A criminology PhD student who was obsessed with murder, Stephen Griffiths had been on the police’s radar for years before he began killing sex workers around Bradford, England.
Warning : This article hold in graphical description and/or images of violent , disturbing , or otherwise potentially troubling events .
West Yorkshire PoliceStephen Griffiths after killing Suzanne Blamires as she tried to escape his flat .
When Stephen Griffiths was young , he go to the alma mater of John George Haigh , the “ Acid Bath Murderer ” who killed at least six the great unwashed and was hanged in 1949 . Griffiths sure as shooting would have learned of the connecter — and it likely made an opinion .
West Yorkshire PoliceStephen Griffiths after killing Suzanne Blamires as she tried to escape his apartment.
Decades later , Griffiths would go after a ill fame of his own as he killed , take apart , and even allegedly ate part of at least three woman in Bradford , England . He would forge himself as the “ Crossbow Cannibal ” for the unusual weapon system he used to hunt his victim — and his disturbing treatment of their body .
Shockingly , however , Griffiths did not come out particularly interested about getting caught , and just under a year after his first murder , Stephen Griffiths was contain after being captured on CCTV camera drag in the dead body of his net victim back into his flat construction after she ’d sample to scarper — a shuddery and damning piece of evidence that brought his cleanup to an end .
The Early Signs Of Stephen Griffith’s Depravity
Born Stephen Shaun Griffiths on Dec. 24 , 1969 , in Dewsbury , Yorkshire , the future in series slayer showed a fascination with violence from an other historic period .
allot to research fromRadford University , when Griffiths was young he would sometimes watch his female parent receive sexuality with multiple valet de chambre in their backyard . He also had a troubling habit of skinning and torturing Bronx cheer . By the time he was 18 years old , Griffiths had begin regularly shoplifting , until one incident at a supermarket ended with Griffiths cut down a storage manager with a knife , landing him in slammer for three geezerhood .
In 1991 , Griffiths was name as a “ sadistic , schizoid psychopath , ” according toThe Telegraph . He reportedly say he believed he would one sidereal day become a slayer , and a psychiatric report described him as having a “ preoccupation with murder — particularly multiple slaying . ”
Stephen GriffithsStephen Griffiths was pursuing a degree in homicide studies in 2009.
In 1992 , he would return to jail after he accommodate a tongue to a little girl ’s throat .
Eventually , in the mid-2000s , Griffiths would set about to rick his interest in killing into a legitimate vocation , start out a graduate degree in homicide studies at the University of Bradford — a projection that he would take disturbingly literally .
Neighbors Begin To Fear The Local ‘Lizard Man’
Stephen GriffithsStephen Griffiths was pursuing a point in homicide studies in 2009 .
On social media , The Guardianreports , Stephen Griffiths was theatrical , pop off as “ Ven Pariah ” and once save , “ Humanity is not merely a biologic condition , it is also a DoS of mind . On that basis I am a pseudo human being at best . A demon at bad . ”
His neighbor in the Bradford flat building he lived in would ab initio see him as a curiosity , dubbing him the “ Lizard Man ” after observing him regularly taking his lounge lizard on leashed walk while sporting sleek - back hair , sunglasses , and a farsighted coating .
West Yorkshire PoliceStephen Griffiths dubbed himself the “Crossbow Killer” after his distinctive murder weapon.
But his erratic behavior and aggression toward some of the building ’s female resident led to increased complaint . The prop coach lead off collect information to pass on to the constabulary , and also implemented better CCTV coverage on the prop .
After Griffiths was discovered reading books on human taking apart , Telegraphreports , the library alerted his apartment managers .
With a long record of violence and a well-defined interest in serial Orcinus orca , Griffiths had been on the radar of local constabulary for years , and authorities had already confiscated several weapon from him on an early function .
West Yorkshire PoliceGriffiths was given three life sentences for the murders of Susan Rushworth, Shelley Armitage, and Suzanne Blamires.
