Butcher who buried girlfriend in garden guilty of murder

A woman who killed her female partner, cut her body in half and buried her in her garden where she remained for 15 years has been found guilty of murder.

Anna Podedworna, 40, showed no emotion as the jury returned their verdict on Tuesday. 

She had denied murdering Izabela Zablocka, 30, claiming she accidentally killed her during a row and dismembered and buried her as she did not think her account of self defence would be believed.

But jurors at Derby Crown Court found her guilty of murder, preventing a lawful burial and perverting the course of justice following a three-week trial. She will be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday. 

Jurors were told the relationship between the two women, who moved to the UK from Poland in 2009 in search of work, was tense and volatile.

They argued about money, drink and Ms Zablocka's refusal to undergo gender reassignment surgery. 

The court heard that despite being in a lesbian relationship, Podedworna 'preferred men' and wanted Ms Zablocka to have the gender operation but she 'lost interest' - causing further tension between the pair.

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The court heard that after moving to Derby, both women found work at a turkey processing factory – Ms Zablocka as a packer and Podedworna as a 'highly-skilled butcher'. 

Ms Zablocka was reported missing by her family in 2010 after her phone calls home stopped abruptly but police in Derbyshire closed a missing person's investigation after just 10 days. 

It was only after Ms Zablocka's daughter Katarzyna, contacted missing person's charities in Poland, and a Polish journalist went to Derby to ask Podedworna about her whereabouts, that she emailled police in May last year to tell them where he body was. 

Following a search of the garden at the couple's former home, Ms Zablocka's remains were uncovered under hardstanding in black bin bags surrounded by animal bones. 

Due to the passage of time, her cause of death has never been established but police said evidence on Podedworna's mobile phone was 'overwhelming'.  

In court, Podedworna said she felt 'like some sort of monster' after spending two hours cutting Ms Zablocka's body in half and putting the remains in bin bags.

Detective Inspector Kane Martin from Derbyshire police said: 'After being killed in her own home in August of 2010 Izabela was brutally and horrifically dismembered by the woman she loved – Anna Podedworna, a highly skilled butcher.

'Anna Podedworna, by her own admission acted like a monster – I don't think my words can describe her actions and her behaviour towards Izabela any better.

'After killing Izabela, she cut her into two, treating her no differently to another piece of meat at work.'

Police said it was only thanks to the 'resolve and determination of Izabela's family' that the truth was finally uncovered.

DI Martin said said after being contacted by the media, Podedworna was 'forced into a corner, the net was closing in and the suspicion around her was mounting'.

He said: 'In an attempt to control the narrative, Podedworna came forward and gave an extremely limited account of what happened all those years ago.'

On her phone, officers found searches for reformed murderers, 'great sinners' and prison life as well as ones about the case. 

Giving evidence at her trial, Podedworna said Ms Zablocka died as a result of an accident when she hit her with a horse figurine. She admitted killing Ms Zablocka but said she was 'defending herself' after her partner tried to strangle her.

She told how after realising Ms Zablocka was dead she 'went into the garden... looked around, checked if there was a place where I could have done it'.

'When I located that place ...I took a decision I would bury her in the garden,' she said.

Podedworna, who was aged 24 at the time, said she then removed her partner's clothes and used a kitchen knife to cut her in half on their living room floor.

After putting her in a wheelie bin she went to bed and work the next day, digging a grave when she got home.

DI Martin said her account was 'chilling' and 'emotionless'. 

'Having cut Izabela in two she did no more that throw her in the bin as she awaited the opportunity to dig the filthy grave and bury her in the dead of night,' he said. 

'She then removed all trace of Izabela – lying and obstructing justice in the years that followed.

'Anna Podedworna claimed that the weight of what happened had always played on her mind and that she wanted to come forward but for some reason something was blocking her.

'The evidence shows clearly that Anna Podedworna is a selfish individaul, concerned only about the impact upon herself.

'The only person who truly knows what happened that day is Anna Podedworna – Izabela is not here to tell her story - but hopefully the outcome of this case can bring some form of closure for her family.'

Samantha Shallow of the Crown Prosecution Service said: 'Izabela Zablocka came to Derby in search of a new life with her partner, but instead met her death. Anna Podedworna not only brutally murdered her partner, but she subjected Izabela's loved ones to 15 years of uncertainty and anguish, not knowing if she was alive or dead.

'Podedworna hid the truth for years, but justice has caught up with her. Her callous actions took a mother and daughter away from her family and denied them the opportunity to grieve her passing and lay her to rest. I would like to offer them my sincere sympathies.'