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Kathy Hancock, who shared the life of the killer nicknamed “the crossbow cannibal” returned to this sordid time, saying that her ex had committed his crimes to become “famous”.
In 2010, Stephen Griffiths was sentenced in England to life in prison for the murders of three women. Before being arrested and then tried, he shared the life of Kathy Hancock, who agreed to tell his story for the program “Living with a Serial Killer”, produced by the American site Oxygen.com. It was in 2001 that Kathy met Stephen. “An earthquake” in her life, as she found him intelligent and empathetic. But the beautiful love story has gradually become darker. Behind the mask of the ideal boyfriend, Stephen Griffiths hid a disturbing personality. Manipulator, obsessed with serial killers, he had undertaken studies in criminology. Among the crime figures he dreamed of being like was Peter Sutcliffe, the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’, who died in 2020, sentenced to life in prison for the murders of 13 women in Yorkshire and North West England. England between 1975 and 1980, and for attempting to kill seven others. It is in the same region that Stephen Griffiths himself killed his three victims, all prostitutes.
The man was arrested in 2010 after 36-year-old Suzanne Blamires was reported missing. The remains of the young woman were found in a river in West Yorkshire. The bodies of Susan Rushworth, 43, and Shelley Armitage, 31, his other two victims who disappeared in June 2009 and April 2010 respectively, have never been fully recovered.
“He knew exactly what he was doing”
At the time of these crimes, Kathy was living under the influence of her companion. Victim of psychological and physical abuse, she could not leave him. After a series of violent beatings, however, she had found the courage to file a complaint and have him arrested. “I had the opportunity to leave, but I found out I was pregnant,” she says, explaining that her partner celebrated becoming a soon-to-be dad when she was horrified to find out. that she would be bound forever to him. But she had a miscarriage and “made him a coffin for the pregnancy test”. The sordid detail too much that finally pushed the young woman to leave. “I made the decision to keep in touch without overdoing it, because I knew exactly how he was,” she says.
But each time they spoke, the man was aggressive, forcing Kathy to permanently cut off all communication with him. The harassment, however, continued for weeks, via voicemail. Until Stephen Griffiths was arrested in the investigation into the disappearance of Suzanne Blamires. The crime was filmed by surveillance cameras. We see the man chase the young woman and then look directly into the camera, allowing her to be identified. After questioning, he ended up confessing to the three murders, declaring himself “a misanthrope and having little time to devote to the human species”.
When she found out her ex was a murderer, Kathy Hancock realized he was “as bad” as she thought. During the investigation, the severed head of Suzanne Blamires with a crossbow bolt was found in the River Aire. In total, the police recovered 159 pieces of human tissue from the water. DNA and fingerprint evidence confirmed that two of the victims were indeed Suzanne Armitage and Shelley Blamires. Then, bloodstains found during an intensive search of Griffiths’ home revealed that he had also killed Susan Rushworth. It was during his trial that he dubbed himself the “crossbow cannibal”, proving according to Kathy Hancock that his goal was above all to “become famous”. “He knew exactly what he was doing and which button to push.” To Scotland Yards agents, the murderer had indeed confessed to having eaten some of the prostitutes, adding that “it is part of the magic of crime”, reported the BBC.