But they did n’t see that Griffiths was about to wrick his twisted passions into reality .
The Terrifying Crimes Of The ‘Crossbow Cannibal’
Stephen Griffiths ’ Ph.D. research was concenter on homicide in industrial area — a reflection of the exact crime he was committing , targeting charwoman in the Bradford area ’s reddish light dominion .
Griffiths ’ first known dupe was a 43 - year - old sex worker named Susan Rushworth . Rushworth disappear before long after bugger off off a jalopy in Bradford in June 2009 . Few other details were known about her disappearance , and no parts of Rushworth ’s body have ever been find .
West Yorkshire PoliceStephen Griffiths dubbed himself the “ Crossbow Killer ” after his distinctive murder weapon .
Almost a twelvemonth lapse before Griffiths struck again . In late April 2010 , Shelley Armitage disappeared after heading to “ go on the beat,”The Guardianreported .
Griffiths reportedly take Armitage ’s dismemberment on his earpiece before lease public passage to dispose of her persist in a nearby river .
Astoundingly , he would lose the telephone not long afterward , leaving it on a string , where it was found and the footage discovered before it eventually made its way to the police .
In May 2010 , Griffiths found another dupe , Suzanne Blamires . At some point after Griffiths kidnapped Blamires , the 36 - class - old woman saw an chance and made a dart for freedom , escaping from Griffiths ’ apartment — only to be caught again and criticise unconscious by Griffiths .
D. W. Griffith conk out to retrieve his crossbow , return , and shot her through the chief , savagely vote down her .
But as Griffiths cart his final dupe back to his apartment , he assure a CCTV camera in the hall — and realized the building ’s security system had register the whole thing . Unfazed , Griffiths raised his midway finger defiantly toward the camera as he go before return to his apartment .
Later , Griffiths ’ apartment complex caretaker was horrified to see the roughshod scene while reviewing the weekend ’s footage — and quickly alerted the authority .
Stephen Griffiths’ Arrest And Chilling Admission
West Yorkshire PoliceGriffiths was given three life judgment of conviction for the murders of Susan Rushworth , Shelley Armitage , and Suzanne Blamires .
In the time between his net murder and eventual pinch , Griffiths had managed to dismember and dispose of Blamires ’ remains . When police arrived at Griffiths ’ flat to nab him soon afterward , he was reportedly calm , almost emotionless from then on .
In interviews with the police force , Griffiths would say he ’d killed “ encumbrance ” more women than the three bed victim . When he first appear in court and was asked his indistinguishability , he responded , “ the Crossbow Cannibal . ” He reportedly told police he ’d eaten parts of his victim , sometimes raw , sometimes cooked .
For a time , Griffiths became a defendant in the unsolved typeface of Rebecca Hall , a 19 - year - erstwhile vote down and dumped in an alleyway in 2001 . But no classic test copy was find out — and Griffiths was n’t talk .
On Dec. 21 , 2010 , Griffiths pleaded hangdog to and was convict of the execution of Susan Rushworth , Shelley Armitage , and Suzanne Blamires .
“ The consideration of these murders are so wicked and monstrous they leave me in no doubt the defendant should be kept in prison house for the rest of his life , ” the judge in his case remarked according to theBBC .
Stephen Griffiths was sentenced to lifetime in prison , where he stay to this day with no possibleness of countersign . But for the class of his victims , it did little to bring around the suffering he ’d caused .
“ I arouse up and conceive about my bright , articulate and much - loved girl every day , ” Suzanne Blamires ’ female parent , Nicky Blamires , articulate . “ And I am serving a life-time sentence as a result of what this man has done . ”
After discovering the story of “ Crossbow Cannibal ” Stephen Griffiths , take about the human beings who shared his alma mater,“Acid Bath Murderer ” John George Haigh . Then , con about another cannibal sea wolf , West Germany ’s Joachim Kroll .
