorne said she felt manipulated by him after he showed her a supposed suicide note from his wife.
Pauline Hanna was found dead in her Auckland home in April 2021.
Polkinghorne has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife and staging her death as a suicide.
Speaking at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday, Alison Ring, a close friend of the couple, said she supported Polkinghorne after Hanna's death and after he was charged with her murder.
Ring said the retired eye surgeon seemed distraught after his wife's death.
"He said: 'I've let her down, I wish I was dead, I wish I was with her'."
Like Polkinghorne, Ring's husband worked as as an ophthalmologist. The couples occasionally had dinner together and had been on work trips to France.
Ring said after Hanna's death, she and her husband wanted to support Polkinghorne and told him he was welcome at their home any time.
She said one evening, Polkinghorne told them a small amount of methamphetamine had been found in his home and that it belonged to Hanna.
She said she told him: "Do you expect me to believe that, because I won't".
Polkinghorne pleaded guilty to possession of the class A drug and possession of a pipe at the beginning of the trial, which is in its third week of six.
Ring said three weeks after his wife died, Polkinghorne said police had found him at a luxury lodge with an escort.
This was devastating to her.
But Ring said what ultimately led her to withdraw support for him was when he showed her a supposed suicide note from Hanna.
She said he told her he found it in linen sheets in a bedroom.
She told the court the note said: Dear P, I love you forever, love P.
Ring said she previously told Polkinghorne she could not believe Hanna did not leave a suicide note.
She said the note Polkinghorne produced was not what she would expect Hanna to write and questioned why he had not given it to police.
"I was very distressed and I had a few sleepless nights over it because it just didn't sit with me."
She said a year before she died, Hanna found out her husband was having an affair after she found "obscene photographs" while going through his computer.
Hanna had revealed this to her at a function at a private members club in Auckland, the Northern Club.
Hanna told Ring her husband was seeing sex workers in Sydney, but she was not accepting of him having an affair with someone in Auckland.
She asked Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey if she could quote Hanna, and he said she could.
"I don't care how many prostitutes he f***s in Sydney. I will not tolerate him having an affair with someone in my space."
According to Ring, Hanna said she would leave her husband of 20 years if he did not end his affair and she planned to see a lawyer and sort out her finances.
In June 2020, at a dinner also at the Northern Club, Ring said Hanna also confided in her that Polkinghorne was "erratic, difficult to live with, and verbally abusive".
Polkinghorne was extremely agitated about a conflict at his workplace, Auckland Eye.
"He said if they listened to him they wouldn't have lost so much money."
The last time Ring spoke to Hanna was a few weeks before her death at a celebration of life for their friend.
They spoke about an upcoming couples' trip to the South Island they had planned together.
"She was so excited for a couple of glasses of wine and a big catch up."
Ring said their discussion then went to Hanna's marriage.
"She told me 'Polk' has been trying hard these last few weeks."
Philip Polkinghorne, right, arrives at court with his lawyer, Ron Mansfield KC. Photo: NZME/Michael Craig
Husband 'very controlling'
Another long-time friend said she urged Hanna before she died to leave Polkinghorne.
Victoria (Pheasant) Riordan, who was in her teens when she first met Hanna, said she always had concerns about the relationship.
"From the get go, Philip came across very controlling."
Riordan said her concerns were heightened after an alarming conversation they had at a dinner in early 2020.
At the High Court in Auckland, Riordan demonstrated to Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock how Hanna told her Polkinghorne had once put his hands around her neck.
"He told her he could do that any time."
Ring said Hanna took this as a real threat that he might strangle her.
Holding back tears, Riordan said she told Hanna to end the relationship but the latter assured her everything was ok.
Polkinghorne's defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC questioned the long time friend about the alleged strangling threat.
During cross-examination, Riordan told Mansfield KC those words might not have been the exact ones Hanna said Polkinghorne used.
Riordan said the conversation was "so dramatic and alarming she can't remember everything", but that Hanna's inference was clear.
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