

On the day she vanished, Rushworth told her mother that she was seeking to buy medicine. Her mother Christine stated that in the days leading up to her murder, Susan had begun to turn her life around, reducing her drug addiction and living with Christine.

A mother of three, Rushworth had struggled with addiction to drugs following a brain haemorrhage that caused epilepsy, and had become a sex worker to fund her addiction. On June 22nd, 2009, 43-year-old Susan Rushworth disappeared. They were unable to proceed with sectioning him under the Mental Health Act, due to lack of evidence of possessing signs of psychotic illness, or a treatable mental disorder. This led to the police contacting the housing association which owned Griffiths' flat to request better CCTV to help capture any possible incident. Two years before the murders, his hunting weapons were seized, and he was found to have read books on dismemberment.
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Local police were concerned with Griffiths, believing he was a serial killer in the making. ĭespite this, Griffiths seemingly turned his life around by 2009, but his obsession with serial killers remained, and he even studied for a PhD in homicide studies at the University of Bradford, concerning 19th century and modern murders. The previous year, he was diagnosed as a schizoid psychopath. In 1992, he was jailed for two years after being found to have put a knife to a girl's throat. During his time in custody, he admitted he had interests in becoming a serial killer. At age 17, he stabbed a supermarket manager with a knife, resulting in him being jailed for three years. Prior to the murders, Griffiths already had a criminal past. 4 Murder of Suzanne Blamires and CCTV Footage.3 Murder of Shelley Armitage and Dismemberment Footage.Shelley Armitage's mother, Gill ,said she would be haunted by what Griffiths had done for the rest of her life. "The other families have been able to do that, but we don't have a body and with no body there's no death certificate. We don't know what he's done with her and we want to put her to rest. Susan Rushworth's daughter Kirsty Rushworth, 21, who stormed out of court yesterday, swearing at Griffiths, said: "All my family want is for him to tell us where my mother is. The families have said they do not want to make further statements to the media. Had she agreed, she could have been his fourth victim.Ī West Yorkshire police spokeswoman said it was likely the victims' families would be upset if Griffiths was allowed to continue with his studies. Within an hour of murdering Blamires, the last of this three victims, Griffiths had approached another street worker and offered her £80 for an hour to go the flat where Blamires's body lay. Griffiths made a number of disturbing videos and recordings, including one of Armitage lying dead in a bath and an unidentified victim bound with green twine on his living room floor. Examined 19 years ago by a psychiatrist, he was described as a "sadistic, schizoid psychopath". He once told a probation officer he would become a murderer in his 30s. Griffiths, who has a psychology degree from Leeds University, lived in a housing association flat on the edge of Bradford's red light district stuffed with books and documents relating to homicide. The judge said when sentencing Griffiths that he had shown no remorse and never said he was sorry, even in the most perfunctory way. We hope the convictions yesterday will bring them some comfort at this difficult time." The university's vice-chancellor, Professor Mark Cleary, said: "Our thoughts go out to the friends and families of the three women so tragically killed. "If he did, we would have to look at the university's regulations and make an assessment. He is a part-time PhD student at Bradford University and is writing a thesis titled Homicide in an Industrial City – Violence in Bradford 1847-1899.Ī spokeswoman for Bradford University said it was an unusual case and Griffiths would have to apply to the university to continue with his studies. Griffiths, who had a long history of mental illness, was said to be obsessed with serial killers. Mr Justice Openshaw told Griffiths he would die in prison after admitting the "wicked and monstrous" murders of the women, whose bodies he dismembered and claimed to have eaten.
