A “skilled butcher” who murdered her partner before using her professional expertise to dismember the body has been found guilty of murder at Derby Crown Court today, 10 February 2026.
Anna Podedworna, 40, was unanimously convicted of the 2010 murder of Izabela Zablocka, whose remains were discovered in a makeshift grave beneath a concrete patio in Normanton last summer. The verdict brings to an end a 15-year mystery that left Ms Zablocka’s family in Poland—including her young daughter—clinging to the hope she was still alive.
The court heard that Podedworna, a professional turkey butcher at a poultry factory in Scropton, killed the 30-year-old mother-of-one during a violent row in August 2010. She then spent days “calculatingly and gruesomely” covering her tracks.
A ‘makeshift grave’ on Princes Street
Ms Zablocka’s remains were found on 1 June 2025 in the rear garden of a terraced property on Princes Street, where the couple had lived after moving to the UK from Poland.
The prosecution, led by Gordon Aspden KC, told the jury that Podedworna used a heavy horse figurine to strike Ms Zablocka over the head. Following the killing, Podedworna used her professional skills to cut the body in two at the waist, trussing the remains with electrical tape “like a piece of meat” before burying them in two black bin liners.
“She treated her partner no differently to a turkey carcass at her place of work,” the prosecution stated. Podedworna later overlaid the burial site with a concrete hardstanding to ensure the body remained hidden.
The ‘crack’ after 15 years
For over a decade, Podedworna maintained a web of lies, telling Ms Zablocka’s family and police that Izabela had simply walked out and moved to London.
However, the “mounting pressure” of a persistent search by Ms Zablocka’s daughter, Katarzyna—now 25—finally forced a breakthrough. The daughter had appeared on Polish television and worked with missing persons’ charities for years. When a Polish investigative journalist flew to the UK to confront Podedworna in May 2025, the butcher “cracked,” eventually emailing Derbyshire Police to confess that a body was buried in the garden.
‘Self-defence’ claims rejected
In the witness box, Podedworna admitted to the killing but claimed she had acted in self-defence after being attacked. She told jurors she decided to bury the body because she was “terrified” and believed no one would believe her account.
She claimed she only cut the body in two because she “lacked the strength” to move it whole. The jury took just over a day to reject her claims, convicting her of:
‘Justice has caught up with her’
Following the verdict, Detective Constable Emma Birch of Derbyshire Constabulary said: “Anna Podedworna brutally stole Izabela’s life and lied time and again. It was only when the net was closing that she spoke to police, and even then, she tried to blame her victim.”
Samantha Shallow of the Crown Prosecution Service added: “Izabela came to Derby in search of a new life but instead met her death. Podedworna subjected Izabela’s loved ones to 15 years of anguish. Justice has finally caught up with her.”
Podedworna will be sentenced at Derby Crown Court tomorrow, Wednesday 11 February.
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