By ALASTAIR TAYLOR
Published: Today
SELF-STYLED "Crossbow Cannibal" Stephen Griffiths said he had a vision that he would be locked up in the jail dubbed "Monster Mansion".
Prison sources said yesterday the alleged triple killer saw himself inside top-security Wakefield, West Yorks, where he is now on remand.
They said Griffiths, 40, had his vision less than a month before his arrest over three missing prostitutes.
Beast ... Roy Whiting
The "Mansion" houses some of Britain's most notorious serial killers and sex offenders. PhD student Griffiths told prison officers he regularly walked round the perimeter of Wakefield jail - 20 miles from his Bradford home - because he was so fascinated by murderers.
He has been writing a thesis on murders and serial killers.
A prison insider revealed: "He said he used to look up at the high walls and bars over the windows and think what it would be like to be inside.
"Griffiths said the last time he walked around the jail was about three weeks before he was arrested.
"He said he had a sort of vision that he would be locked up in Wakefield very soon."
Monster ... Ian Huntley
Griffiths is on suicide watch in a single cell in a health care unit near convicted paedophile Sidney Cooke, who is believed to have killed nine children.
He made the remark about his walks around Wakefield to staff and fellow inmates at the weekend.
The insider added: "Griffiths treated the situation like he was gathering information for his PhD.
"He was asking questions about procedure and seemed fascinated by the day-to-day workings of the prison."
The ex-public schoolboy was moved to the jail on Friday night after appearing in court accused of murdering three women. Asked his name, he told JPs: "The Crossbow Cannibal."
One of his alleged victims Suzanne Blamires, 36, was shot dead with a crossbow.
Wakefield's grim Victorian buildings have held Soham murderer Ian Huntley, serial killer GP Harold Shipman and paedophile Roy Whiting, who killed eight-year-old Sarah Payne.
Others sent there include Steven Barker - the vile stepdad of tragic Baby Peter - and cop killer David Bieber.