A man has been jailed for life for suffocating his girlfriend with tape in what a senior detective described as a “heinous and evil” act of violence.
Norbert Maiksner, 49, must serve a minimum of 24 years in prison for the murder of 45-year-old Frances Obiefuleh at their home in Havant, Hampshire. The Polish national was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court, having also been convicted of a charge of child neglect. The court heard he refused to attend his trial, which concluded in his absence on March 27.
A Distraught Confession on the Motorway
The sequence of events leading to Maiksner’s arrest began on the morning of April 17, 2025, when a Highways Officer found him walking along the hard shoulder of the M40 near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. According to prosecutor Paul Cavin KC, Maiksner told the officer to call the police because he had killed his girlfriend. He later told officers the killing felt like “a dream” and that he wanted to wake up.
A Desperate Final Struggle
The full horror of Ms Obiefuleh’s final moments was detailed during the trial. A post-mortem examination established she died from smothering, with injuries caused by compression of her neck and chest. Prosecutors described how tape had been wrapped around her face.
Paul Cavin KC told the court that the defendant was found to have scratches on his chest and back. “The likely and frankly terrible conclusion,” he said, “is that they were inflicted by Frances with her fingers and fingernails during the attack by the defendant in her last moments as she struggled to stay alive.” This forensic evidence painted a stark picture of the victim’s desperate fight for life against her attacker.
The crime also involved a young child. Maiksner was convicted of child neglect and child cruelty, having left Ms Obiefuleh’s four-year-old son alone in the house overnight following the attack. The child was only discovered the next morning after emergency services were alerted. The Crown Prosecution Service noted that a young boy had been left without a mother due to Maiksner’s violence.
Under sentencing guidelines for murder in England and Wales, which mandates a life sentence, judges set a minimum term based on the severity of the offence. The 24-year minimum term imposed reflects the brutality of the crime.
In a statement released through Hampshire Constabulary, Detective Sergeant Heather Kenwright said: “I am glad to see Maiksner face a life behind bars for committing the most heinous and evil of acts, it is what he deserves for taking the life of an innocent woman. He has caused such unthinkable suffering to both Frances in the last moments of her life, and to her family.”
The murder occurred in Havant, an area where crime statistics present a mixed picture. Some analyses for 2026 describe it as the second most dangerous major town in Hampshire, with a crime rate 12% higher than the county average and violence and sexual offences being the most common crimes. Other reports, however, rate Havant’s overall crime level as low compared to other local authority districts nationally.
Paying tribute, the family of Frances Obiefuleh remembered a beloved mother and friend. “Frances was kind, intelligent, and resourceful – a caring and deeply loving mother, sister, aunt, and friend to many,” their statement read. “She was a devoted mother and beautiful in every sense of the word. Someone we love has been cruelly taken from us, and it has changed our lives forever. We have lost a truly beautiful soul. Her bright light has been cruelly dimmed, and we are left shaken, heartbroken, and still trying to process the grief and shock of losing Frances.”
