Butcher who cut her ex-girlfriend in half and buried her in Derby garden is jailed for life
A turkey butcher has been sentenced to at least 21 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, whose body he dismembered and buried in a garden 15 years ago.
Anna Podedworna, 40, killed Izabela Zablocka before tying her “like a chicken” with electrical tape and placing her remains in rubbish bags in a “dirty, makeshift grave”.
The 30-year-old mother’s remains were found under reinforced concrete cladding in the garden of a terraced house in Princes Street, Normanton, Derby, by police officers last June. Zablocka had shared the property with Podedworna after they moved to the UK from Poland together.
Zablocka cut off contact with his family in August 2010, and Podedworna denied knowing his whereabouts at the time.
Zablocka’s daughter, Katarzyna Zablocka, who stayed in Poland as a child when her mother moved to England, said in a statement that she had spent her entire adult life “looking for answers” about the disappearance.
Podedworna was found guilty on Tuesday of murder, obstructing a lawful burial and perverting the course of justice after a three-week trial.
The defendant, of Boyer Street, Derby, was sitting in Derby Crown Court wearing a gray sweatshirt, black glasses and her hair pulled back into a bun when Mrs Justice Williams KC sentenced her on Wednesday.
Handing down the sentence, the judge said: “Your crimes and Izabela’s terrible fate were only revealed in 2025.
“As a result of your violent, manipulative and cruel actions, Katarzyna grew up not knowing what had happened to her beloved mother.
“Your actions have caused untold misery and trauma to Izabela’s family, who have no idea where she is or what happened to her.”
He added: “I’m sure you killed him in anger and frustration and not when you were attacked by him.”
Podedworna, who has two young children of her own, told the jury she acted in self-defense when she shot and killed Zablocka with the horse figurine, then tried to cover up the fatal act by cutting up and hiding the body.
The court heard Zablocka appeared male but could not afford gender reassignment surgery, leading to tensions between the couple.
Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC said “increasing pressure” led to Podedworna “cracking” and emailing police last year when a Polish television journalist flew to the UK to interview him.
In an impact statement read to the court, Zablocka’s daughter, also known as Kasia, said: “As a young child I was incredibly close to my mother.
“He was my whole world and it was a terrible experience for me when he suddenly disappeared from my life without even a single explanation.
“This sudden emptiness left a deep scar in my soul that remains with me to this day.
“I always felt in my heart that my mother did not leave me on purpose.
“I remembered how much you loved me when I was little.
“Making sure I was important to him gave me the strength to spend my entire adult life searching for answers. What really happened that caused our connection to break so suddenly?”
Mr Aspden had previously told the jury that Podedworna tried to cover up the murder with a series of “deliberate, calculated, horrific and time-consuming acts” over several days.
After last contacting Zablocka’s family in Poland, he took two weeks’ leave from his poultry factory, Cranberry Foods, in Scropton, Derbyshire.
The prosecutor said his work as a skilled butcher at the factory involved “skinning, deboning and portioning turkey carcasses using a large knife”.
In a statement released by police, Zablocka’s daughter added: “I subconsciously felt that he might have had some kind of accident or something bad might have happened.
“Even if he was homeless, he would still be able to communicate with me and my grandmother.
“But I never expected that the search for my mother would end under these conditions.
“It’s heartbreaking, but I also feel a great sense of satisfaction because I never gave up, and if it wasn’t for the determination to find the truth, we wouldn’t be where we are now. I never gave up.”
