Fred and Rose West are among the most notorious serial killers in the UK, having tortured and murdered at least 12 young women and girls, many in their home which led to the press dubbing the Gloucester property ‘the house of horrors’.
West’s reign of terror began from an early age as he allegedly abused his younger sister before being shunned from his family. It has also been reported that he engaged in bestiality after being taught about it by his father, and that incest took place in the home (a claim his brother Doug has denied).
His cruelty continued in his family home in adulthood, as he regularly abused his own children. It’s been reported that Rose gave birth to eight children, with three believed to be the offspring of men she slept with while working as a prostitute (Fred accepted these children as his own).
While the terrifying couple officially murdered 12 women and girls between them, one of their daughters believes there could be many more victims – with as many as 30 being killed at their hands.
With Channel 5 set to re-run Rose: Making Of A Monster, FEMAIL takes a look at Rose’s brutal partner in crime – her husband Fred West.
Fred and Rose West (pictured) are among the most notorious serial killer couples in the UK, having tortured and murdered at least 12 young women and girls
Who was Fred West and what did he do?
Frederick Walter Stephen West was born into a family of farmers in Hertfordshire on September 29, 1941.
In 1962, he moved away from the family, to Gloucester, a year after it was revealed that he had been repeatedly raping his 13-year-old sister Kitty.
According to The Sun, it also emerged Kitty was pregnant with her older brother’s child, however she did not carry the baby to full term.
Although West faced prosecution for the abuse, Kitty refused to go to court and testify against her brother, and the case collapsed. However, the Wests reportedly disowned, him and he moved out of the family home.
When West was arrested for his crimes against his sister, he confessed to authorities that he had been molesting young girls since his early teenage years.
While being interviewed, he asked the police: ‘Doesn’t everybody do it?’
An elderly relative of the family, Edna Hill, revealed that Kitty changed a great deal following the harrowing incident with West.
Edna told The Sun: ‘Kitty was a nice little girl, but since all this, she’s just sort of turned.
Fred West (pictured) is infamous for sadistically murdering girls and women, and assaulting his 13-year-old sister Kitty
Rose was initially not attracted to Fred – put off by his unkempt appearance (pictured: Fred and Rose West)
‘She doesn’t seem the same girl. She seems quiet. She doesn’t want nothing to do with nobody.’
Fred West was 21-years-old when he married his first wife Catherine ‘Rena’ Bernadette Costello in September 1962. At the time, she was pregnant with another man’s child.
Rena, who would take her husband’s surname, had relocated from Glasgow to England, leaving her home because the father of her child was Asian, which had caused a rift with her family.
After their wedding, the Fred and Rena West moved to Coatbridge in Scotland, where he worked as an ice-cream van driver.
Rena’s baby, a daughter she named Charmaine, was born in 1963. West told people that his wife had miscarried, and they had adopted a baby, to explain why she was biracial. After the birth, they soon moved again, this time to the Bridgeton district of Glasgow.
A year later, Rena would go on to have another baby – Anna Marie (who has since changed her name to Anne Marie) – West’s first child.
In November 1965, West ran over a small boy, killing him. While he was cleared of any wrongdoing by police, fearing reprisals from locals, he and the two children moved to Gloucester, where they lived in a caravan.
Fred West was shunned by his family after his younger sister Kitty, then 13, alleged he had raped and impregnated her (pictured in the garden of 25 Cromwell Street, later known as ‘the house of horrors’)
The following February, Rena moved down too, bringing with her the previous family nanny Isa McNeill, and a friend of theirs called Anna McFall, who the couple had met in Glasgow through Isa, when Anna was just 16-years-old.
By 1966, it is reported that both Rena and West were having affairs (he admitted to having numerous affairs throughout his marriage to Rena). After she discovered West’s infidelity, Rena started seeing a man called John McLachlan.
West, who was earning a meagre wage driving a lorry for a local slaughterhouse, was becoming increasing dominant and violent towards all three women. It is also believed he was sexually abusing Charmaine. And he encouraged Rena to work as a prostitute, to supplement his earnings.
Rena begged her boyfriend John to rescue her and Isa, and the two children, and to return them to Scotland. However, when they tried to leave, a violent altercation broke out, and she was not able to take her daughters.
Anne McFall, who was infatuated with West, stayed and looked after the children, who Rena visited frequently. Meanwhile, Anne begged West to divorce Rena, and marry her.
But while living in the caravan with West, and at eight months pregnant, Anne disappeared. She was not reported as missing, but in June 1994, her remains would be discovered buried in a field in Kempley, not far away from West’s childhood home of Much Marcle in Herefordshire. Some finger bones were missing, believed to have been kept by the killer as a trophy.
While West would at first deny the murder to police, while in custody, he later told a visitor he had killed Anne while in a fit of rage.
In 1969, West first met 15-year-old Rose. Despite being a child, and 12-years his junior, he immediately set his sights on her. She was not attracted to the older man, with his unkempt appearance, and poor hygiene.
