A woman standing trial for the murder of her girlfriend, whose dismembered remains were discovered buried beneath concrete in their Derby garden fifteen years after she vanished, repeatedly denied any knowledge of her partner's whereabouts when questioned by a journalist, a court has heard.
Giggling Denials and Divine References
Anna Podedworna, now aged 40, told a Polish television reporter who visited her home in Derby that she had no idea where Izabela Zablocka was, stating, "You know, honestly, I really don't know." When pressed about Ms Zablocka's fate, Podedworna remarked, "God is up there and he knows... what had happened," before giggling during the exchange. She further suggested to the journalist that Ms Zablocka might have taken her own life or entered into an arranged marriage with a Pakistani man.
A Violent Death and a Gruesome Concealment
Derby Crown Court was told that Izabela Zablocka suffered a "violent death" sometime between August 28 and October 1 in 2010. Her body was dismembered, bound with electrical tape, and placed into two plastic bin bags before being buried under hardstanding in the back garden of the terraced home in Princes Street, Derby, which the two women shared. The grim discovery was made in June of last year, a full fifteen years after Ms Zablocka last had any contact with her family in Poland.
Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC detailed how Podedworna allegedly cut Ms Zablocka's body in half, utilising skills she had acquired while working as a butcher. He described a "post-murder cover-up" involving "deliberate, calculated, gruesome, and time-consuming acts" carried out with resolve over several days. The body was found with legs hyperflexed and bound tightly with tape, a position Mr Aspden said resembled "a chicken you might see in a supermarket."
A Relationship's Toxic Deterioration
The court heard that the relationship between the two Polish women, who moved to the UK in 2009 for work, began to seriously deteriorate after Ms Zablocka refused to undergo gender reassignment surgery. In a recorded interview with journalist Rafal Zalewski from May 2025, played to the jury, Podedworna explained, "I was with her but I told her that...you will go for surgery and so on. We came with the intention to earn money, she was to go for surgery because I said I didn't want to live with a girl."
Podedworna claimed Ms Zablocka "supposedly wanted" the surgery but was reluctant to work to fund it. When asked if this refusal marked the start of the relationship's decline, Podedworna replied, "Yes." She denied leaving Ms Zablocka for a man, stating she did not meet him until perhaps a year or two later.
Life Carried On as Normal
Jurors were informed that in the fifteen years following Ms Zablocka's disappearance, Podedworna "got on with her life as normal." Her mother and sister joined her in the UK, and she formed a relationship with a local man, with whom she had two children. The prosecution alleged this demonstrated a determined effort to conceal her crime and destroy incriminating evidence.
The Unravelling of a Long-Held Secret
The case began to unravel in 2024 when Ms Zablocka's daughter, then in her mid-twenties, contacted the organisation 'Missing for Years.' When the group approached Podedworna, she again denied knowing Ms Zablocka or her whereabouts. However, the situation reached a "tipping point" in May 2025 after journalist Rafal Zalewski requested an interview.
"At last the defendant could feel that justice was finally catching up with her. The mounting pressure caused her to crack," Mr Aspden told the court. On May 21, 2025, Podedworna contacted Derbyshire Police, eventually directing them to the garden in Princes Street. She later attended a police station and claimed Ms Zablocka had died in an "accident" during a violent confrontation where she was defending herself—a claim the prosecution labelled "yet another lie."
A Family's Agony and a Skeletal Discovery
Izabela Zablocka was born in Trzebiatow, Poland, and had a daughter named Katarzyna before her relationship ended and she began seeing Podedworna. The two women left for the UK, leaving the nine-year-old girl with relatives. Ms Zablocka maintained regular contact with her family until her final phone call on August 28, 2010. Her family reported her missing later that year, living in "a state of constant anxiety and dread" for over a decade.
When police excavated the garden on June 1 last year, they found only a skeleton and small tissue fragments, with DNA tests confirming the identity. An "animal burial site" containing bones from dogs, cats, and other animals was located just above the human grave. Due to the passage of time and the condition of the remains, the exact cause of death could not be determined.
Anna Podedworna denies charges of murder, preventing a lawful burial, and perverting the course of justice. The trial continues.
