He found brain in microwave and severed breasts on table in horror home
Serial killer Stephen Griffiths proudly proclaimed himself as the Crossbow Cannibal when he appeared in court charged with the murders of three women. Now as a Prime Video documentary looks back at his twisted crimes, the two police officers who caught him reveal the sickening sights inside his blood-splattered Bradford flat
It was the smell that first hit the police officers as they burst through the door of Stephen Griffiths ' small Bradford flat - the scent of sweet rot and charred meat.
And it wasn't long before the sickening odor was traced back to the dismembered body of a woman who Griffiths had been caught on CCTV dragging back to his lair.
Suzanne Blamires, 36, had disappeared from the red-light district of Bradford days earlier. She had been lured home by Griffiths - who had befriended some of the sex workers who plied their trade in the streets around his flat.
Suzanne was seen on the same CCTV camera running in terror out of his stinking apartment, followed by the killer - brandishing a black crossbow.
After knocking her unconscious in the corridor, the monster dragged Suzanne back inside, before smirking at the camera and raising his middle finger in mock salute.
It was only when the building's caretaker idly watched back the footage on the morning of Monday May 24, 2010 - three days later - that he noticed the altercation.
It was seeing Suzanne's final act of bravery, when she tried to get away, that finally snared the self-dubbed 'Crossbow Cannibal'.
Griffiths, a criminology PhD student, who hero-worshipped Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, stockpiled weapons and books about murder and harboured ambitions of becoming a serial killer.
As a child, he would torture animals, pulling the wings off birds and taking a hammer to his own pet rat.
His younger siblings were subjected to violence. Griffiths designed a system whereby he would award them 'points' for annoying him. After accumulating a certain number of points, he would launch a vicious attack on them, ignoring their sobs of pain.
But even they could not have predicted the twisted crimes he went on to commit against at least three women.
Now,15 years on from the Bradford murders, a new Prime Video documentary looks back at how the killer was able to get away with his crimes for so long - crimes which would have a lifelong impact on everyone involved.
After the shocked caretaker and his manager called 999 to report the chilling CCTV footage,
Damien Sharp, a former firearms tactical advisor with West Yorkshire Police, was tasked with planning and executing the raid to arrest Stephen Griffiths.
His partner Adam Twigg was part of the ground team, poised to break down the killer's door and free the woman they hoped was still alive inside.
Both men are speaking publicly about what they witnessed for the first time.
'We had a collapsing time frame,' says Damien. 'We knew from the cameras that Suzanne hadn't left Griffiths' apartment over the weekend. The hope was that she was still alive.'
Firearms officer Adam and his squad broke through Griffiths' door only to find him sitting up in bed.
'I gave him a gentle prod with the front of my gun to drive him to the floor,' he remembers.
A loaded crossbow lay nearby, along with a cache of hunting knives and shells.
Once officers got the killer on the floor and in handcuffs, Adam crouched down to read him his rights.
'I told him, 'Stephen, I am arresting you on suspicion of murder.' And he just looked up at me and went, 'I'm Osama bin Laden.''
Adam and his team set about searching the flat for any trace of Suzanne.
What they found would haunt them forever.
'One of them opened the microwave and immediately shut the door again,' says Damien, recalling how he could hear everything his team were saying over the radio.
'He said the flat was like something out of [horror film] Seven, blood smeared everywhere and crossbow bolts embedded in the walls. The smell was horrific - sweet and rotten. It was the smell of death.'
Adam went to investigate the bathroom - which the killer had proudly dubbed 'The Slaughterhouse.'
Blood was splattered over the surfaces and a charred quilt covered the remnants of a rucksack in the bathtub.
Griffiths was trying to dispose of DNA evidence from Suzanne's body parts, which he'd stashed inside the bag to dump in the nearby River Aire.
'There was a sizable portion of a brain in the microwave,' remembers Adam. 'And there was another portion of brain on a plate, on a coffee table in the front room, next to a pair of amputated breasts.'
Officers also recovered Griffiths' laptop and digital camera, which had a stash of disturbing images and footage.
Shelley Armitage, a 31-year-old woman who had gone missing a month previously on April 26, 2010, was seen lying dead in his bath with the words 'My sex slave' carved into her chest. Griffiths had shot her with his crossbow, cut up her remains and cannibalised part of her body.
At least three women met their deaths at the hands of Griffiths, who had been diagnosed as a sadistic schizoid psychopath in 1991, after slashing a shop clerk's face while shoplifting goods.
He murdered Susan Rushworth, 43, with a hammer after she disappeared on June 22, 2009. He had dismembered her body using machine tools, before cooking and eating some of her flesh. No trace of her remains have ever been found.