However, in time, the two soon discovered they had a great deal in common: both had mothers called Daisy, lived near each other, and had also committed incest.
The author of Rose West: The Making of a Monster, Dr Jane Carter Woodrow has said of the relationship: ‘When Fred started to talk about things of a sexual nature to do with bondage, S&M, all the stuff he was into, any other girl would have run off but Rose stayed.
‘It was quite a normal thing she knew of.’
Fred and Rena had briefly reunited, but by the time he’d met Rose, had broken up for good. When she turned 16, Rose moved in with Fred, Charmaine, and Anne Marie, despite the protestations of her parents.
It has been reported that Rose followed Fred’s example when it came to raising the children, and was a strict disciplinarian, especially with Charmaine.
After the pair killed Fred’s step-daughter – Charmaine – and his ex-wife – Rena – the pair moved their violence and debauchery to 25 Cromwell Street also dubbed the ‘House of Horrors’ (pictured)
Rose and Fred West shared eight children – including three fathered from Rose’s clients and a previous daughter from Fred’s first marriage (pictured in 1994)
The couple, who had moved into a flat on Midland Road in Gloucester, had their first child together – a daughter they named Heather Ann, in October 1970. Soon after, Fred was jailed for six months for stealing car tyres and a vehicle tax disc.
While looking after three children, Rose would become incensed when the characterful little Charmaine defied her authority. It is believed that Rose killed the young girl in a red mist of rage, hiding the eight-year-old’s tiny body in a coal cellar, until West was released from prison, when he relocated it to under the kitchen floor.
When Rena came looking for her daughter, West strangled her, later disposing of her body by dismembering her in a field near his childhood residence. After 1971, Rena’s family and friends never heard from her again.
In 1972, West and Rose married, then moved to their infamous ‘house of horrors’ – 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester. There, they would continue to torture and kill.
How were Fred and Rose West caught?
All of the couple’s eight children (including Anne-Marie as well as the three children Rose had fathered with her clients as a prostitute) would become victims at the hands of their parents, suffering from physical and sexual abuse.
Among the abuse, West would force his children to watch video recordings of their prostitute mother having sex with customers upstairs.
The abuse went further: one witness would later recall hearing a child scream ‘stop it Daddy’ in the middle of the night.
Fred repeatedly raped his eldest daughter Anne-Marie from the age of eight and she fell pregnant with his child at the age of 15. She would eventually escape Cromwell Street.
In 1972, the couple hired 17-year-old Caroline Owens as their children’s live-in nanny. The couple were open about discussing sex in front of her. When they started insinuating they wanted her to become involved with them sexually, she left the job and the West’s home.
However, the couple went on to abduct her, and returned her to their house, where they carried out violent sexual acts. Eventually, Caroline agreed she would return to work as their nanny, as she feared they would otherwise kill her.
She managed to go home, where her mother noticed that she was covered in injuries. Breaking down, Caroline disclosed everything, leading her mother to report the ordeal to the police.
The Wests were arrested, and charged with assault, indecent assault, actual bodily harm, and rape.
Although they were tried at Gloucester Magistrates’ Court in January 1973, because Caroline felt unable to face to ordeal of testifying in court, the sexual abuse charges were dropped. The Wests plead guilty to indecent assault and causing actual bodily harm, and were fined £50 each, before walking free.
It was three months after this trial that the couple committed their first known murder together, killing 19-year-old Linda Gough, a friend of one of the West’s lodgers. That November, 15-year-old Carol Ann Cooper was murdered by the couple.
Fred repeatedly raped his eldest daughter Anne Marie (pictured) from the age of eight and she fell pregnant with his child at the age of 15.
Mae West (pictured in 1994) now 52, was subject to vile sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her parents throughout her childhood in the killer couple’s home. She believes her parents had at least 30 victims
In December 1973, they killed 21-year-old Lucy Partington, who the police believe was kept alive and tortured by the Wests for several days.
Between 1974 and 1979, the Wests are known to have murdered more women, including Therese Siegenthaler, 22, Shirley Hubbard, 15, Juanita Marion Mott, 18, Shirley Anne Robinson, 19, and Alison Chambers, 17.
In 1986, the Fred (possibly with Rose) killed their own daughter Heather, as they were worried she was going to expose the abuse she and her siblings had been subjected to.
But it was not until 1992 that the couple would be exposed. It is reported that West videotaped himself raping one of his daughters, who told a friend, who reported him to the police.
Another girl who had been raped by West also reported him, leading to the police obtaining a search warrant. After searching the house for evidence of child abuse, they arrested Fred West for rape and sodomy of a minor. Rose was also arrested, as an accomplice.
While their charges were being processed, their younger children – Tara, Louise, Rosemary Junior and Lucyanna – were placed into care.
The following year the trial against the Wests collapsed as their children refused to give evidence against them. However, none of the children would be returned to their brutal parents.
While in custody, Fred West had confessed to the murder of Heather. After obtaining a warrant to dig up the property, the police found her body, as well as the remains of many more.
