'Too many lies': Pauline Hanna's family speak out as coroner's inquiry begins

Almost two years to the day after Remuera eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne’s trial began for the alleged murder of wife Pauline Hanna, many of the same friends, family and lawyers have returned to an Auckland courtroom as a new phase of the high-profile inquiry begins.

“We need to get through the lies,” Hanna’s brother, Bruce, told Coroner Tania Tetitaha today as her inquest began before an unusually well-attended courtroom in the Newmarket Hearing Centre.

“There have been many tall stories, misconceptions, lies and absolute garbage that I’ve heard and read,” the brother told the court as all parties were allowed time to give opening remarks. “I hope these will be exposed in the coming days and weeks.”

Polkinghorne, 73, was acquitted of murder in September 2024 after a jury in the High Court at Auckland deliberated for about 10 hours. But the verdict left questions unanswered, particularly in light of a note from jurors shortly before they reached their final decision.

“Most of the people on the jury do not think there is enough evidence to support Pauline having committed suicide,” it read. “However, some people on the jury do not think that the Crown has supplied enough evidence that we can answer yes to the question, ‘Has the Crown made you sure that Dr Polkinghorne caused the death of his wife, Ms Pauline Hanna, by intentionally strangling her?’”

The coronial hearing will not be the same as the criminal trial, the coroner emphasised today.

Polkinghorne is not on trial and no longer faces the possibility of his freedom being taken regardless of the coroner’s findings.

Instead, Coroner Tetitaha has noted, the goal of the hearing is to “establish when and where Ms Hanna died and the cause and circumstances of her death”.

A judgment will likely be reserved, at which time the coroner might issue “recommendations or comments for the purpose of reducing the chances of further deaths occurring in similar circumstances”. She may also order future hearing dates if she believes new areas of evidence need to be examined.

Unlike the criminal trial, the media has been barred from referring to what will be a primary focus of evidence at the hearing: the way in which Polkinghorne’s lawyers have said Hanna killed herself.

Pauline Hanna and her brother, Bruce Hanna.

Coroner Tetitaha has said she will focus solely on the “on the 24 hours prior to Ms Hanna’s death and the immediate aftermath, including the scene examination”.

The eight-week criminal trial was widely regarded as the most closely watched homicide case in New Zealand in years.

To an extent, the judge got a repeat of it today as defence lawyer Ron Mansfield, KC, and Crown Solicitor Alyssa McClintock faced off again.

In the murder scenario promoted by the Crown at Polkinghorne’s murder trial, the focus was on his hidden life - a carousel of sex workers, meth pipes and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash withdrawals. Those advocating the suicide explanation emphasised Hanna’s hidden self-doubt, depression and mounting pressures as she took on a critical role as a Counties-Manukau Health procurement executive during the Covid-19 pandemic.

McClintock acknowledged today that a coroner’s inquest is “a vastly different process” than a criminal trial, but her opening address largely mirrored parts of her murder trial closing.

“All of the artefacts said [by Polkinghorne] have been involved in her death were tampered with,” she said. “It tells you something. It points towards death at the hands of another.”

There remain only two possibilities: suicide or death at the hands of another, the prosecutor said. She urged the coroner to look beyond the pathologists’ evidence, which she said is not strong enough to sway the case one way or the other.

“The pathology evidence is neutral and the balance of the evidence points the other way,” she said.

McClintock pointed to Polkinghorne’s actions in the hours before he called 111, including putting his phone in aeroplane mode but continuing to use it. She also noted that he “interfered with the record” by deleting messages from his phone during a break in a police interview and later used an encrypted search website to look up the words “leg edema after strangulation”.

The coroner should also take into account that Polkinghorne appeared to have an unexplained injury on his face when authorities arrived at his house, the prosecutor said. She repeated the allegation made in the murder trial that the scene had been elaborately staged by Polkinghorne.

Mansfield, however, accused McClintock of falling into old habits from the murder trial rather than fulfilling her more subdued role representing police interests in a coroner’s inquest.

Philip Polkinghorne leaving the Auckland High Court with his lawyer Ron Mansfield, KC, in 2024. Photo / Dean Purcell

“I can be brief because putting to one side the voyeuristic fascination with the lifestyle of Dr Polkinghorne and his wife, Pauline ... the forensic evidence is very clear, precise and compelling,” he countered.

He noted that three internationally regarded pathologists have opined that the cause of death was suicide.

Mansfield suggested that police have a “continued obsession” with his client well past the criminal trial due to their “subjective view of Dr Polkinghorne and his lifestyle”.

“This fixation on homicide needs to be viewed with scepticism,” Mansfield said. “We need to be very careful in this hearing that a fascination with someone’s lifestyle ... does not drive and infect this hearing.”

He suggested police had shown a “desperation to ignore the forensic evidence”, because it shows Hanna died by suicide.

“It’s sad, it’s distressing and I have no doubt it’s difficult for some to accept,” he said.

Bruce and Tracey Hanna, Pauline’s siblings, gave much shorter opening statements.

Bruce Hanna said he still firmly believes his sister did not take her own life. The pathology evidence did not provide “a silver bullet”, he said, urging Coroner Tetitaha to also consider Polkinghorne’s methamphetamine use.

“That ... cannot be ignored,” he said. “It needs to be a major part of this inquest.”

Tracey Hanna, who flew in from the United Kingdom to give evidence for the defence during the criminal trial, viewed today’s hearing remotely and asked that a lawyer read aloud her written statement.

She emphasised the importance of the independent expert evidence and asked for a “fair and balanced” examination. She said she hopes her sister can be remembered for the way in which she lived rather than the way that she died.

“She took a genuine interest in the lives of others,” she recalled, describing Pauline Hanna as someone who exuded “generosity and quiet leadership”.

Coroner Tetitaha has scheduled the hearing to last two weeks but has set aside a third week if necessary to complete the evidence.

Following the opening remarks, she closed the court early today so she could visit Polkinghorne’s home in person to get a better understanding of the scene.

Police personnel are expected to give evidence tomorrow.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.