Black Widow
06-07-2010, 07:43 PM
SELF-STYLED "Crossbow Cannibal" Stephen Griffiths appeared in court accused of three murders — and then nodded off during the hearing today.
University researcher Griffiths — studying a PhD in murder and serial killers — sat for 23 minutes with his eyes closed appearing to doze off.
And Judge James Goss QC even had to say his name TWICE at the end of the hearing to attract his attention.
The judge turned to him and said: "Stephen Shaun Griffiths"... and got no response.
He then repeated his name and Griffiths suddenly started forward and opened his eyes to listen as the judge said he was being remanded in custody.
Relatives of the three women he is accused of murdering sobbed during his appearance at Bradford Crown Court — by video link from a top security prison.
Some craned their necks to watch him on a large television screen behind them.
A consultation is being planned with leading psychiatrists — possibly at Rampton high security mental hospital — to investigate his mental state, the court heard.
Griffiths, 40, is accused of murdering three prostitutes — Suzanne Blamires, Shelley Armitage, and Susan Rushworth — in Bradford in the past eleven months.
He allegedly shot dead Suzanne, 36, with a CROSSBOW in an internal corridor at his flats in a converted mill in the city two weeks ago ... hours after she went missing.
The researcher is said to have cut up her body and police have been investigating whether he ATE some of her flesh.
Pieces of her dismembered corpse were found floating in bin bags in the River Aire at Shipley, West Yorks, three miles from his home.
Cops who are hunting for the bodies of the other two girls have recovered tissue from the body of Shelley, 31, in the same river. She vanished in April.
There has been no sign of mother of three Susan, 43, since she disappeared in June last year.
Griffiths — who is in custody at Wakefield top security jail in the hospital wing — sat in front of a wooden desk as he appeared on the court television.
Dressed in a grey tracksuit he stared briefly at the camera before sitting down and hugging his arms around his waist and then bowing his head.
He answered to his name Stephen Shaun Griffiths and then made no other comment during the hearing. At his first appearance before Bradford Magistrates court ten days ago he called himself "The Crossbow Cannibal".
As prosecutor Heather Gilmore and defence counsel Ian Howard discussed with the judge possible trial dates Griffiths lolled back and his head fell forward as he started nodding off.
Christine Thompson, 72, the mother of Susan Rushworth wiped tears from her eyes and Shelley's sister Gemma, kept her eyes fixed on the television screen.
As he was remanded in custody at the end of the hearing Griffiths finally looked fully into the camera as he was told there would be a review hearing in open court in mid July at Sheffield. He will appear by video link.
A decision will then be taken on a date when he will be asked his plea to the three charges.
A provisional trial date was set for Bradford Crown Court on November 16. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks.
Police are still hunting for the bodies of the missing women. The victims families have been described as "overwhelmed with grief".
Griffiths was arrested two weeks ago when armed police surrounded his flat in a converted mill in Bradford.
The swoop came after the caretaker reviewed CCTV footage and discovered film of Suzanne being shot dead with a crossbow.
The Sun
University researcher Griffiths — studying a PhD in murder and serial killers — sat for 23 minutes with his eyes closed appearing to doze off.
And Judge James Goss QC even had to say his name TWICE at the end of the hearing to attract his attention.
The judge turned to him and said: "Stephen Shaun Griffiths"... and got no response.
He then repeated his name and Griffiths suddenly started forward and opened his eyes to listen as the judge said he was being remanded in custody.
Relatives of the three women he is accused of murdering sobbed during his appearance at Bradford Crown Court — by video link from a top security prison.
Some craned their necks to watch him on a large television screen behind them.
A consultation is being planned with leading psychiatrists — possibly at Rampton high security mental hospital — to investigate his mental state, the court heard.
Griffiths, 40, is accused of murdering three prostitutes — Suzanne Blamires, Shelley Armitage, and Susan Rushworth — in Bradford in the past eleven months.
He allegedly shot dead Suzanne, 36, with a CROSSBOW in an internal corridor at his flats in a converted mill in the city two weeks ago ... hours after she went missing.
The researcher is said to have cut up her body and police have been investigating whether he ATE some of her flesh.
Pieces of her dismembered corpse were found floating in bin bags in the River Aire at Shipley, West Yorks, three miles from his home.
Cops who are hunting for the bodies of the other two girls have recovered tissue from the body of Shelley, 31, in the same river. She vanished in April.
There has been no sign of mother of three Susan, 43, since she disappeared in June last year.
Griffiths — who is in custody at Wakefield top security jail in the hospital wing — sat in front of a wooden desk as he appeared on the court television.
Dressed in a grey tracksuit he stared briefly at the camera before sitting down and hugging his arms around his waist and then bowing his head.
He answered to his name Stephen Shaun Griffiths and then made no other comment during the hearing. At his first appearance before Bradford Magistrates court ten days ago he called himself "The Crossbow Cannibal".
As prosecutor Heather Gilmore and defence counsel Ian Howard discussed with the judge possible trial dates Griffiths lolled back and his head fell forward as he started nodding off.
Christine Thompson, 72, the mother of Susan Rushworth wiped tears from her eyes and Shelley's sister Gemma, kept her eyes fixed on the television screen.
As he was remanded in custody at the end of the hearing Griffiths finally looked fully into the camera as he was told there would be a review hearing in open court in mid July at Sheffield. He will appear by video link.
A decision will then be taken on a date when he will be asked his plea to the three charges.
A provisional trial date was set for Bradford Crown Court on November 16. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks.
Police are still hunting for the bodies of the missing women. The victims families have been described as "overwhelmed with grief".
Griffiths was arrested two weeks ago when armed police surrounded his flat in a converted mill in Bradford.
The swoop came after the caretaker reviewed CCTV footage and discovered film of Suzanne being shot dead with a crossbow.
The Sun