After eight weeks spanning three calendar months, jurors in the strange and salacious – and more often than not riveting – Philip Polkinghorne murder trial will finally start deliberating.
It was expected the group would retire to begin the process late today, after spending the entire morning listening to the final half of the defence closing address and over two hours this afternoon receiving directions from Justice Graham Lang as he summed up the case. But the judge instead sent the group home at 4.30, instructing them to return to the High Court at Auckland at 10am tomorrow to begin the process.
Jurors are tasked with sifting through the evidence of more than 80 Crown and defence witnesses whose individual trips to the witness box spanned from 10 minutes to four days.
Of the roughly dozen reporters from all major New Zealand media outlets who attended the trial, nearly half were sent by NZME and the Herald. Between three and five Herald journalists followed the trial each day and generated more than 100 reports, focusing on live updates, twice daily summaries of the proceedings, a podcast, columns and longer form stories yet to come. Put together, the reports make the most comprehensive publically available review of the case to date.
Here’s a look back at how the trial progressed. Just click into the link and you can read the midday and evening wraps of what happened each of day, along with an opinion piece from Steve Braunias.
Week One: July 29-Aug 2
Monday (Day 1)
Morning: ‘Like something out of a crime novel’: Crown delivers opening address
Afternoon: ‘He loved his wife; she loved him’: Defence responds, 111 call played
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: A case from the golden age of tabloid journalism
Tuesday (Day 2)
Morning: Paramedics recall eye surgeon’s demeanour, strange head graze
Afternoon: Scene deemed ‘suspicious’ as Polkinghorne gave first police statement
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Acceptable demeanours at a crime scene
Wednesday (Day 3)
Morning: Detectives describe rope ‘tension check’ that triggered initial suspicions
Afternoon: How a suicide call-out morphed to a murder investigation
Thursday (Day 4)
Canadian rope expert concludes knot found at scene wouldn’t support Hanna’s weight
Friday (Day 5)
Jury views last-known video of Hanna, using orange rope at tip day before death
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Week one of the most scandalous trial of the century
Five days, 13 witnesses: A recap of week one
Week Two: Aug 5-Aug 9
Monday (Day 6)
Morning: ‘A full-on week’: Forensic scientist describes extensive scene examination
Afternoon: Defence suggests robe urine stains bolster suicide evidence
Tuesday (Day 7)
‘Acting like a weirdo’: Longtime friend suspected Polkinghorne was on drugs
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: A portrait of ‘Polky’
Wednesday (Day 8)
Morning: Defendant found at Mt Cook chalet with escort weeks after wife’s death
Afternoon: Jurors hear defendant in his own words as police interview played
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: The expressive doctor
Thursday (Day 9)
Morning: Hanna’s brother recounts candid convos about defendant’s anger, infidelity
Afternoon: Jury hears Hanna’s voice, says ‘sex fiend’ husband emotionally abusive
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: The manic sex life of ‘Polky’
Friday (Day 10)
Jury visits Polkinghorne home; friend recalls Hanna warning, ‘If anything happens to me...’
