Polish Mother Dismembered and Buried in Garden by Partner After 15-Year Disappearance
A Polish mother who vanished for nearly fifteen years was murdered, dismembered, and concealed in bin bags buried beneath a garden, a court has heard in harrowing testimony. The case of Izabela Zablocka, whose remains were discovered in 2025, has revealed a grim narrative of domestic violence and a prolonged cover-up.
Stormy Relationship Ends in Alleged Murder
Jurors at Derby Crown Court were informed that Anna Podedworna, aged forty, stands accused of murdering her partner, Izabela Zablocka, in 2010. The prosecution described a "stormy and turbulent" relationship between the two women, which allegedly culminated in a violent death. Podedworna faces charges of murder, preventing a lawful burial, and perverting the course of justice over a period spanning from August 2010 to June 2025.
Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC outlined the Crown's case, alleging that Podedworna engaged in a series of "deliberate, calculated, gruesome and time-consuming acts" to conceal the crime. The defendant, of Boyer Street, Derby, listened to the proceedings with the aid of a Polish interpreter, appearing in the dock wearing a grey sweatshirt and black glasses.
A Life Cut Short and a Grisly Concealment
Izabela Zablocka, who was thirty years old at the time of her death, had grown up in Trzebiatow, north-west Poland. After a marriage that ended in separation, she began a relationship with Podedworna. The couple moved to the United Kingdom in 2009, initially residing in London before settling in a terraced house in the Normanton area of Derby, where both worked at a poultry factory named Cranberry Foods.
The prosecution alleges that shortly after Ms Zablocka's final phone call to her mother on August 28, 2010, Podedworna murdered her. The subsequent cover-up involved dismembering the body with a large knife, wrapping it in electrical tape, placing the remains in black plastic bin bags, and burying them in the back garden. A concrete hardstanding was then laid over the grave to hide the makeshift burial site.
Mr Aspden told the jury, "Precisely how and why the defendant murdered Izabela only she now knows and, for obvious reasons, she will never reveal." The family, including Ms Zablocka's daughter who remained in Poland, reported her missing to UK police in November 2010, with Polish authorities contacted in January 2011.
Years of Deception and a Eventual Confession
For years, Podedworna maintained she did not know Ms Zablocka's whereabouts, which the prosecution labelled as "all lies and a continuation of the post-murder cover-up." However, mounting pressure reportedly caused her to "crack" last year following an interview with a Polish television journalist. She subsequently emailed Derbyshire Police, claiming to have evidence, and later attended a police station.
During her conversation with police, Podedworna admitted to killing Ms Zablocka but presented a new account, claiming the death was accidental and occurred during a violent confrontation in which she acted in self-defence. The prosecution dismissed this as "yet another lie by this defendant to conceal her guilt, to cover up the murder and to deceive and hoodwink those around her."
Ms Zablocka's remains were eventually discovered by police in the garden of a property on Princes Street, Normanton, the former home the women shared. Anna Podedworna denies all charges against her, and the trial continues as the court seeks to unravel the truth behind this tragic and long-concealed crime.
