Murder-accused who buried partner felt 'like monster'

A woman accused of murdering her partner said she felt like "some kind of monster" after cutting her in two and burying her in the garden, a jury has heard.

Anna Podedworna, 40, of Boyer Street, denies murdering her partner Izabela Zablocka, who was reported missing in 2010 after moving to Derby from Poland.

Police discovered Zablocka's remains buried in the garden of a house in Princes Street on 1 June 2025, after Podedworna emailed the force telling them her body would be found there.

Giving evidence at Derby Crown Crown on Tuesday, Podedworna said she never wanted to hurt Zablocka and was "only defending myself".

Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing

Defending Podedworna in court, Clive Stockwell asked his client about her relationship with Zablocka throughout the years they were together.

The defendant, who moved to England with Zablocka in 2009, said they had "frequent" arguments about money, work and "jealousy".

She said about two weeks before Zablocka's death, she had threatened to kill Podedworna and strangled her.

On the day Zablocka died - in around August or September 2010 - Podedworna said she returned home from work when Zablocka began shouting at her, asking why she was 10 minutes late.

Podedworna said Zablocka then grabbed her by the neck and held her up against the wall.

"Initially I was trying to push her away, but it wasn't working so I started to strangle her," she said.

When that did not work, Podedworna grabbed a horse figurine by the living room window and hit Zablocka with it, the court heard.

"After the situation which occurred two weeks prior. I was terrified she wasn't joking, she was trying to kill me," Podedworna told the jury.

The defendant added she did not intend to hurt Zablocka.

"I wanted her to leave me alone, for her to let me go," Podedworna said.

After hitting Zablocka a second time with the figurine, she fell to the ground, the court heard.

Podedworna told the jury she checked Zablocka's pulse before attempting to resuscitate her.

When she realised Zablocka was dead, Podedworna said she thought about calling the police and ambulance but decided not to.

"If I called I had no witnesses, nobody would have believed me that I was defending myself," she said.

She feared she would "go to prison for the rest of my life".

Podedworna said she could not leave Zablocka lying on her living room floor and thought about burying her in the garden.

Asked if she was thinking clearly at the time, the defendant said: "No. I was just terrified - I felt fear.

"At that address there was a garden, I thought I could bury her there."

Stockwell said: "Why did you think that?"

"I don't know, at that point nothing else came to my mind," she said.

The court heard Podedworna undressed Zablocka to her underwear, a vest and socks, before taking a knife from her kitchen and cutting her into two.

She threw the clothes in a bin.

She told the jury she then put Zablocka's body into black bags before cleaning the floors of her living room and kitchen.

Stockwell asked: "Can you remember how you were feeling at that point?"

"Like some kind of monster," Podedworna said.

The next day, Podedworna added she went to work and buried the bags in the back garden of her home that night, after it turned dark outside.

Stockwell said: "Do you accept that you killed Izabela?"

"I was only defending myself," Podedworna said.

Stockwell said: "But do you accept that as a result what happened with you, she died?"

"Yes. Despite that, I didn't want all this. I feel guilty," Podedworna said.

The jury previously heard Zablocka - who had a daughter from an earlier marriage - travelled to England with Podedworna in search of work.

Zablocka's daughter remained in Poland with relatives.

The court heard the pair hoped to work and save money towards gender reassignment surgery for Zablocka.

However, Podedworna said despite them both finding work in Derby at a "turkey factory" in 2009, Zablocka did not remain in employment.

By the following March, Podedworna said the pair had "arguments all the time".

"Iza [Zablocka] drank nearly every day unless she really had no money.

"She was tipsy all the time, not drunk, bit tipsy," she said.

Podedworna said Zablocka became jealous "about everything", including who she spoke to and who she was with.

She said at the time of Zablocka's death, they were no longer officially in a relationship but remained living together.

Zablocka's family reported her missing to UK police in November 2010, and then to police in Poland the following January, the court has heard.

Her daughter, now an adult, then contacted a Polish organisation Missing For Years in 2024, which then contacted Podedworna via Facebook.

The court heard Podedworna emailed the police on 21 May 2025 after Rafal Zalewski, a Polish TV journalist, travelled to the UK to interview her.

Of her confession to police, she said: "I couldn't carry on any more, I couldn't look at the pain of the family.

"I couldn't hear the fact that Iza was lying there in the garden and I wanted to be free - internally free, psychologically free."

The trial continues.

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