Detective describes going to lodge where Polkinghorne, escort stayed

A police officer has detailed in court executing a search warrant at a South Island lakeside lodge where murder-accused former eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne was staying with a high-end Australian escort after his wife Pauline Hanna's death.

This was on April 30, 2021. Hanna was found dead on April 5 that year.

"I explained to Mr Polkinghorne that we were there to seize the phone belonging to Madison Ashton," Detective Senior Sergeant Lisa Anderson told the High Court in Auckland today.

Both Polkinghorne and Ashton were at Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat at the time. Both were advised of their rights by police, Anderson said.

She said that, after a phone was secured, it was confirmed there was a second phone of Ashton's and this was seized by police as well.

Police were told the second phone was Ashton's work phone.

"It was requested of Madison to provide pin numbers for her phones ... she declined to provide the pin numbers ... she was asked again and again refused," Anderson said.

A personal trainer to Polkinghorne and Hanna earlier said she'd mentioned she thought her husband was seeing someone else.

The High Court trial continued in Auckland this morning. Polkinghorne is alleged to have killed Hanna and staged the scene to make it look like a suicide, while his defence is that he found her dead in their Remuera home.

Barry Payne trained them both for many years at CityFitness in Newmarket.

He would see them separately for sessions about twice a week.

Payne said the couple "seemed okay" but Hanna did mention once she thought Polkinghorne "had a girlfriend".

Later in his evidence he detailed a phone call from Polkinghorne, made after Hanna died on Easter weekend in 2021.

He was due to see them both on that Easter Monday morning for training sessions.

"He rang me and I thought that was unusual, he normally texted me," Payne said.

"And when I answered he said, 'She's gone, she's gone'."

He described Polkinghorne on the call as distraught.

"It was heartbroken, sort of wailing almost," Payne said.

He later said Polkinghorne went on to say his wife had taken her own life.

The trainer said the couple generally got on well, having normal conversations for couples for the most part.

The Crown asked Payne if he saw them when things weren't good.

"Sometimes, there might've been a tiff, they seemed quite fond of each other at times, yeah I saw all those things," he said.

Payne said Hanna was very busy and often took work home with her.

Asked under cross examination if he thought her work as a DHB health administrator was a strain, he said he thought it was and she was a bit run down.

Payne, replying to defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC, also said Polkinghorne was not manic, distracted, or acting strange before Hanna's death.

This is after a long-term friend of the pair gave evidence yesterday in which he said Polkinghorne's behaviour changed in the year before Hanna died.

Part of the Crown's case which began last week is that Polkinghorne was trapped in a cycle of infidelity, drug use and financial issues.

Large quantities of methamphetamine were found at their home.

Payne said he did not notice any obvious signs of drug use by Polkinghorne, and he seemed in good spirits the last time he saw him.

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