After being convicted, Griffiths taunted her devastated family, by refusing to tell them what he did to her.
Shelley was his second victim and Suzanne his third.
In court, Griffiths proudly proclaimed himself the Crossbow Cannibal in response to being asked his name - a boast that behavioural scientist and psychological profiler Dr Nicola Davies believes was actually designed to protect his shattered ego.
'Griffiths had invested so much of his identity into becoming what he saw as the ultimate predator,' she observes. 'He had rehearsed his fantasies, studied serial killers at PhD level, and created a mythologised version of himself online. Being caught destroyed that performance and he found that intolerable.
'Griffiths wanted to be a serial killer and yet he only just achieved that definition - three murders - before the brave Suzanne Blamires ensured he was caught when she escaped his flat and his crime was recorded on CCTV.
'For a man who saw himself as untouchable and the ultimate predator, this would have severely hurt his ego – as would the fact that he 'underperformed' in comparison to his serial killer idols.'
After his conviction in 2010, Griffiths was handed a rare whole-life order for the murders of Susan, Shelley and Suzanne, meaning he will die behind bars without ever being released. The judge described him as 'wicked and monstrous'. He has since been linked to the murders of three other women, but has refused to cooperate with police in subsequent interviews.
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Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
He found brain in microwave and severed breasts on table in horror home
Serial killer Stephen Griffiths proudly proclaimed himself as the Crossbow Cannibal when he appeared in court charged with the murders of three women. Now as a Prime Video documentary looks back at his twisted crimes, the two police officers who caught him reveal the sickening sights inside his blood-splattered Bradford flat It was the smell that first hit the police officers as they burst through the door of Stephen Griffiths ' small Bradford flat - the scent of sweet rot and charred meat. And it wasn't long before the sickening odor was traced back to the dismembered body of a woman who Griffiths had been caught on CCTV dragging back to his lair. Suzanne Blamires, 36, had disappeared from the red-light district of Bradford days earlier. She had been lured home by Griffiths - who had befriended some of the sex workers who plied their trade in the streets around his flat. Suzanne was seen on the same CCTV camera running in terror out of his stinking apartment, followed by the killer - brandishing a black crossbow. After knocking her unconscious in the corridor, the monster dragged Suzanne back inside, before smirking at the camera and raising his middle finger in mock salute. It was only when the building's caretaker idly watched back the footage on the morning of Monday May 24, 2010 - three days later - that he noticed the altercation. It was seeing Suzanne's final act of bravery, when she tried to get away, that finally snared the self-dubbed 'Crossbow Cannibal'. Griffiths, a criminology PhD student, who hero-worshipped Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, stockpiled weapons and books about murder and harboured ambitions of becoming a serial killer. As a child, he would torture animals, pulling the wings off birds and taking a hammer to his own pet rat. His younger siblings were subjected to violence. Griffiths designed a system whereby he would award them 'points' for annoying him. After accumulating a certain number of points, he would launch a vicious attack on them, ignoring their sobs of pain. But even they could not have predicted the twisted crimes he went on to commit against at least three women. Now,15 years on from the Bradford murders, a new Prime Video documentary looks back at how the killer was able to get away with his crimes for so long - crimes which would have a lifelong impact on everyone involved. After the shocked caretaker and his manager called 999 to report the chilling CCTV footage, Damien Sharp, a former firearms tactical advisor with West Yorkshire Police, was tasked with planning and executing the raid to arrest Stephen Griffiths. His partner Adam Twigg was part of the ground team, poised to break down the killer's door and free the woman they hoped was still alive inside. Both men are speaking publicly about what they witnessed for the first time. 'We had a collapsing time frame,' says Damien. 'We knew from the cameras that Suzanne hadn't left Griffiths' apartment over the weekend. The hope was that she was still alive.' Firearms officer Adam and his squad broke through Griffiths' door only to find him sitting up in bed. 'I gave him a gentle prod with the front of my gun to drive him to the floor,' he remembers. A loaded crossbow lay nearby, along with a cache of hunting knives and shells. Once officers got the killer on the floor and in handcuffs, Adam crouched down to read him his rights. 'I told him, 'Stephen, I am arresting you on suspicion of murder.' And he just looked up at me and went, 'I'm Osama bin Laden.'' Adam and his team set about searching the flat for any trace of Suzanne. What they found would haunt them forever. 'One of them opened the microwave and immediately shut the door again,' says Damien, recalling how he could hear everything his team were saying over the radio. 'He said the flat was like something out of [horror film] Seven, blood smeared everywhere and crossbow bolts embedded in the walls. The smell was horrific - sweet and rotten. It was the smell of death.' Adam went to investigate the bathroom - which the killer had proudly dubbed 'The Slaughterhouse.' Blood was splattered over the surfaces and a charred quilt covered the remnants of a rucksack in the bathtub. Griffiths was trying to dispose of DNA evidence from Suzanne's body parts, which he'd stashed inside the bag to dump in the nearby River Aire. 