‘Crossbow Cannibal' smirked as I searched his house of horrors… there were things in his bathtub no one should ever see

The Sun

10 hours ago

HE was a PhD student by day, and a sadistic 'Crossbow Cannibal' by night - a monster hiding in plain sight.
But few know the horrors committed by Stephen Griffiths better than the officer who raided his chilling flat, greeted by the stench of death and horrific discoveries that made the "hair at the back of your neck stand up".
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Between 2009 and 2010, the sick monster - now aged 55 - killed three sex workers operating close to his flat on the edge of Bradford's red light district, cannibalising and dismembering them.
But the self-styled 'Crossbow Cannibal' - who fantasised about becoming a serial killer - saw his twisted spree come crashing down when chilling CCTV footage exposed his final, brutal act.
In May 2010, Griffiths was caught on film with a crossbow in hand, attacking a woman who had followed him into his flat in Bradford.
The grainy footage showed her trying to flee, with Griffiths chasing her down. It was a scene so disturbing that the caretaker who discovered it immediately called his manager and then the police.
One of the officers brought in was Damian Sharp, a former firearms tactical advisor, who was urgently called to one of West Yorkshire Police's major planning stations.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, as part of our Meeting a Monster series, Damian recalls: "Whatever that security man's motives were for checking the footage, it's extremely good he did because it probably saved the lives of a lot of women.
"In regards to the woman in the footage, when we got the call, we had to make the assumption that she was still alive.
"She was dragged back into the flat and is essentially a hostage, and has been rendered unconscious.
"It was not a good situation at all, especially with the crossbow. We treated it as a hostage situation, but we were dealing with what we call a collapsing timeframe.
"We had to keep the wheels turning because every second counted. A hostage situation can turn fatal very quickly."
'Crossbow Cannibal' who dismembered and ate his victims 'is attacked in prison AGAIN
The tactical plan was clear - surround the building, box Griffiths in, and storm the flat before he had a chance to act again.
Tasers were drawn, and officers prepared to strike.
"The officers barged in and he was in bed", Damian recalls. "He didn't know what was going on.
"The preemptive Taser was taken out because the officer thought there was no requirement for that. He was clearly not a threat.
"He was cuffed, and then he changed from being compliant to a bit cocky almost and almost abrasive.
"And obviously, there was an immediate search of the apartment. Unfortunately, no female was found."
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In that moment, the team's worst fears were confirmed. The woman in the footage was gone.
Griffiths had already killed her and disposed of her remains.
Damian says during the search of the blood-smeared apartment, his team came across 'unsettling' items in places like the oven, which gave credence to Griffiths' cannibal nickname.
He says: "There were things in the bathtub and they were not nice. There was an awful smell in the apartment.
"The environment was unsettling. Enough to make the hair at the back of your neck stand up."
In their investigation, police discovered that Griffiths tried unsuccessfully to get a second female into the apartment that same night, indicating that the incident caught on CCTV was not just an isolated case.
81 different body pieces
Investigators quickly pieced together that the woman in the film was Suzanne Blamires, 36, a sex worker who had a "promising life" but fell in with the wrong crowd.
A court later heard how 81 different pieces of Suzanne's body were eventually found in or by the River Aire in Shipley.
She was Griffiths' final victim, having already murdered 31-year-old Shelley Armitage in April 2010 and Susan Rushworth, 43, in June the previous year.
Damian, who has dealt with some of the UK's most evil criminals, says: "As far as what he did to those girls, the Crossbow Cannibal is right up there. I don't think it gets much worse than what he did.
"He showed no remorse for what he'd done. He bragged about it. He was quite pleased with himself."
Sister's horror
Now, a new Amazon Prime documentary, The Crossbow Cannibal, examines Griffiths' heinous crimes and the vile way he gained his moniker.
In the film, his estranged sister Caroline breaks her silence for the first time to talk about her brother's actions, suggesting she had long sensed he was hiding a darkness.
Describing the gut feeling she had when a news report talked about a killer, she says: "I was enjoying my fish and chips and the BBC news was on.
"It came on that a 40-year-old man from Bradford. Arrested. Body parts [were] found in a river.
As far as what he did to those girls, the Crossbow Cannibal is right up there. I don't think it gets much worse than what he did. He showed no remorse for what he'd done.
Damian Sharp
"I made this funny noise - kind of sucked air through my teeth. And I just said, 'My brother. I bet you that's my brother'."
She adds: 'I watch true crime and I think that's terrible. But then I also think my brother did worse than that.
"You hear about people chopping people up, and you think it's awful, and then the words 81 pieces come into your head.
"And you never really come to terms with it. But it's real. It happened."
Sickest crimes
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After Griffiths' arrest, he was quickly linked to Susan and Shelley's disappearance, as cops feared another case of the Yorkshire Ripper, who killed more than 22 women.
His first kill came in June 2009 when he targeted Susan.
