Today, Polkinghorne’s defence team, led by Ron Mansfield KC, were set to call several of their final witnesses in support of their contention that Hanna hanged herself amid work pressures and longstanding mental health and substance abuse issues.
The jury had heard Mansfield should finish his case tomorrow after one of his witnesses called on Friday, Sydney psychiatrist and suicide specialist Dr Olav Nielssen, returns via video link for cross-examination. He is not appearing for cross-examination today for logistical reasons.
Mansfield had signalled he was to call the final few of his witnesses today. On the basis of his opening address, they were likely to include at least a couple more expert witnesses, including a mental health and suicide researcher.
Justice Lang had indicated to the jury the Crown will likely deliver its closing address on Wednesday, the defence will do the same on Thursday, and he will sum up the case on Friday.
It’s unclear how these timings will be affected by the trial not sitting today.
Proceedings will resume about 10am tomorrow with a new defence witness.
On Friday, Nielssen said Hanna had several risk factors for suicide. The prior suicide attempt alleged by her sister Tracey Hanna – but disputed by other family members – would have made her 100 times more likely to attempt suicide again, the jury heard.
Added to that was the disinhibiting effects of mixing Pinot Noir with the sleeping pill zopiclone on the night of April 4, 2021, plus the fact the alcohol use would have rendered her antidepressant fluoxetine less effective. The diet drug phentermine, which Hanna had been prescribed for much longer than the recommended period, had a side effect of depression, Nielssen said. He was critical of her GP for continuing to prescribe it for far longer than the recommended period to a patient who was also taking antidepressants.
Much earlier in the trial, the jury watched a video of Hanna taking items to the tip in their red ute using the same orange rope Polkinghorne says she used to hang herself. Nielssen said he understood the trip to the tip amounted to “unusual behaviour” from Hanna.
Work stress and the recent death of her mother could have sparked an unplanned, spur of the moment decision to take her own life, Nielssen said. Tracey Hanna said the suicide attempt in the early 1990s described by Pauline followed soon after her father’s death.
The decision, following what Nielssen says was “unusual behaviour”, like taking items to the tip, could have been unplanned, he says.
“My guess is that it would have been impulsive rather than something that would have been planned.”
The fact no suicide note was found by police did not go against the suicide theory, the expert said, as only about 30 to 40% of people leave notes. (However, after he was charged in 2022, Polkinghorne produced what he claimed was Hanna’s suicide to the couple’s friend Alison Ring, who was sceptical.)
Nielssen said it was common for a suicide to come as a complete surprise to work colleagues, though it was less common among successful people. He referenced a couple of suicides in health managers in Australia, which came as a surprise to their colleagues. Hanna was a senior District Health Board (DHB) manager with a high-level role in the Covid vaccine rollout.
Earlier on Friday, during her cross-examination of defence pathologist Dr Stephen Cordner, Auckland Crown Solicitor Alysha McClintock put to the jury a version of events of how Polkinghorne could have killed his wife.
Asleep on her stomach, Polkinghorne could have crawled on top of her and put her in a choker hold, aided by the fact she had self-sedated with zopiclone and alcohol, explaining her lack of defensive injuries. High on meth, he then could have had the strength to throw her into a fireman’s hold and carry her downstairs to place her on a chair and stage the scene to look like suicide.
Cordner was sceptical, saying a choker hold would likely have caused internal neck injuries absent when a pathologist conducted Hanna’s autopsy.
The Herald will be covering the case in a daily podcast, Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial. You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, through The Front Page feed, or wherever you get your podcasts.