'There was a sizable portion of a brain in the microwave,' remembers Adam. 'And there was another portion of brain on a plate, on a coffee table in the front room, next to a pair of amputated breasts.' Officers also recovered Griffiths' laptop and digital camera, which had a stash of disturbing images and footage. Shelley Armitage, a 31-year-old woman who had gone missing a month previously on April 26, 2010, was seen lying dead in his bath with the words 'My sex slave' carved into her chest. Griffiths had shot her with his crossbow, cut up her remains and cannibalised part of her body. At least three women met their deaths at the hands of Griffiths, who had been diagnosed as a sadistic schizoid psychopath in 1991, after slashing a shop clerk's face while shoplifting goods. He murdered Susan Rushworth, 43, with a hammer after she disappeared on June 22, 2009. He had dismembered her body using machine tools, before cooking and eating some of her flesh. No trace of her remains have ever been found. After being convicted, Griffiths taunted her devastated family, by refusing to tell them what he did to her. Shelley was his second victim and Suzanne his third. In court, Griffiths proudly proclaimed himself the Crossbow Cannibal in response to being asked his name - a boast that behavioural scientist and psychological profiler Dr Nicola Davies believes was actually designed to protect his shattered ego. 'Griffiths had invested so much of his identity into becoming what he saw as the ultimate predator,' she observes. 'He had rehearsed his fantasies, studied serial killers at PhD level, and created a mythologised version of himself online. Being caught destroyed that performance and he found that intolerable. 'Griffiths wanted to be a serial killer and yet he only just achieved that definition - three murders - before the brave Suzanne Blamires ensured he was caught when she escaped his flat and his crime was recorded on CCTV. 'For a man who saw himself as untouchable and the ultimate predator, this would have severely hurt his ego – as would the fact that he 'underperformed' in comparison to his serial killer idols.' After his conviction in 2010, Griffiths was handed a rare whole-life order for the murders of Susan, Shelley and Suzanne, meaning he will die behind bars without ever being released. The judge described him as 'wicked and monstrous'. He has since been linked to the murders of three other women, but has refused to cooperate with police in subsequent interviews.
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Security experts praise the Mail for doing a 'national service' by revealing new MI6 chief's granddad was a Nazi spy chief - before the Russians could
Security experts have praised the Mail for doing a 'national service' by disclosing that the next head of MI6 is the granddaughter of a Nazi spy chief. Our investigation found incoming Secret Intelligence Service boss Blaise Metreweli is descended from notorious Ukrainian traitor Constantine Dobrowolski. Known as 'Agent No 30' by Wehrmacht commanders, he had vowed revenge against the Russians after they slaughtered his family and seized his country following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. He requested to be sent to the front when Germany invaded the Soviet Union – and immediately switched sides, initially serving with an SS Panzer division in August 1941. Then, as the Soviets moved in to 'liberate' Ukraine in 1943, Dobrowolski got safe passage from the Nazis for his wife Barbara and their two-month-old son, also named Constantine, to flee west towards Germany. While Dobrowolski's fate is unknown, his wife and their son made it to Britain, where she married a new partner, Georgian-born David Metreweli, in Yorkshire in 1947. Perhaps wanting to suppress their dark family history, his son took his stepfather's surname – a name which passed to his daughter, Blaise Metreweli, who from September will head up the very same intelligence service that was fighting against her grandfather in the Second World War. The Mail unearthed hundreds of pages of documents held in Germany detailing the extraordinary – and blood-soaked – life and times of Dobrowolski that are worthy of a spy thriller. Known as 'Agent No 30' by Wehrmacht commanders, Dobrowolski had vowed revenge against the Russians ever since they slaughtered his noble land-owning family They detail how the Soviets put a 50,000-rouble bounty – £200,000 in today's money – on the head of the man they dubbed 'the executioner' and 'a fascist cannibal' . Dobrowolski boasted to German commanders of 'personally' taking part 'in the extermination of the Jews'. Professor Anthony Glees, who specialises in intelligence, said the Kremlin likely knew 'from the moment' Blaise Metreweli was appointed about her family's past. He said: 'It is very important that the Mail told the British nation and that they did not discover it from a Russian source. 'I suspect the moment the Russian intelligence service saw the appointment that they could well have been waiting for their moment to embarrass us. 'What the Mail has done has very much been in our national security interest, and it is to be applauded.' Giorgi Badridze, former Georgian ambassador to the UK, said: 'It was incredibly important that the story was published by the British media before Russian propaganda could run amok.' A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesman said: 'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather. 'Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood. 'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.'
