Man Convicted of Brutal Murder of His Former Girlfriend
Followed Anna Jedrkowiak home after her shift working as a waitress
Dennis Akpomedaye. Picture: Met Police
May 25, 2023
A man who hacked his former girlfriend to death in a pre-meditated attack has been convicted of her murder.
They had been in a relationship when they were working together in the Bristol area but 21-year-old Anna Jedrkowiak, a Polish national, ended it when she moved to study at the University of West London. 29-year-old Dennis Akpomedaye refused to accept this and had pledged to find her, ultimately he tracking her down to her place of work.
Akpomedaye followed Anna after she finished her shift as Las Iguanas restaurant on New Broadway in the centre of Ealing and was walking back home with her boyfriend.
At around 12:10am on Tuesday, 17 May 2022, he approached the couple from behind and launched a brutal assault on Anna with a knife in Roberts Alley, off Church Gardens. The stab wounds were so ferocious that they penetrated through to her spine leading the prosecution to allege that he had been attempting to decapitate her.
Akpomedaye fled the scene but was arrested at Victoria Station within 24 hours after police analysed CCTV footage from the area and recovered other evidence and DNA.
21-year-old Anna Jedrkowiak
Officers built a picture of his movements prior to the attack which showed that he had arrived in London by coach from his home in Newport, Wales on the evening of 15 May.
He immediately took a tube to Ealing and went directly to the restaurant where Anna worked but she was off that night. CCTV footage shows him pacing back and forth in front of the premises.
Mobile phone evidence confirmed by CCTV footage showed that Akpomedaye then went from her place of work to the vicinity of her home in Sterling Place, W5. He later returned to the restaurant and spent much of the following hours riding on buses in the Ealing area.
The following day, Monday 16 May, Anna arrived for her restaurant shift just before 5pm. An hour later Akpomedaye arrived at Ealing Broadway station and at 8pm he bought a knife for £4.99 at a shop on New Broadway and then returned to the vicinity of the restaurant, once again pacing back and forth outside.
Anna left with her friend at 11:40pm and CCTV shows Akpomedaye following them while wearing a balaclava. His identity in CCTV footage was confirmed by mobile phone records.
After fleeing the scene of the attack, he disposed of the knife used by the Round Pond in Gunnersbury Park which was found by police the following day. The knife was forensically examined and found to have bloodstains which were later matched to Akpomedaye and Anna. Also found in the pond were two mobile phones belonging to Anna and Akpomedaye and a photo frame with a picture of them together.
The murder weapon and other evidence was found by the Round Pond in Gunnersbury Park. Picture: Met Police
The moment at 5:45am, around five hours after the attack, when Akpomedaye approached an ambulance driver who had stopped at a petrol garage close to Gunnersbury Park was captured on CCTV. He asked for help with an open wound to his fingers, which he said had been caused by a pitbull dog. Akpomedaye was referred that day to a hospital in London and CCTV showed him on a bus without the black rucksack that he had been carrying prior to the murder. This was later recovered by TfL’s lost property department and gave the forensic team the chance to match bloodstains to Akpomedaye. Inside the bag was the receipt for the murder weapon.
He was arrested at 9:50pm at Victoria coach station later that day and further forensic examinations discovered DNA matches to Anna on his right shoe.
Police at the scene in South Ealing on the morning of the murder
Further investigation revealed details of Akpomedaye’s obsessive behaviour and his unwillingness to accept the end of his relationship with Anna, who was known as Ania to her friends locally.
Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie, the senior investigating officer, said, "Anna’s life was taken by someone who is cowardly but extremely dangerous.
“Anna was scared of him and attempted to end the relationship. When she did this, he said to her ‘We will be together no matter what … I will find you’.
“She had moved away to start what should have been an exciting new life in London but now will never be able to fulfil that promise, and her family will never see her again.
“It was moving that so many of her family, university and work friends attended a vigil in her honour during the trial.
“My thoughts and sympathies remain with the family and friends of Anna, both in the UK and in Poland, who will never get over the tragic circumstances surrounding her death.
“Even in the context of a murder investigation, the ferocity with which she was attacked was extreme, and this individual belongs in prison where he cannot harm another woman.”
Anna's (Ania's) friends attend a vigil for her during the trial. Picture: Met Police
Akpomedaye of Blewitt Street, Newport, was charged on the evening of Wednesday, 18 May 2022 and stood trial at Kingston Crown Court and entered a not guilty plea but was convicted on Thursday, 25 May; he will be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday, 31 May.
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