A suspected serial killer who was being questioned last night over the murder of three prostitutes is studying criminal justice at a university. Stephen Griffiths, 40, is understood to be following a course at the University of Bradford, where he is specialising in homicide studies. He has a degree in psychology.
On a website that has been taken down by police, he described himself as “the misanthrope who brought hate into Heavenâ€. A former neighbour said last night that Mr Griffiths had told her “he was doing a PhD in murder and Jack the Ripperâ€.
Mr Griffiths was arrested on Monday over the murder of Suzanne Blamires, 36, a sex worker last seen alive on Friday in the red-light area near Bradford city centre. A day later body parts thought to be hers were found floating in a river three miles away. A woman’s head was found in a rucksack by the river bank.
Detectives disclosed that they were also questioning Mr Griffiths on suspicion of murdering two more women who have disappeared in Bradford during the past year. Shelley Armitage, 31, has not been seen since April, and Susan Rushworth, 43, went missing in June last year. All three women, who knew each other and socialised together, vanished from the red-light area around Thornton Road, Bradford. ...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7137689.eceThis is huge news here, the combination of being the same area as the Yorkshire Ripper murders and the fact that the suspect is studying criminology and psychology makes it almost the stuff of fiction.
RIP to the victims, looks like they had very difficult lives that ended too soon. No one deserves to end their life like this.
