Polkinghorne E9: ‘There was no murder’

About this episode

The episode discusses the defense case in the Polkinghorne trial, highlighting testimonies and the focus on suicide rather than murder.

As the defence case begins, Polkinghorne’s lawyer describes the police as being “intoxicated” with the idea of murder, and cautions the jury against being distracted by evidence about sex and drugs. Pauline Hanna’s sister says Hanna told her of a suicide attempt more than 30 years ago and Polkinghorne’s ex-wife takes the stand. WARNING: This podcast references suicide right from the start and throughout the episode. Some listeners might find this distressing. Click here for where to get help in New Zealand. Podcasts like this take lots of time and resources to produce, which is why we'd love you to support our work by becoming a subscriber! You can subscribe to Stuff Extra directly in Apple Podcasts, or Click Here to listen on other platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Hosts: Stuff Audio, Pauline Hanna

Guest: Polkinghorne’s ex-wife

Topics covered

• defense case
• murder
• suicide
• jury
• testimony

Keywords

• Polkinghorne
• murder
• suicide
• defense
• testimony
• jury
• drugs
• evidence

More episodes of The Trial

• Trailer: Quarantine Nation · March 3, 2026 · 3 min
• Polkinghorne Bonus: Sentenced on drug charges · November 1, 2024 · 10 min
• Polkinghorne E13: The Verdict · September 27, 2024 · 25 min
• Polkinghorne E12: The closing arguments - murder or suicide? · September 25, 2024 · 1h 1m
• Polkinghorne E11: ‘I'm never good enough’ · September 23, 2024 · 50 min
• Polkinghorne E10: Injuries and interpretations · September 20, 2024 · 49 min