Police release details of results of search of Hanna phone

At the Philip Polkinghorne murder trial, it was announced that a forensic analysis of Pauline Hanna's phone found no searches related to depression or self-harm.

Warning: This article contains content that some people may find disturbing.

Polkinghorne, 71, is accused of murdering Hanna in her home on Easter 2021. His defense is that he woke up to find she had already died by suicide. Prosecutors said he staged the scene to make it look like one.

The trial, which began in late July in the High Court in Auckland, is nearing the end of the prosecution case.

Detective Andrew Reeves this morning continued the evidence gathering that began last week.

He examined Polkinghorne and Hanna's phones, including examining the web browsing history of her iPhone 8.

The web history search spanned from December 12, 2019, to April 4, 2021 – her last day of life.

Reeves said he found no records of deleted searches, nor were there any “privacy browsers” that keep browsing hidden. He said of more than 400 Internet searches, none involved suicide, hanging or self-harm.

However, there were searches such as “P-pipe”, “What does P look like?” and “How does P make you feel?”.

These searches took place on Christmas Eve 2020. The following day, Christmas Day, photos were taken using the iPhone camera.

Reeves said they showed what looked like a shopping bag with two glass pipes inside.

“These are the same pipes used to smoke methamphetamine,” he said.

There were also short videos or live images of the carrying bag in an open drawer.

Prosecutors argued that Polkinghorne was caught in a web of meth drugs, infidelity and money worries when he killed Hanna.

The photos on Hanna's phone mostly showed her family and grandchildren.

While trawling through text messages, police did indeed find a message from Hanna to a mental health crisis team arranging a meeting for her return from the couple's Coromandel beach house, but Reeves said he could not find a follow-up message to formalise the meeting.

It was already noted in the proceedings that Hanna contacted her family doctor and told him about her suicidal thoughts.

Her doctor then asked her to contact the mental health crisis team.