Frances Obiefuleh murder trial: Wi-fi router turned off at home of murdered Havant woman, court hears
A broadband router was switched off before police found the body of a woman murdered in her own home, a court has heard.
Norbert Maiksner, 49 from Timsbury Crescent, Havant, is accused of murdering 45-year-old Frances Obiefuleh at an address in the same town, plus one count of child cruelty. Her body was found by police in her home on April 17 last year.
Earlier in the trial, doorbell camera footage from Ms Obiefuleh’s home showed Maiksner entering the home on the evening of April 16, carrying a number of bags. But the camera did not have any footage of him leaving the property, even though his departure was documented by other means.
The court has been told of how Maiksner travelled to see an ex-partner in Wembley that same night, hurriedly dropping off bags at her flat and telling her he was “sorry” before leaving “in a rush”.
He also visited his mother’s home in High Wycombe before being found the following morning by a traffic officer, as he walked along the nearby M40.
This afternoon (Tuesday, March 24) at Portsmouth Crown Court, the jury was told why there is no camera footage of Maiksner leaving the Havant property.
When police entered the property on April 17 and found Ms Obiefuleh’s body, they took a number of pictures at the scene. They also found that a Vodafone wireless router had been switched off at the mains socket, although the cables were all still plugged in.
The last bit of footage from the camera was at 8.58pm on April 16, meaning the wi-fi was turned off sometime between then and police entering the home the following morning, the court heard.
When Maiksner was first arrested by police, he told officers that he had “killed his girlfriend” and referred to himself as the “devil”, but upon arriving at the Eastern Police Investigation Centre in Portsmouth, refused to speak further with officers about the incident.
In police interviews, he described his arrest as being a “bad dream” and told officers he would soon “wake up” and was not going to speak to them.
Maiksner has not spoken with defence barristers and not appeared in court at any point thus far, with Mr Justice Murray entering a not guilty plea on the defendant’s behalf. The judge has reminded the jury that his absence itself is not an admission of guilt.
(Proceeding)