How the chilling drama unfolded

More reports and background on Stephen Griffiths

The mother of three, who suffers from epilepsy and is getting treatment for heroin addiction, does not contact her family, use her phone or access her bank account again.

MONDAY, JULY 6, 2009: Ms Rushworth's son James makes a public appeal for information about his mother's disappearance.

"We are all very worried about her," he says. "We're a close family and we're not coping well with her disappearance."

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2009: Detectives say they have "grave concern" for Ms Rushworth's welfare. "It is possible that she scored heroin that her body has not been able to manage," Det Supt Dave Pervin adds.

"We know that she is a street sex worker. It is possible she may have met with a man who was violent."

MONDAY, JULY 20, 2009: Police divers search a lake in Lister Park, Bradford. The search is extended east to a nearby rail line, but no clues are found.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2009: Police make another appeal for information about Ms Rushworth, who has been missing for three months.

MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2010: Shelley Armitage, 31, leaves her flat in Allerton, Bradford, with a friend and has food in City Road before moving towards Sunbridge Road and Rebecca Street in the city's red light district. It is the last confirmed sighting of her.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010: Ms Armitage is reported missing by her boyfriend, Craig Preston.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010: Police launch a poster appeal to help trace Ms Armitage.

MONDAY, MAY 10, 2010: Police release CCTV footage of Ms Armitage walking along a street in Bradford city centre on the night she disappeared.

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2010: Suzanne Blamires, 36, of Barkston Walk, Allerton, Bradford, is reported missing by her boyfriend, Ifty Hussain.

MONDAY, MAY 24, 2010: A caretaker finds CCTV footage showing Griffiths killing Ms Blamires with a crossbow. Armed police arrest Griffiths, who tells detectives that he has killed and dismembered Ms Rushworth, Ms Armitage and Ms Blamires, and eaten parts of their bodies

TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010: A member of the public finds body parts floating in the river Aire at Shipley. The remains are later confirmed as belonging to Ms Blamires.

THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010: West Yorkshire Assistant Chief Constable Jawaid Akhtar announces that Griffiths has been charged with the murders of all three women.

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010: Griffiths appears at Bradford Magistrates' Court for a five-minute remand hearing. Asked to give his name, he replies: "The Crossbow Cannibal."

THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2010: Police confirm that a small piece of human tissue recovered from the river Aire belonged to Ms Armitage.

FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2010: Griffiths appears at Sheffield Crown Court via video link and seeks to plead guilty to the three murders. The judge, Mr Justice Openshaw, refuses to accept his pleas because of concerns about his mental state.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2010: Griffiths pleads guilty at Leeds Crown Court to murdering Ms Rushworth, Ms Armitage and Ms Blamires. He is told he will die in jail.