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Enormous house explosion that put two in hospital 'was caused by gas used to make super-strength cannabis oil'
An enormous house explosion that hospitalised two people is suspected to have been 'caused by gas used to make a super-strength cannabis oil'. The blast on Thursday in Spring Hall Grove, Halifax, West Yorkshire, has left two men in a critical condition, with a 'large number of butane gas canisters' found in the wreckage. Up to 14 homes were evacuated by the explosion that appeared to rip off at least one home, sending debris into the streets. Now, the significant number of butane gas canisters found at the scene are believed to be evidence of mass production of Butane Hash Oil (BHO), a strong and concentrated cannabis extract. Known for its high THC levels, often exceeding those of traditional cannabis, the drug is typically consumed through dabbing, a relatively new method of ingesting the substance. Produced through a chemical process that uses butane to extract the oils from cannabis, the drug process has gained increased popularity across the UK, USA and Australia. Photographs taken in the immediate aftermath of the explosion showed hundreds of gas cannisters scattered across the scene, appearing to have been stored in an upstairs bedroom. In an updated statement on the explosion, West Yorkshire Police confirmed that a 'large number of butane gas cannisters' had been found at the property and that they were 'forming part of our ongoing enquiries'. The force, who said they were working alongside West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in investigating the fire's circumstances, also confirmed that two adult males had been taken to hospital with 'serious injuries' and that they 'remain in hospital in a critical condition'. Detective Chief Inspector Clare Smith added: 'We understand that there will be speculation in the community about what has happened and the cause of this explosion. 'We are working alongside specialist fire investigators to ensure a comprehensive investigation is carried out into this incident.' One local witness, who lives around 20 metres from the blast, described the explosion as 'like a nuclear bomb going off'. They added: Everyone was screaming "get out of the house". 'I got my kids out and we went in the back. There's bricks and tiles in the street, all the cars are dented, and there are butane gas canisters in the street. 'There was a family with children living next door to the house and a middle-aged woman with a dog. 'Our house was shaking and could feel the whole thing tremble when the first bang went off. The force, who said they were working alongside West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in investigating the fire's circumstances, also confirmed that two adult males had been taken to hospital with 'serious injuries' and that they 'remain in hospital in a critical condition' Pictured: the aftermath of the explosion which caused a huge fire with flames and smoke erupting into the sky 'I looked outside and there was fire everywhere.' Meanwhile, Sheena Bashir was awoken by the blast which happened less than a minute's walk from her home. Describing the explosion as 'unreal', she said: 'You see stuff like that in the movies, not round here. 'I was asleep and then I heard something like a bomb had gone off. I looked out of the window and could see the house was absolutely lit.' While Mrs Bashir was on the phone to the emergency services, smaller bangs after the initial blast could be heard. She said: 'There was one big bang and a lot of smaller ones.' Sophie Storer, 19, only moved to the street two weeks ago, and saw the flames after the explosion. She told MEN: 'I went upstairs about 12 and heard a massive bang. I looked out my window and I just saw red and orange rising up. 'My mum and Bougie were asleep. They came upstairs and we started filming to see what was going on.' Produced through a chemical process that uses butane to extract the oils from cannabis, the drug process of Butane Hash Oil (BHO) has gained increased popularity across the UK, USA and Australia. 'It's my birthday today and it's going to be a memorable one. It was a birthday with a bang for sure.' Shakes Hussain, 40, added: 'All the houses were shaking. I heard a big bang and then it was straight fire. 'It sounded like a big blast. I was scared, could hear people screaming. I got no sleep because I was scared and worried.' In a previous statement, West Yorkshire Police said that they had been called to the property at Coventry Street, Halifax, at 12.04am. They also confirmed that two people from one property had been taken to hospital with serious injuries, while a third person, from another property, had received treatment for minor injuries. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: 'We sent five crews, plus the technical rescue and command unit. 'The explosion had affected six houses. Crews used large jets and an aerial ladder to extinguish the fire' A police corden continues to remain in place on Coventry Street as Northern Powergrid employees continue to work in and evacuated terraced properties. Meanwhile, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: 'We sent five crews, plus the technical rescue and command unit. 'The explosion had affected six houses. Crews used large jets and an aerial ladder to extinguish the fire. 'Three people were taken to hospital.' A police corden continues to remain in place on Coventry Street as Northern Powergrid employees continue to work in and evacuated terraced properties. Northern Gas Networks previously said it was assisting but that the incident was 'not suspected to be related to our network'.