In the film, Christa Ackyord, a Yorkshire -based journalist, says: "I know mutual friends. I've talked to her brother. She literally went down the wrong track. It was all going so well for Susan.
"She was married, she had children, she was also a grandma."
But Susan's life fell apart when her marriage failed, and she turned to drugs and prostitution. She tried to get things back on track, but fell back into addiction.
She was last seen walking near the red light district in Bradford, where she'd sometimes sold sex to fund her habit.
That morning, Susan told a friend she was "just going to see a punter" - unaware she was about to walk into the hands of a cold-blooded killer. Her client was Stephen Griffiths.
He had spotted her before and lured her in under the guise of paying for sex. Once inside his flat, Susan was never seen alive again.
Sickening spree
There were multiple police appeals and efforts to locate Susan. Exactly what happened inside remains unknown - her body was never found.
Susan's family were left devastated. Her daughter described her as a "kind, caring woman" who had struggled with addiction but was "trying to turn her life around".
Her death marked the start of Griffiths' sick killing spree - and for police, the nightmare was just beginning.
Shelley Armitage was just 31, and described as bright, ambitious, and dreaming of modelling and a life beyond Bradford's streets.
Friends say she "could have been a beautiful model" and had a bubbly personality.
But a spiral of heroin and alcohol addiction drew her into sex work.
On April 26, 2010, she was last seen on CCTV walking along Rebecca Street in Bradford's red light district .
She disappeared after leaving her flat in Allerton with a friend and never returned home . Her boyfriend, Robert Preston, filed a missing persons report two days later.
Again, several police appeals were launched with investigators pleading with the public for help to locate Shelley.
Griffiths had lured Shelley to his flat under the pretence of sex, then tied her up in his bathtub while filming the ordeal on his phone, police later revealed.
Mobile phones retrieved from his home showed images of Shelley's naked, dead body with the words: "My sex slave" written on her.
Another video showed a nude body that had been bound. Griffith provided vile commentary describing himself as a "bloodbath artist".
The murderer showed no remorse when detectives sat him down in the interview room.
He was calm, collected and even smug as he detailed his horrific crimes. He confessed that Susan was killed with a hammer. He then dismembered her body with machine tools, he said.
Griffiths also claimed he cooked and ate part of her flesh. In one shocking moment, he described eating the flesh of his victims as "part of the magic".
He admitted to killing Shelley with a crossbow and dismembering her in the bath. He informed detectives that they would find traces of her body on the cooker in his home.
He recalled butchering Suzanne Blamires with a crossbow. After divulging the information, he stopped talking to the cops, letting them know that to become a serial killer, he only needed to kill three people.
Investigators quickly started piecing together a sinister motive - Griffith was after notoriety and infamy. He wanted to surpass his idol, serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper.
In the documentary, his sister says: "He once told me as well that if he couldn't be famous, he would be infamous. And that if I was famous and was more famous than him, he would find me and kill me."
Crossbow Cannibal
When Griffiths first appeared in Bradford Crown Court on June 25, 2010, the room fell into stunned silence.
He stood in the dock, unshaven, wearing a grey prison sweatshirt. When asked to confirm his name, he chillingly replied: "I am the Crossbow Cannibal."
It was the first time the public heard the nickname, a vile moniker he had clearly chosen for himself, designed to terrify.
Griffiths showed no remorse throughout the proceedings. The evidence against him was overwhelming, with CCTV footage and forensic evidence from his flat playing a crucial role.
Cops also had the phone video he filmed of himself tormenting Shelley Armitage in the bath, and remains recovered from the River Aire.
He once told me as well that if he couldn't be famous, he would be infamous. And that if I was famous and was more famous than him, he would find me and kill me
Caroline Griffiths
In addition, blood samples from all three women were retrieved from his apartment, which was called a slaughterhouse in the media.
He was charged with three counts of murder and pleaded guilty to each one.
At his trial, the court heard how he had targeted vulnerable women working in Bradford's red light district, luring them into his home before murdering and dismembering them.
In December 2010, Mr Justice Openshaw, sentencing Griffiths to a whole life order, told him: "You are a very dangerous man and in my judgment you should never be released from prison."
Griffiths showed no reaction. He stood still and silent, not even looking at the victims' families who sat weeping just metres away.
He was sent to Wakefield Prison, among some of Britain's most notorious killers.
In November last year, Griffiths was attacked in prison by one of Suzanne Blamires' friends who was also incarcerated.
'Worst fears'
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Today, Griffiths' sister only has one question - why.
She says: "I just want to ask him why, probably. Why did he do this, and who are you? I'd probably tell him that I loved him as well. People might be shocked to hear that, but he's my brother. My big brother."
Christa Ackyord says the attention must always be brought back to Griffiths' victims and their families.
She explains: "For their families, they were people that they loved. People that they tried to help. People that they were desperately worried about. And their worst fears came true.
"And they ended up meeting a psychopath. A cold-hearted killer who wanted to be famous."