Anna Podedworna killed mother-of-one Izabela Zablocka before discarding her body under concrete in the back garden
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A "skilled" butcher who cut up her girlfriend and buried her in a garden where she was left for 15 years has been convicted of her murder.
Polish national Anna Podedworna killed Izabela Zablocka before trussing her up "like a chicken," with electrical tape before burying her remains in bin bags.
Podedworna, who worked as a turkey butcher, revealed after the killing she "did not have the strength to pick her up," and instead decided to "cut her into two."
Mother-of-one Ms Zablocka was reported missing by her family in August 2010 but it wasn't until June 2025 when her remains were found under concrete hardstanding in the garden of a terraced house that the pair shared in Derby.
Podedworna initially claimed that she had hit Ms Zablocka on the head with a horse figurine after her victim had tried to "strangle" her.
Instead of calling for an ambulance when she could not find a pulse, the court heard that Podedworna decided to cut Ms Zablocka in half with a knife and bury her in the garden.
When asked by prosecutors why she didn't phone 999, the killer said "I had no witnesses and no one would believe me that I was defending myself."
Podedworna, of Boyer Street, Derby, was found guilty of murder, preventing a lawful burial and perverting the course of justice.
Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC told the court that Podedworna tried to cover up the murder with a series of "deliberate, calculated, gruesome and time-consuming acts" over several days.
The jury was told "considerable force" would have been needed to cut Ms Zablocka’s body in half, and that her legs had been bound together before she was buried.
The prosecutor said Podedworna was a skilled butcher at a poultry factory called Cranberry Foods in Scropton, Derbyshire, at the time she killed Ms Zablocka.
Mr Aspden had told the court: "Her work had involved skinning, deboning, and portioning out turkey carcasses using a large knife."
Employment records at the Cranberry Foods factory show that Podedworna took two weeks off work after Ms Zablocka made her final contact with her mother.
During the trial, Podedworna told jurors: "I was just terrified, I felt fear. I thought I will bury her.
"I took the decision I would 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."
Ms Zablocka's mother reported the disappearance of her daughter to the Metropolitan Police via Izabela’s cousin who lived in London, in November 2010.
But despite a number of enquiries, no further information was found about her whereabouts.
When officers spoke with Podedworna she claimed she hadn’t seen her victim for months and didn’t know where she was.
Three months later, Ms Zablocka's family contacted Polish authorities to report her missing and this inquiry also failed to return any leads.
However, 14 years later, Ms Zablocka's now-adult daughter contacted a Polish missing persons organisation about her mother.
They released several appeals and made contact with Podedworna over the next year.
The appeals were reported on by a Polish journalist, who began investigating the disappearance and contacted Derbyshire Police in April 2025 enquiring about Ms Izabela as a missing person.
The journalist later travelled to Podedworna's home and video recorded the pair's conversation, which was later shown to the jury.
In a series of messages over several days to Derbyshire Police, Podedworna revealed that a person was buried in the garden of a property in Princes Street, Normanton.
Podedworna will be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday.
Speaking after the verdict was returned, Samantha Shallow from the CPS, 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."