Another long-time friend of Pauline Hanna has recounted the phone call the Auckland woman's husband Philip Polkinghorne made to them following her death.
Warning: This article contains content that could be disturbing to some people.
Polkinghorne, 71, is accused of killing his wife on Easter 2021 and making it look like a suicide.
The Crown says he was caught in a web of infidelity, drug use and financial woes.
His defence says there is nothing sinister and he simply woke and found his wife dead after she took her own life, but the Crown says the suicide he called 111 about does not add up.
It believes he may have been high and angry, or low and strung out on methamphetamine when he murdered her.
He was charged 16 months after his wife's death.
On Thursday, John Riordan continued giving evidence that he started the day before at the High Court in Auckland.
He is the husband of Pheasant Riordan, who also gave evidence yesterday.
Like his wife, Riordan re-enacted in court a strangling he said Hanna showed them, said to be at the hands of Polkinghorne.
His evidence then turned to a phone call from Polkinghorne after Hanna's death.
"When we answered the phone he was already crying and he said 'my darling wife, she's gone'," Riordan said, adding that he continued for another few minutes.
"Then he starts talking about the police, the second he starts talking about the police the emotion stopped.
"He said, 'the police are going to charge me with murder. I didn't kill her'."
Riordan told the court Polkinghorne then started talking more about his dead wife and began crying on the phone again.
John Riordan said Hanna made no secret of being on anti-depressants.
"Got a heart problem? Take a heart tablet. That's how relaxed she was about it. There was never any thought about covering it up."
The defence has been painting a picture of Hanna attempting suicide in the early 1990s and being on medication.
Its also said she had needed specialist help.
Riordan said Hanna had never given any indication she would hurt herself.
"No, far from it."
He said Hanna had a lot to live for and was especially excited at being part of the lives of her grandchildren.
"They were front and centre," he told Crown Prosecutor Alysha McClintock.
Under cross examination, defence lawyer Ron Mansfield asked John Riordan whether anyone else close to him had died from self-harm. Riordan said they had. "Did they have a lot to live for?" Mansfield asked.
"There were a lot of people that loved him, yes." Riordan replied. "So we all have a lot to live for, don't we?" Mansfield said in return.
Defence: 'Are you seeking what you think is justice for Pauline?'
Mansfield strongly quizzed John Riordan about the accuracy of his evidence in court, suggesting he was "amping up" his evidence as he sought justice for his dead friend.
Mansfield highlighted what he said were differences between Riordan's earlier statement to police and his tesitmony in court.
"Do you think you've read various reports on this trial and think you can add a wee bit to what actually happened that night to improve the position for your dear friend Pauline?" Mansfield asked.
He was referring to the night at dinner Hanna was said to have demonstrated how Polkinghorne strangled her.
"I have made a point of not reading about what happened to Pauline because it's just so horrific," Riordan replied. "It's not the memory I want to have of my friend."
Mansfield then told Riordan he was with others just before giving evidence in the trial, and seen outside court with them after.
John Riordan said this was correct.
"And no doubt you're wanting, as you put it, to seek what you think is justice for Pauline, correct?" Mansfield asked.
The defence lawyer further questioned whether Riordan was "putting the boot in" with his evidence in court. Riordan replied that he was not.
Mansfield said it seemed John Riordan and his wife and fellow trial witness Pheasant Riordan had spoken about what they would say to police in their statements ahead of the statements being made.
Riordan said this amounted to asking each other generally what they each remembered from the night.
John Riordan was then asked questions again by Crown prosecutors.
He said none of what he has said in court was to "to put the boot in" or "gild the lily" as defence lawyerMansfield had suggested.
Riordan also told Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock that no conversations he'd had with others at court had affected his evidence.
The trial continues.
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