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Auckland is the star of Philip Polkinghorne’s trial
Week Three: Aug 12-Aug 16
Monday (Day 11)
Morning: Hanna contemplated divorce but feared money had been swindled - niece
Afternoon: Defence highlights work stress as Hanna’s co-workers testify
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: ‘Polky’ and the sex workers
Tuesday (Day 12)
Morning: First pathologist unsure if cause of death was hanging, strangulation
Afternoon: Second pathologist unsure if cause of death was hanging, strangulation
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: A science lesson at the Auckland High Court
Wednesday (Day 13)
Morning: Friend describes prior strangle outcry: ‘He could do that at any time’
Afternoon: ‘He tried to strangle me’: Second witness recalls Hanna’s outcry
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Feral crowds and take-no-shit witnesses
Thursday (Day 14)
Morning: Defence suggests outcry witness was ‘gilding the lily’ for Crown
Afternoon: Hanna’s GP quizzed over weight-loss drugs, anti-depressants and alcohol
Friday (Day 15)
Afternoon: Auckland Eye director describes bizarre, ‘agitated’ meeting outburst
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Polkinghorne murder trial a fixation on class
Week Four: Aug 19-Aug 23
Monday
no court
Tuesday (Day 16)
Morning: Co-workers describe discovery of P pipe at Polkinghorne’s workplace
Afternoon: Company found concerning levels of P at surgeon’s workplace
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Philip Polkinghorne and the Sweet Puff meth pipe
Wednesday (Day 17)
Morning: Polkinghorne spent almost $300k on six women - police accountant
Afternoon: $106k transferred to escort Madison Ashton; Hanna’s spending also examined
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Polkinghorne goes shopping at the sex supermarket
Thursday (Day 18)
Morning: Addiction psychiatrist describes ‘positive association between aggression, meth use’
Afternoon: Laptop reveals Polkinghorne’s marriage discontent, sex tape with escort
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Philip Polkinghorne and a love story gone bad
Friday (Day 19)
Morning: ‘I cannot live if that is the result’: Hanna’s laptop shows relationship despair
Afternoon: Defendant’s phone revealed secret ‘strangulation’ search, love notes with escort
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: What it’s like to spend four weeks in court
Week Five: Aug 26-Aug 30
Monday (Day 20)
Morning: ‘We are going to last 100 years,’ Polkinghorne told escort weeks after wife’s death
Afternoon: Defence seeks to downplay intimate messages with Madison Ashton
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Private passions made public
Tuesday (Day 21)
Morning: ‘Misleading impression’: Defence criticises officer who examined phones
Afternoon: Defence says Hanna typed aborted 4am messages hours before reported suicide
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Doctor was loving husband – shock claim
Wednesday (Day 22)
Morning: Jury views Auckland Eye CCTV, lead cop reveals $13k worth of meth found in home
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: The Crown lays its last brick in the wall
Thursday
no court
Friday (Day 23)
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Doctor’s songs of innocence
Week Six: Sept 2-Sept 6
Monday (Day 24)
Morning: At two separate dinner parties, witnesses noticed Hanna was ‘stressed’ over work
Afternoon: Alibi or evidence tampering? Polkinghorne bloodstain scrutinised
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: In defence of the good doctor
Tuesday (Day 25)
Morning: Pauline Hanna’s hair stylist, couple’s accountant testify
Afternoon: Jurors view mechanical engineer’s suppressed suicide research
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: A day in the life of Pauline Hanna
Wednesday (Day 26)
Morning: ‘Pretty grim stuff’: Veteran pathologist gives evidence for defence
Afternoon: Polkinghorne defence expert pans Crown’s staged suicide theory
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Dr Death appears as witness
Thursday
no court
Friday (Day 27)
Morning: Pathologist says he would have ruled Hanna’s death a suicide
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: At the sharp end of the Polkinghorne murder trial
Bonus Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Six weeks of courtroom drama
Week Seven: Sept 9-Sept 13
Monday
Tuesday (Day 28)
Morning: Second defence pathologist endorses suicide finding for Pauline Hanna
Afternoon: ‘Want desperately to tell someone’: Shock Pauline Hanna email unearthed
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Two forensic pathologists walk into a bar
Wednesday (Day 29)
Familiar faces return to witness box; juror dismissed for personal reasons
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Let us interrogate supernatural beings
Thursday (Day 30)
Morning: Did Hanna use phone at 4am before death? Duelling IT experts face off
Afternoon: ‘Vicious circle’ of sleep deprivation may have upped suicide risk, expert says
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Beneath the vapour of terror
Friday (Day 31)
Two mental health professors last to give evidence as defence case ends
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: We have reached the most critical point
Week Eight: Sept 16 - Sept 18
Monday (Day 32)
Morning: ‘No innocent explanation’: Crown paints Polkinghorne as manipulative, arrogant killer
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: Polkinghorne, the opera
Tuesday (Day 33)
Afternoon: Bulk meth purchases, ‘strangulation’ search not unusual, defence argues
Steve Braunias opinion [premium]: A rich man womanising and a wronged woman dying
Wednesday (Day 34)
Morning: Defence warns against ‘emotional vigilantism’, summing up begins
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