Stephen Griffiths: Kirsty Rushworth, Murder Kit And A Death Library

STEPHEN Griffiths: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at the alleged serial killer in the news – Murder kit, body parts, Kirtsy Rushworth and a family of prostitutes, an ex-lover speaks of horror and there is evil in the air…

Stephen Griffiths, 40, of Thornton Road, Bradford, was studying for a PhD on 19th-century Bradford homicides. He has been charged with the murder of three women, Suzanne Blamires, 36, Shelley Armitage, 31, and Susan Rushworth, 43. All three women were working as prostitutes when they went missing. It is alleged that Suzanne Blamires was killed with crossbow bolt fired into her head.

The Stephen Griffiths’ Case And Trial In Pictures

Body parts have been found in the River Aire at Shipley. The media laps it up. And it looks like the Crossbow Cannibal nickname is sticking. But as body parts are found, it s looks like Griffiths is no cannibal, at least not a very hungry one.

The Sun (front page): “CANNIBAL COPS FIND KILLER’S KIT”

We’d wager he’s a Leeds fan…

“Knives, hacksaws and ‘body tissue, in bag.

The Star ups the tale of a kit with news of actual human remains:

Daily Star (front page): “CROSSBOW CANNIBAL: MORE VICTIMS ARE FOUND”

How do we know Mr Griffiths killed these victims, or any, and that they are victims?

Says a copper of these remains over the newswires:

“At this stage it is unclear whether they are human or animal.”

Says the Star:

“Black bag murder kit dragged from river”

It is what the Mirror calls:

“THE KILLING KIT”

“Bag of saws, knives and body parts found in rover by Crossbow Cannibal cops”

But if it is killing kit, where is the Crossbow Cannibal’s crossbow? We learn:

The bag has ben sent for analysis. It will have to be allowed to dry out before it can be checked for fingerprints and DNA.

Back to the victims:

Yorkshire Post: “Search of suspected serial killer’s home to take at least two weeks”

THE mother of suspected murder victim Susan Rushworth spoke of her anguish yesterday as police were expecting to spend two more weeks searching the home of her alleged killer, the self-styled “Crossbow Cannibal”.

Speaking from her Bradford home, Christine Thompson, 72, revealed she was holidaying in Greece when she heard police were holding a man over the murders of her daughter and two other women, Shelley Armitage and Suzanne Blamires.

The Mirror has more on the Rushworths:

The daughter of one of the murdered women is tragically selling sex at the same spot her mum vanished from.

Why tragically? Does she choose to sell sex?

Kirsty Rushworth, 21, says she began working on the streets three years ago – even before her mother Susan Rushworth did. She now charges £30 a time to feed the same heroin and crack addiction gran Susan fell prey to.

Says Kirsty Rushworth (pictured above):

“Even though my mum has been murdered and two other girls are dead, I’m still working the streets. I haven’t got a choice. I’m in a world I can’t get out of and I’m terrified I’ll end up like my mum and the other girls.”

Adding of her mum:

“She couldn’t understand why I’d done it. But she started seeing me with money and new clothes and wanted to know how I got them. Within a few months we were going out together.”

She tells the Sun:

“I just want to know where her body is so I can bury her and she can rest in peace.

“I want the killer to look me in the eye and tell me what he did to her and where she is and then I can move on.

“Until then I haven’t got anything to live for.”

But what of Griffith’s lovers? Having already heard from one, the Sun now serves up Zeta Pinder:

Zeta Pinder, 35, had a two-year affair with self-styled “Crossbow Cannibal” Griffiths before she ditched him in disgust.

Now married and living in a pretty Yorkshire village, she said: “It felt macabre. There was a sense of evil in that flat. His bookcase was a vast library on death and killing – it wasn’t just one book, there were literally hundreds. And dozens of videos as well.

“I suddenly realised he was fascinated with the whole subject of murder. I just knew I had to get out. I knew I had to end my relationship with him.”

So, it was one-day romance? No. They dated for two years.

“I had thought of him as a little odd but quite a sweet person.”

Nutter!

“We had watched horror films together before and he would laugh at gory scenes while I cringed. He seemed to enjoy it.

The nutter! Then what did he do?

After tricking Griffiths into taking her back to her home in nearby Dewsbury, she rang him the next day to say: “It’s over – it’s not working.”

She was amazed when he just accepted it and never contacted her again.

Or as the Sun’s headline puts it: