Pauline Hanna's niece has taken on the stand at Philip Polkinghorne's murder trial

Day 12 gets underway today -- with Polkinghorne's accused of killing his wife, and the defence claiming she took her own life.

The court has heard from Hanna's niece, Rose, who made a covert recording played to the court, in which Pauline discussed issues within her relationship.

Newstalk ZB's Chelsea Daniels says Rose explained they were cataloguing Pauline's mother's items, and that's why she was recording.

She says the jury didn't hear all the talk about the items, only from the point the conversation quickly turned.