A butcher who murdered her girlfriend, cut her in half and buried her body under concrete in their garden has been jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years.
Anna Podedworna, from Poland, killed Izabela Zablocka with a horse figurine before wrapping her remains in bin bags in a “filthy, makeshift grave” in Normanton, Derby.
Ms Zablocka, 30, was reported missing after losing contact with family in 2010, Derby Crown Court heard. Podedworna denied knowing where she was.
But prosecutors said she finally “cracked” last year and emailed police when a Polish journalist flew to the UK to interview her.
The mother-of-one’s remains were found in June, under concrete in the garden of the house the couple had shared after moving from Poland together.
Jurors were told “considerable force” would have been needed to cut Ms Zablocka’s body in half and that electrical tape had been used to bind her legs together “like a chicken”.
At the time, Podedworna worked as a butcher at a factory in Scropton, Derbyshire, where she skinned, deboned and cut up turkey. She had taken two weeks off after Ms Zablocka last contacted her family.
Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC said she used this for a series of “deliberate, calculated, gruesome and time-consuming acts” meant to cover up her crimes.
The court heard that the victim presented as a man but could not afford gender reassignment surgery, which caused tension with her killer.
Podedworna told the court that she had killed her partner in self-defence.
The 40-year-old said, “I was just terrified, I felt fear. I thought I would bury her. I made the decision to bury her in the garden.
“I wanted to pick her up whole. I just did not have the strength to pick her up. I had an idea to cut her down. It seemed the only way… to cut her into two.”
The jury found her guilty of murder, preventing a lawful burial, and perverting the course of justice after a three-week trial on Tuesday.
The victim’s daughter, Katarzyna Zablocka, who was just a child when her mother moved to the UK, said she had spent her entire adult life “looking for answers” about what happened
In an impact statement read to the court, Katarzyna, also known as Kasia, said: “As a young child, I was incredibly close to my mother.
“She was my whole world, so the fact that she suddenly vanished from my life without a single word of explanation was a horrific experience for me.
“This sudden void left a deep wound in my psyche that has stayed with me to this day.
“In my heart, I always felt that my mother did not leave me on purpose. I remembered how much she loved me when I was little.
“It was this certainty – that I mattered to her – that gave me the strength to spend my entire adult life looking for answers – what really happened that caused our contact to break off so suddenly?”
Sentencing Podedworna, who has two young children of her own, the judge told her: “Your crimes and Izabela’s gruesome fate only came to light in 2025.
“As a result of your violent, manipulative and cruel actions, Katarzyna grew up not knowing what happened to her beloved mother.
“Your actions caused untold misery and trauma to Izabela’s family, who were left with no idea where she was or what had befallen her.”
She added, “I am sure you killed her in anger and frustration rather than when you were attacked by her.”
Detective Inspector Kane Martin, from Derbyshire Police, said: “This investigation has been particularly challenging and distressing from the outset.
“Izabela’s family have had to learn about the unimaginable horrors Anna Podedworna inflicted upon her in a very public manner, so many years after she was taken away.
“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.
“Izabela was a much-loved mother, daughter and granddaughter – nothing can bring her back, but it is my hope that today’s sentencing allows her family to lay her memory to rest.”
