Pauline Hanna's best friend convinced Philip Polkinghorne is guilty of murder

• Pauline Hanna died in April 2021. She was found dishevelled, injured and covered by a duvet when emergency responders arrived.
• Nearly 18 months later, her husband Philip Polkinghorne was charged with her murder. Prosecutors allege he fatally strangled her and staged it to look like a suicide.
• An eight-week High Court trial has found Polkinghorne not guilty of murdering her.
• Just hours before delivering the verdict, the jury told the judge that most believed there was not enough proof of her suicide.
• The coroner has advised a review hearing has been set down for December in relation to Hanna's death.
• Polkinghorne will return to court in November after pleading guilty to possessing methamphetamine and a methamphetamine pipe.

Content warning: This story discusses suicide and domestic violence.

Pauline Hanna's best friend says she has always believed Hanna did not take her own life, and was murdered by her husband, Philip Polkinghorne.

RNZ reporter Alexa Cook is a friend of Pheasant and John Riordan's, who were key witnesses in Polkinghorne's High Court trial.

The Riordans were longtime friends of Hanna's, and in their evidence they recounted how, in 2020, she had told them how Polkinghorne had tried to strangle her, which led to the friends urging Hanna to leave her husband and move in with them.

"If he's done it once, he'll do it again," John recounted telling Hanna.

The friendship was a long-standing one, as Pheasant and Hanna met over 40 years ago when the two of the them were studying at Wellington Polytechnic. They flatted together and became good friends.

When John and Pheasant married, Hanna was a bridesmaid and then godmother to their son Connor. When Hanna married Polkinghorne, Pheasant was her maid of honour,

"She was a really caring person and always put other people in front of her, and always had a dignity about her. She had a great sense of humour," Pheasant said.

The two women were close, which was why, when Pauline's niece Rose rang to tell them about the way her aunt had supposedly ended her life, Pheasant did not believe it was suicide because of the traumatic method used.

"When we first heard from Rose that Pauline had taken her own life, and the manner in which she'd done it - neither John nor I believed for a minute that was something she'd do."

Pheasant and John sat through much of the High Court case, and felt the evidence made Polkinghorne sound guiltier by the day.

"The picture of Philip that was painted was of a man who was controlling and manipulative, and had the power in the relationship,"

She said Polkinghorne was highly critical of Hanna for the most ridiculous things, such as the way she held a glass.

"And like a lot of women who are in that abusive situation, here is a woman who has a high-powered job .. looking in everything seems hunky dory ... but she constantly has to placate this man to be able to stay with him.

"She said that she loved him, but I don't think he loved her," Pheasant said.

On Monday, when the jury told the judge most did not think it was a suicide, but there was not enough evidence to convict Polkinghorne of murder, it gave the Riordans a moment of hope that Polkinghorne would be found guilty.

"We felt quite good about that. We thought obviously the jury had taken it on board ... but not really knowing what they were looking for in terms of a complete circumstantial picture."

So when the verdict was returned as 'not guilty', it came as a huge shock.

"We were just devastated, totally bewildered."

She said what concerned her were people's public comments about Polkinghorne being 'vindicated' or 'exonerated' by that verdict.

"He has been found not guilty to the charge of murder, because he has been found not guilty it does not mean he is innocent - it has just not been proven beyond reasonable doubt."

But Pheasant said she understood why the jurors made that decision, based on what evidence they had.

"I was very impressed with the jury - they had to process an enormous amount of information. Sometimes disturbing, other times dull and drawn out. They followed dilligently whatever evidence was presented.

"My question will always be what more would have been needed given the extent of the evidence ... albeit circumstantial, and so many inconsistencies in Philip's story," she said.

Although she had heard people say the whole eight-week trial was "for nothing", that was not how the Riordans were looking at it.

"It allowed Pauline to speak in a way, and remind people of who she was."

The Riordans continued to process the outcome of the trial and mourn Hanna, who they described as a kind and caring woman. However, they said there were no words to describe how they felt about Polkinghorne.

"There's nothing I could ever say to that man that would sum up how we feel about what he did to Pauline," Pheasant said.