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WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT
Analysis of the laptop of retired Auckland ophthalmologist Philip Polkinghorne has revealed several interesting traces of the “acute phase” of his wife Pauline Hanna’s life in the days before her death.
Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey highlighted a number of emails exchanged between Hanna and Polkinghorne regarding his draft resignation letter.
During the emergency, the police also received an email from Australian escort Madison Ashton about shipping furniture to Sydney. The police also found a sex video of the two on a laptop.
Polkinghorne, 71, is accused of strangling his wife Pauline Hannah on Easter Monday 2021 and then staging the scene to make it look like a suicide. A key part of the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence is that Polkinghorne may have been taking drugs when he lashed out at his wife – perhaps during an argument about the huge amounts he spent on sex workers or his “double life” with one.
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Police at Polkinghorne Remulla House Soon after Suspicious death of wife A psychiatrist who specializes in addiction told jurors at the ongoing murder trial this morning that the drug is known for its extreme potency and addictive qualities.
Dr. Emma Schwartz said those who take large amounts of the drug may initially feel “high, alert and awake,” but as use continues, negative effects take over: anxiety, low mood and irritability.
“We know that violence is not a necessary consequence of meth use,” she said. “We can say that there is a positive correlation between aggressive behavior and meth use across multiple studies.”
Polkinghorne admitted possession of methamphetamine and a meth pipe found at his home at the start of his trial at the High Court at Auckland about four weeks ago, but insisted he was not responsible for his wife’s death. His lawyers, through cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, worked to convince jurors that the case was an example of police overreach, in part because of judgments about the couple’s open relationship lifestyle.
The defence argued that Hannah had suffered from depression for decades and was under more stress than ever at work because of her role in managing the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. They said her death was as it initially appeared: a suicide.
Schwartz explained to jurors today that users of meth experience an intense high for a short period of time.
“It causes a massive release of dopamine into the synapses,” she said.
She explains that chocolate might stimulate 100 units of dopamine, while cocaine might stimulate 300 units. But meth can stimulate up to 1,200 units of dopamine. Unlike other stimulants, which wear off quickly, meth’s effects can last 12 to 17 hours, she says.
She described people who take the drug as having agitated moods and wide eyes. They can become more talkative and confident, have an increased sex drive and not want to sleep or eat, she said, but it varies greatly from person to person.
Schwartz said people with meth use disorder are in a state of ongoing dopamine depletion, so they may not be able to experience the same pleasures that they once normally would.
She said people who become dependent on the drug would have a harder time carrying out their normal duties, both at work and at home, adding that long-term use of the drug could produce “neurotoxicity”.
“In the long term, it has a significant impact on the brain,” she said, describing the loss of brain mass and other “structural changes.”
Schwartz was also asked to review some of the studies that looked at the relationship between meth use and aggression. One 2014 study she cited found that drug users were at a three-fold increased risk of violence, and heavy users were at a 10-fold increased risk. A New Zealand study of 1,265 people born in New Zealand found that drug users were 2.4 times more likely to commit violence than their peers, even after accounting for background and upbringing. The risk of intimate partner violence was nearly doubled, she said.
But she added that in the same New Zealand study, 78 per cent of users “reported no aggression or violence had occurred”.
Following direct examination by Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock, she concluded the drug “can have a significant impact on behaviour” and could lead to “violations of a person’s moral code and values”.
During cross-examination of the expert, defense attorney Ron Mansfield KC noted that the effects of the drug depend on the dose and frequency of use. Schwarcz agreed.
Mansfield said his client’s drug use was infrequent and “recreational.” Prosecutors argued his use went beyond that. McClintock said in his opening address that the 37 grams of drugs found in his home equated to 370 “points,” or doses.
The defense attorney also said today that increased violence among drug users could be linked to “lower socioeconomic status,” but no one would mistake his client, who is worth $10 million, for being in that position. Schwartz said she was “concerned about linking lack of employment and socioeconomic disadvantage” to drug violence, but she noted that in some studies, adverse childhood experiences may play a role.
“Certainly, from clinical experience, a wide variety of people can and do commit violence,” she explained, adding that it cannot be “classified into specific demographic groups and upbringings.”
Mansfield noted that wastewater drug testing showed an average of about 9,200 grams of methamphetamine was consumed in Auckland each week. He told experts that this indicated widespread recreational use of the drug. Schwartz disagreed.
Schwartz said she understands that the population use rate for methamphetamine is 1.1 to 1.3 percent, but the New Zealand study mentioned earlier showed that 28 percent of participants had tried it at least once by the age of 35.
On the third and final day, jurors also heard testimony from Margaret Skilton, a forensic accountant in the police department’s finance department.
The defence had asked the accountant to outline nearly $300,000 transferred from Polkinghorne bank accounts to six women, three of whom were identified as sex workers, in the five years before Hannah’s death. Jurors yesterday heard in detail about those payments.
Mansfield asked Skilton if she knew whether the payments were loans or grants, and Skilton admitted that based on the financial records she had examined, she would not have known that information. The defense attorney pointed out that there was a $6,000 payment from Polkinghorne’s account from a sex worker named Alaria. He asked if the expert knew about the financial or medical needs of her family, and she again admitted that she did not know.
Prosecutor Brian Dickey later returned to the issue of the Alaria payments, asking the expert how much Polkinghorne would have paid the sex worker if the $6,000 mentioned by the defense had been credited to the account. She said those payments would still amount to $55,800.
She said there were no bank notes indicating Polkinghorne had a business relationship with either woman.
The trial is expected to continue this afternoon, when Judge Graham Lang and the jury will appear and take evidence.
Captain Craig is a reporter based in Oakland covering courts and judicial affairs. He joined The Herald He took up the position in 2021 and has covered court news since 2002 from three newsrooms in the United States and New Zealand.
this The Herald will be covering the case in a daily podcast, Defendant: Polkinghorne CaseYou can follow the podcast at Love Radio, Apple Podcasts, Spotifypass front page feed, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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