The first paramedics on the scene of Pauline Hanna's death in April 2021 have described what they saw and heard as Philip Polkinghorne's murder trial continued today.
Warning: This article contains content that could be disturbing to some people.
The Crown alleges that Polkinghorne, now 71, murdered his wife Pauline Hanna by strangling her before staging the scene to look like she'd committed suicide by hanging herself.
But Polkinghorne's defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC said that Polkinghorne "simply went to bed and, when he got up in the morning, he discovered his wife in that position having hung herself".
Yesterday afternoon and this morning, a packed Courtroom 11 at the Auckland High Court heard from paramedics who attended the scene that day: The morning of April 5, 2021.
Polkinghorne said on his call to 111 at about 8am: "My wife's dead, she's hung herself."
Paramedics Bernard Doo and Hannah Matheson were in an ambulance nearby with Liam Larsen, a paramedic student, when they were called to the Remuera scene.
Initially, the event was classified as "purple" — meaning a high speed, "lights and sirens response" — but on the way the event was downgraded, Doo and Matheson told the court, likely because the patient had died.
When they arrived — at about the same time as the police — they struggled to find the right address at first, Doo and Matheson said.
A man helped direct them to an entrance, where a woman was waiting. The paramedics had equipment including oxygen with them. The woman — Polkinghorne's sister — said they "won't be needing that", the paramedics said.
Doo attended Hanna's body while Matheson completed the paperwork and spoke to Polkinghorne, who was inside the house.
Larsen was there to observe and learn. All three said they saw orange rope hanging from the balustrade of a set of stairs.
Doo said Hanna's face was "ashen and blue", with "marks around the neck" which "seemed to be consistent with a hanging".
Matheson told the court: "We could see from the colour of the skin that she was not breathing, there were no signs of life."
Doo, Matheson and Larsen also described noticing an injury on Polkinghorne's forehead.
Matheson spoke to him at the scene to help with her paperwork. He was dressed in a multi-coloured patterned dressing gown, she said.
"He knew that she was dead," she said, adding he appeared "reasonably calm" — though Larsen said his voice was "shaky".
Matheson said she asked how he'd received the injury and if he needed medical assistance. He declined.
The packed public gallery was quiet as Matheson described her conversation with Polkinghorne.
"He was unaware that there was a marking on his forehead," she said.
"He reached for his forehead and sort of looked at his hand and didn't say much else.
"He seemed surprised to notice that there was something on his forehead."
She later described it as more of a "graze" than a "cut". Both Doo and Matheson said the wound wasn't bleeding.
During their conversation, Polkinghorne said Hanna was depressed, Matheson said.
And Polkinghorne made a call to his wife's workplace to explain that she wouldn't be coming in, Matheson added.
"I noticed that his demeanour changed and he appeared more distressed and upset on the phone."
She assumed it was Hanna's workplace because he said "she couldn't come in today". Hanna was high up in the healthcare system in Counties Manukau, closely involved in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
After Doo completed his examination of Hanna's body, Matheson completed the paperwork and handed the scene over to police.
Larsen said that, around the time they were leaving, Polkinghorne went upstairs and changed into a white collared shirt and jeans.
The trial continues, with police officers who attended the scene expected to give evidence this afternoon.
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