How a TV journalist helped crack a murder cold case

Polish TV journalist Rafal Zalewski knew Anna Podedworna was hiding something when he travelled to interview her in Derby.

Prosecutors commended him and his work - calling it the "tipping point" that led to Podedworna emailing Derbyshire Police telling them where to find the body of her partner Izabela Zablocka.

Podedworna, a "skilled butcher", killed Izabela in their home in Derby in 2010, cut her into two pieces and buried her in the garden. She was found guilty of murder on Tuesday, and handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years in jail on Wednesday.

Speaking to the BBC, Zalewski said: "She was very surprised and nervous during that conversation."

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

During Podedworna's trial at Derby Crown Court, the jury was told the pair moved to the UK together from Poland in search of work and lived in the Normanton area of the city.

The prosecution said 30-year-old Izabela phoned her mother in Poland on 28 August 2010 and was not heard from again.

Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC said shortly after this call, Izabela was murdered by Podedworna, who "dismembered Izabela's body by cutting it in half with a large knife".

Police discovered Podedworna, 40, had previously been employed as a "skilled butcher", and her work involved "deboning, and portioning out turkey carcasses using a large knife".

The court heard the body was buried in the back garden, before concrete hardstanding was then laid over the top.

Zalewski, who works as a reporter for Polsat - one of the most watched TV channels in Poland - received correspondence from Izabela's daughter Katarzyna, known as Kasia, asking him to look into her disappearance.

In 2024, she contacted Polish organisation Missing for Years, who contacted Podedworna via Facebook.

Podedworna claimed she did not know where Izabela was and that she did not know what had happened to her.

A year later in May 2025, Zalewski requested an interview with Podedworna and he flew to Derby to challenge her on the doorstep of her Boyer Street home for the social affairs programme Interwencja.

Despite knowing exactly where Izabela was, Podedworna denied any knowledge of her whereabouts.

But Zalewski said something was amiss. He felt she was not telling the truth.

"[She was the] person from the very beginning who was pointed out by Izabela's family as someone who might be linked and have knowledge relating to the mysterious disappearance," he said.

"She was very surprised and nervous during that conversation."

After that doorstep interview, Podedworna knew her time was up. The prosecution said the mounting pressure caused her to crack - 15 years on.

Following the interaction with Zalewski, she emailed Derbyshire Police about Izabela on 15 May 2025.

At first, the police had no idea what it was all about as Podedworna's email had come completely out of the blue.

The police emailed the defendant back asking her for further details.

Over the days that followed, there was an exchange of emails between her and the force.

It culminated in the defendant emailing detectives on 24 May, informing them they would find Izabela buried in the back garden of a house in Princes Street, Normanton.

Later that same day, the defendant attended Pear Tree police station in Derby and admitted she had killed Izabela.

But she claimed Izabela had died by "accident" during a violent confrontation between them, and that during this, she had done nothing more than defend herself.

But the jury rejected that defence when she took to the witness stand.

Speaking about his interaction with Podedworna, Zalewski said the killer had told Izabela's family "so many lies" to them.

"I knew she could be hiding something, that she might know something more than she's not telling us," he said. "This was further confirmed by how nervous she appeared to be when I showed up on her doorstep.

"We know now that right after that conversation with me, she went to the police and revealed where Izabela's remains were hidden. Now we know how Izabela got treated after her death, it's simply something monstrous and macabre."

Police have also praised the actions of Izabela's daughter, who did not give up her search for her mother.

Det Con Emma Birch said: "While she navigated those difficult teenage years without Izabela, she grew into a strong-minded young woman who wanted answers.

"Her determination saw missing persons charities contacted in Poland and interest from reporters.

"The tracking down of Anna Podedworna began the journey to uncovering the truth behind Izabela's disappearance.

"She had not abandoned Katarzyna - instead she had been murdered.

"Were it not for Katarzyna's refusal to simply accept that her mother had left I have no doubt that Anna Podedworna would still be living her life and Izabela's family would have continued to be left in the dark."

Zalewski said the case itself was high-profile, both in Poland and with Polish nationals living in the UK.

"When we walk the streets of Derby, where we've been now for over a week, people approach us every other moment and ask us about this case - what else we know, when will the prosecution take place," he said.

After the verdict, Det Insp Kane Martin said: "The roles that Kasia and Mr Zalewski played in this case cannot and should not be underestimated.

"It is their actions which pushed Anna Podedworna to finally contact the police and tell us where we would find Izabela's body and where we discovered it."

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