As more bones were found, Fred admitted to the murders, saying he had done them alone, in a bid to protect Rose. He denied raping the victims though, saying they had chosen to have sex with him.
Meanwhile, Rose West cut off all contact with her husband, blaming him for the murders. According to reports, she is still claiming she is completely innocent of all the crimes she has been convicted off.
In December 1994, Fred West was charged with dozens of counts of murder. Rose West was charged with 10.
How did Fred West die?
In the run-up to his trial for twelve murders, Fred West committed suicide on January 1, 1995 (pictured with wife Rose and daughter Anne Marie)
During their first joint appearance in court, while Fred was expecting his wife to still be loving towards him, he was shocked by her demeanour, according to his solicitor Howard Ogden.
Mr Ogden said: ‘She [Rose] was stony-faced and cold and that was a big shock to Fred.
‘He thought she would be desperate to embrace him and be so grateful for taking the rap but in fact, she was hoping to save her own neck.
After taking complete responsibility for all the crimes, following the cold meeting in court, West stopped answering the police’s questions, simply responding ‘no comment’ to every query.
The result of this was that Rose was implicated, with evidence stacking up against her, and Fred no longer taking all the blame.
Fred West died by suicide whilst awaiting trial for 12 murders. He took his life on January 1, 1995, in his cell at Winson Green Prison.
Although he had initially been placed on a strict suicide watch in the run-up to his trial, this had been relaxed, meaning he was able to complete the act.
Before taking his own life, West had written a suicide note, which was discovered in his prison cell.
The note had a drawing of a gravestone and a message to Rose, in which he said he wanted to be buried with Heather, the daughter he (and possibly Rose) had murdered.
He wrote: ‘Well Rose it’s your birthday on 29 November 1994 and you will be 41 and still beautiful and still lovely and I love you.
‘We will always be in love. The most wonderful thing in my life was when I met you. Our love is special to us. So, love, keep your promises to me. You know what they are.
‘Where we are put together forever and ever is up to you. We loved Heather, both of us. I would love Charmaine to be with Heather and Rena. You will always be Mrs West, all over the world.
‘That is important to me and to you. I haven’t got you a present, but all I have is my life. I will give it to you, my darling. When you are ready, come to me. I will be waiting for you.’
At the bottom of the note, he had drawn a gravestone, which had on it the words: ‘In loving memory. Fred West. Rose West. Rest in peace where no shadow falls. In perfect peace, he waits for Rose, his wife.’
West’s body was kept in a mortuary in Birmingham for three months. It was then cremated, before his funeral. which , according to varying reports, was attended by either just two or four of his children.
In 1995, Rose West was found guilty of 10 murders, and jailed for life.
Their ‘house of horrors’, 25 Cromwell Street, was demolished in October 1996.
The tragic victims of the House of Horrors murderers
Although Fred West was convicted of killing 12 women and Rose 10, the pair are thought to have killed up to 20 more.
One victim who was almost certainly killed by West was his former girlfriend Anne McFall who like the others, was found in a shallow grave with body parts missing. West denied it.
The warped pair used whips to torture their victims as well as their own children.
Fred West committed suicide by hanging himself in a prison cell in January 1995 — before he could stand trial for the murders.
Rose West is still a prisoner at HMP Low Newton in Durham, having been handed a rare ‘whole life tariff’ for her part in the killings.
Confirmed victims include:
Charmaine West, eight: Fred West’s stepdaughter from his first marriage, Charmaine was murdered by Rose in 1971 while Fred was in prison.
Rena Costello, 27: Charmaine’s mother Rena, Fred’s first wife, was murdered when she arrived to pick up her daughter Charmaine in August 1971. With Charmaine already dead, it is thought Fred killed her to avoid an investigation.
Lynda Gough, 20: Miss Gough was a lodger in the West’s home and was killed in April 1973. Rose told her mother she had moved to Weston-super-Mare.
Carol Ann Cooper, 15: The teenager disappeared while walking home from the cinema to her Worcester children’s home in November 1973. Her remains were found buried in the Wests’ garden.
Lucy Partington, 21: After spending Christmas with her family in Cheltenham, Miss Partington disappeared after leaving to catch a bus. The student was the cousin of novelist Martin Amis and the sister of author Marian Partington.
Therese Siegenthaler, 22: The South London student was killed in April 1974 after disappearing while attempting to hitch-hike to Ireland.
Shirley Hubbard, 15: One of the Wests’ youngest victims, she disappeared on her way home from college in Droitwich. When her body was discovered, her head was completely covered in tape with a rubber tube placed in her mouth to allow her to breathe.
Juanita Mott, 18: Miss Mott, a former lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, was living in Newent when she vanished.
Shirley Robinson, 19: Another lodger, Miss Robinson was killed in 1978 after becoming pregnant with West’s child.
Alison Chambers, 17: The teenager disappeared in August 1979 and her remains were later found beneath the patio at 25, Cromwell Street.
Heather West, 17: Repeatedly raped by her father, Heather complained to friends about the abuse and was murdered by her parents in a bid to keep her quiet.
