The Crossbow Cannibal

Stephen Griffiths (self-named as The Crossbow Cannibal) was arrested on the 24th May 2010 after being accused of murdering three women, all prostitutes who had worked in Bradford's red light district, close to where he had lived. A PhD student at the time, Griffiths was working on his doctoral thesis regarding applied criminal justice. He was swiftly charged with murdering 43-year-old Susan Rushworth (disappearance on the 22 June 2009), 31-year-old Shelley Armitage (disappearance on the 26 April 2010) and 36-year-old Suzanne Blamires (disappearance on the 21 May 2010). Four days after Ms Blamires vanished, he was arrested. Griffiths hid a dark side, obsessed with murder and serial killers, he is said to have had a misogynistic, vicious and violent streak, seeing prostitutes as below him, enjoying what he saw as some sort of ‘power' over them. On the 24 May, 2010, a caretaker at Griffiths' block of flats was checking CCTV from the weekend before. What he saw was to shock him. A lady had been seen running from Griffiths' flat, petrified and screaming. Seconds later, he was chasing her, before going out of camera shot. Knocking her unconscious, Griffiths dragged her back in front of the camera, before firing a bolt through her head. This was Suzanne Blamires. He then deposited her body in the nearby River Aire, where officers found it the day after arresting Griffiths. Human tissue remains were also found of Armitage, however, no remains of Rushworth have ever been found. Currently serving a whole life tariff in Wakefield Prison, we have interviewed the families of his victims along with those who knew Griffiths, and those affected by his terrible actions, to gain an insight to the man who calls himself ‘The Crossbow Cannibal'.