BRADFORD, England, May 27 (UPI) -- A 40-year-old man studying for a Ph.D. in criminal justice at a university in England was charged Thursday in the slayings of three prostitutes.
Stephen Griffiths is to appear in court Friday to face charges in the deaths of the three women, all of whom have vanished within the past year in Bradford, about 200 miles north of London, The Daily Mail reported.
The newspaper cited unnamed sources saying police are investigating possible links between Griffiths and unsolved slayings of three other prostitutes in West Yorkshire, as well as other cases of women who vanished or were attacked in red light districts in Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester.
Police said Griffiths was arrested after video surveillance footage showed a prostitute being killed.
Investigators said they found body parts of missing prostitute Suzanne Blamires, 36, dumped in bags in a river. The search for the remains of two other slain women, Susan Rushworth, 43, and Shelley Armitage, 31, was continuing Thursday night.
For the past six years, Griffiths has been studying for his Ph.D. at Bradford University. He was specializing in homicides, The Times of London said.
In England, the case recalled serial killer Peter William Sutcliffe, known as "The Yorkshire Ripper," who was convicted in 1981 of murdering 13 women and attacking several others.
