'Cannibal' case police launch national appeal

West Yorkshire Police will ask other forces to check their databases for any details they may have on "Crossbow Cannibal" Stephen Griffiths' previous movements.

Experts at the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) are already helping the investigation by researching Griffiths' background and drawing up a timeline of his movements in the years before his arrest.

Griffiths, of Holmfield Court, Thornton Road, Bradford, is charged with murdering Shelley Armitage, 31, Suzanne Blamires, 36, and Susan Rushworth, 43, who all worked as prostitutes in the city's red light district.

The 40-year-old PhD student, who referred to himself as the Crossbow Cannibal when he appeared in court in May, is expected to stand trial later this year.

The head of West Yorkshire Police's elite Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, Det Chief Supt Max McLean, said: "We are going to write to all forces to give brief details of the investigation and we will be asking them to look at their systems.

"We are also working with the NPIA, which runs a national database on serious crime. It can provide guidance and advice on timelines by checking the movements of suspects and missing people to see if there are any crossovers.

"Working with the NPIA allows us to focus our own resources on the preparation of case papers on the three women who have been killed.

"Our priority is to focus on the challenge in hand – ensuring the case relating to Suzanne Blamires, Susan Rushworth and Shelley Armitage is properly prepared."

During its research, the NPIA will explore any links between the

current investigation and a catalogue of unsolved prostitute murders.

Rebecca Hall was 19 when she went missing on April 13, 2001, after leaving her home in the Little Horton area of Bradford.

Her stripped and battered body was found in an alleyway almost two

weeks later. Her son was only four months old when she died.

The body of Yvonne Fitt, 33, was found in a shallow grave at Warren Point, Norwood Edge, between Otley and Pateley Bridge, in September

1992.

Detectives believe Miss Fitt, who worked as a prostitute in Bradford and Leeds, died from multiple stab wounds up to two months before her remains were discovered.

Another notable case is the killing of Middlesbrough prostitute Vicky Glass, 21, whose body was found dumped on moorland near Danby, North Yorkshire, in November 2000.