Yorkshire - (Slashers): Bradford's 'Crossbow Cannibal' Stephen Griffiths may have been obsessed with Silence of the Lambs star Anthony Hopkins whom he is said to resemble facially.
A police search of the suspected murderer's seedy bedsit has found masses of pictures of Hannibal Lecter, the movie's lunatic ex-psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer.
And in a stunning twist today police frogmen trawling Bradford University septic tanks have stumbled on a major clue.
Graffiti scrawled in the criminology department men's loos - where the self-styled 'Crossbow Cannibal' was a mature (sic) student - says 'Stephen Griffiths = Frightens Pet Fish'.
"This is a chilling parallel to the anagram motif in Silence of the Lambs movie," West Yorks Police Commander Boggis told reporters this afternoon.
Other graffiti, found in a fume cupboard in the criminology department's science labs, states 'Hannibal Lecter = Enchant Liberal'.
Cryptologists have said they believe may be a direct reference to the Tory-Glib Dem coalition.
Later this afternoon a gay bar in downtown Allerton was raided following reports a copycat cop-taunter may be at work after 'Crossbow Cannibal = Arabic Snob Clowns' provided a tenunous Al-Qaeda link.
Anthony Hopkins is 72.
