Fred And Rose West

Fred and Rose West abducted, raped, tortured and killed an unknown number of women over a 20 year period. They buried their victims under their Gloucester home. Fred West committed suicide while awaiting trial. Rose West was convicted of 10 murders and is serving life.

Frederick Walter Stephen West (Sept 29th 1941- Jan 1st 1995), best known as Fred West, was a British serial killer. Between 1967 and 1987, he and his wife Rosemary are believed to have tortured, raped and murdered at least 12 young women, many at the couple's home in Gloucester.

These women were usually lodgers and nannies who lived relatively transient lives and would not easily be missed, however their daughter Heather was among those murdered.

Born to a poor family a poor family of farm workers. He left school at the age of 15 and began work as a casual labourer. As a teenager he injured his head seriously in a motorcycle accident and also in a fall from a building's fire escape.

A prolific petty criminal as a teenager. He moved from his parents' home to live with an aunt a hundred yards away until he moved to Gloucester, where he took a job in a slaughterhouse. He was fined for theft in April and October of 1961.

West later worked as an ice cream van driver. On November 4th 1965, he accidentally ran over and killed a four-year-old boy with his ice-cream van.

At age 20, Fred West was a convicted child molester and petty thief. In November 1962, West married his former girlfriend, Rena Costello, who was pregnant by an Asian bus driver.

Her daughter Charmaine was born in 1963, and a year later Rena bore Fred a daughter called Anne-Marie.

While still married to Rena Costello, West met his next wife Rosemary "Rose" Letts on Nov ,29, 1968, Rose's 15th birthday. In 1970, 17-year-old Rose gave birth to their daughter Heather.

Fred West was imprisoned around this time and spent Christmas 1970 behind bars. After Heather’s birth, it appears that Rose killed Fred and Rena Costello’s daughter Charmaine, and Rena Costello was later killed by West.

In January 1972, the couple married and in June that year, Rose gave birth to their daughter Mae.

During Rose and Fred's time together, a number of young women were killed, dismembered, and buried on their property.

Their only known victim after 1979 was their daughter Heather, who was killed in June 1987 at the age of 16.

In May 1992, 51-year-old West raped his 13-year-old daughter at Cromwell Street and filmed it, and then raped her twice afterwards.

She discussed the incident with her brothers and sisters, who told friends at school.

In August the police decided to investigate, eventually leading to Fred West being charged with 12 counts of murder, with Rose as an accomplice. She was also charged with child cruelty, and the remaining children were placed in foster care.

They started searching the house and excavating the garden of 26 Cromwell Street on Feb 25, 1994.

After Fred's arrest, the police uncovered human bones. West confessed, retracted and then re-confessed to the murder of his daughter, denying that Rose was involved.

Rose was not arrested untilApril 1994, initially on sex offences but later charged with murder. Further bodies were found and, on March 4, 1994, West admitted nine more murders, including his first wife and Ann McFall.

Nine sets of bones were found in the cellar of the house, in vertical shafts dug for the purpose.

The Wests began their killing spree at another house, 25 Midland Road.

Under the floorboards police found the body of Charmaine, Fred's eight-year-old daughter by his first wife, Rena Costello. At least two other women were killed in the flat.

On Jan 1. 1995, Fred West committed suicide whilst on remand in his cell at Winson Green by hanging himself.

The evidence against Rose was circumstantial; unlike her husband, she did not confess.
She was found guilty of all 10 murders and sentenced to Life imprisonment.

The trial judge recommended that she should never be released, and 18 months later Home secretary Jack Straw agreed with this recommendation.

In 1996 the Wests' house at 25 Cromwell Street, along with adjoining 23 Cromwell Street, was demolished and the site made into a pathway. Every brick was crushed and every timber was burnt to discourage souvenir hunters.

Fred West had confessed to murdering up to 30 people, only 12 known victims were the ones they know that were killed by the pair but experts believe there were more.