Man who murdered ex-girlfriend and tried to decapitate her in ‘savage’ attack jailed

A man who stabbed a student to death and attempted to decapitate her after she ended their relationship has been jailed for life.

Dennis Akpomedaye, 30, stabbed his ex-girlfriend Anna Jedrkowiak in an alleyway in west London on May 17 last year after stalking her for 130 miles. On Wednesday he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years.

Judge Rajeev Shetty, sentencing at Kingston Crown Court, said the attack on the 21-year-old in Ealing was “ferocious and savage”.

“There is no mitigation here, there is no evidence of a mental disorder or disability,” he added.

Akpomedaye waited for Jedrkowiak to finish her shift at a Las Iguanas restaurant before following her and her friend to a deserted alley, the court previously heard.

Wearing a balaclava and with his hood up, he stabbed the 21-year-old, known as Ania, 40 times, including a wound to her neck that detectives believe was an attempt to decapitate her.

Akpomedaye, of Blewitt Street, Newport, was found guilty of her murder at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday.

Ms Jedrkowiak’s mother Danuta, who lives in Poland, said in a statement read to the court: “He, this murderer, is still alive and will be for many more years, despite the fact he took my daughter’s life.”

She said the “barbaric” way her daughter died meant her heart “broke with grief and despair”.

Ms Jedrkowiak’s mother attended the court proceedings with Ania’s sister Katareyna Glowacka, 39, who lives in the UK.

Ms Glowacka was tearful in court as a statement describing her “despair, helplessness and complete disbelief” was read out.

She said: “I am also very angry. I have been robbed of the opportunity to have a sister in my life.”

Ms Glowacka, who was pregnant when her sister died, added: “It is heartbreaking that my little baby boy will never meet his auntie.”

She said her “smart, tenacious and ambitious” sister, who was also “caring, kind and thoughtful”, was a gifted musician.

Addressing Jedrkowiak’s family, the judge said: “I cannot imagine the horror and upset you have experienced and I know, as has been said, that Ania’s premature death will leave a hole in your lives that can never be closed.

“What I can say is that you have behaved with dignity. The sentence cannot do much to help you grieve or recover, save that I hope it at least completes a process of justice being done.”

The pair met online in January 2021 and dated for around a year, before Ms Jedrkowiak brought the relationship to an end.

Police said in the weeks before her murder Akpomedaye, who could not accept the break-up, began trying to manipulate her by threatening suicide.

“He was emotionally blackmailing her and she became scared in the weeks before she was murdered when he told her ‘We will be together no matter what. I will find you’,” Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie said. “Unfortunately, he clearly meant it.”

Kerim Fuad KC, defending, said: “It is truly tragic and awful that a relationship once so full of hope and love can have come to this.

“The photographs that the jury were shown of the defendant and Ms Jedrkowiak speak of happiness, love and hope for the future. Her life was to be ended by the defendant’s act borne of rejection and jealousy.”

He told the court Akpomedaye had been “slowly falling down a dark hole”, living in maggot-infested “squalor” and facing financial difficulty.

Akpomedaye was himself injured during the horrifying attack, giving false names when he twice went to hospital for treatment.

He used a bizarre cover story that he was a sword performer hurt when a trick had gone wrong.

But the killer had left a trail of blood leading from the scene, taking detectives to where he had dumped items that he had stolen from Ania in a pond in Gunnersbury Park.

Using CCTV, forensic evidence and phone analysis, Metropolitan police officers managed to arrest him within 22 hours of Jedrkowiak’s death.

He was caught at Victoria coach station trying to return home to Wales.

Police said Akpomedaye has never shown any remorse for his ex-girlfriend’s murder, refusing to answer officers’ questions or to attend court for his trial.

Jedrkowiak was described by police as “a bright, lively, positive lady”, who had been concerned for Akpomedaye’s welfare following the split.