The Crossbow Cannibal: The Definitive Story of Stephen Griffiths - The Self-Made Serial Killer

by Cyril Dixon

During Midsummer 2009, Susan Rushworth, a mother, grandmother, and former grammar school girl, went missing. She was followed ten months later by Shelley Armitage, a one-time wannabe model. Four weeks on it was Suzanne Blamires, who had been a trainee nurse. All three sold their bodies for sex to fund their drug habits. All three vanished as if the cobbled backstreets had opened up and swallowed them in. And who could know many how more there were?

Stephen Griffiths was a shy, eccentric student of criminology who always had a word of cautious advice for the working girls. He wandered the same bleak landscape, dressed in black, hair slicked back with baby oil, happy to chat and share a cigarette. Here, surely, was someone they could trust ...

Top journalist Cyril Dixon - who attended the hearing - tells the culling story of how an attention-seeking oddball fashioned himself into a serial killer for the sole purpose of becoming famous. 'The Crossbow Cannibal' exposes the dark, nether world of vice which exists in the shadows of a proud and bustling city, and reveals how, inspired by books on homicide, Griffiths turned it into his own murderous fantasy land.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

276 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2011

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephen Griffiths was an attention seeking loner even from a young age and once he developed an interest in criminology, and in particular homicide, his thoughts turned to deeds which hardly bear thinking about.

He was obsessed with Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, and was determined to follow in his footsteps in Bradford. He toured the red light districts, particularly when he was high on drugs and regulary used the sex workers to satisfy his desires.

He had acquired crossbows, which were displayed on his walls at home together with a small collection of knives, and it was these weapons that he eventually used when his killing spree began.

He was regarded as an oddball in the block of flats in which he lived, his collection of reptiles doing nothing to dispel such thoughts, and the caretaker had been told not to visit his flat alone. Other residents had complained and a series of CCTV cameras had been installed. And it was on one of these that one of his gruesome deeds was discovered.

He killed three sex workers and one or two more had narrow escapes. When he was arrested he began to act a little insane but eventually he realised that this was not working and he pleaded guilty to the crimes. Three life sentences followed but the question remains, how many more women did he kill? He boasted of others but none have come to light as yet.

It is an extremely chilling tale and not for the faint hearted.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

One thing for sure this guy was a monster. Pure evil.
However, the book didn't seem to grab my attention as much as I had hoped. There was too much talk about other serial killers and it seemed to repeat itself over and over again.

[♥ Marlene♥]

A little while ago I had written a review for this book, had searched for pictures to add and had if I say so myself achieved a nice little review. The only thing was. I forgot to save!!! aargh . So since then I have read a few books but not yet reviewed any of them. Okay regroup


This was an interesting read. Not excellent by all means but I am glad I read it. This case caught my eye when I came upon the cctv images. They are so shocking and saddening.






I was glad to get to know a little bit more information about the 3 girls he murdered and I also did not know the exact way he got caught.
A decent true crime book. 3.5

[Ellie Shepherd · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a local in the area at the time this appears to be a very accurate portrayal of what happened. Scary.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cut and dry 'true crime' story, written soon after the actual case took place. It has a light, journalistic style to the writing that makes it highly readable although conversely there isn't a huge amount of psychological depth. The main problem here is that the case is a relatively minor one, with three murders and a quick court case afterwards. It's not like the Wests or Nilsen so the author doesn't have as much to work with in terms of detail. However, he does pad this out with a lot of background detail and talks about the likes of Yorkshire Ripper et al, which may be annoying to some. I didn't mind; I found this good study that didn't outstay its welcome.

[Billie-jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read about Stephen Griffiths who names himself the crossbow cannibal. The only thing about this book is it goes on about other serial killers. Stephen was obsessed with the Yorkshire ripper (peter Sutcliffe) so his mentioned a bit but others were also mentioned for some reason

[Kayleigh Osborne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of information, but repetitive

[Karen Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting true crime book looking at the life and crimes of the Crossbow Cannibal a murderer in the UK.
The book is detailed, informative, and well written at a good pace, providing good information while maintaining respect for the victims.