|
Kill Total: |
12+ |
Kill place: |
Gloucestershire |
|
Kill date: |
1967 - 1987 |
Victim(s): |
|
|
Date of Birth: |
Fred - 29 Sept 1941
Rose - 29 Nov 1953 |
Marital Status: |
Married |
|
AKA: |
House of horrors |
Occupation: |
Builder |
Rosemary and her husband
Fred West, were accused of murdering 10 women and young
girls over a 20 year period ending in 1987. They took
great joy in luring away vulnerable runaways with offers
of rides, lodging or jobs as nannies. Once in their
clutches inside the "House of Horrors", the young women
were stripped, bound with tape, raped, tortured, then
killed, some were dismembered and buried. The killer
couple was arrested at their home, 25 Cromwell Street,
Gloucester, in 1994.
Police, armed with a search warrant, dug up the remains of
their 16 year old daughter, Heather, who vanished in 1987.
Further excavations under the house and in garden
produced eight more female bodies.
One more body was found under the kitchen of a former home
at 25 Midland Road, Gloucester, including Rosemary's
stepdaughter, Charmaine.
Fred hanged himself in
Winston Green prison in Birmingham, on New Years Day in
1995. He faced two further charges of murdering his ex
wife and a baby-sitter and burying them in fields near his
former home. Police believe that Fred probably killed more
women.
Rosemary, who admitted being a prostitute, still
maintains her innocence. However, on;
22nd November 1995,
she was convicted of 10 murders. The authorities are
investigating the whereabouts of nine other missing women
who frequented their home.
The judge, Mr Justice
Mantell, sentenced her to life imprisonment, saying: "If
attention is paid to what I think, you will never be
released."
The Lord Chief Justice later decided that West should
spend at least 25 years in prison, but in July in 1997
Home Secretary Jack Straw subjected West to a whole life
tariff.
October 1996 the
house at 25 Cromwell Street, along with the house next
door, 23 Cromwell Street, were demolished and the site
made into a garden and pathway. Every brick was
crushed and every timber was burnt to discourage souvenir
hunters.
27th September 2001 - A documentary filmmaker has
called for an investigation into claims that serial killer
Fred West may have murdered 20 more people. David Monaghan
said West confessed the additional murders to a social
worker assigned to him in prison and repeated them in a
yet unaired TV show. Gloucestershire police said there was
not enough evidence to investigate the claims and are
trying to block the airing of the interview.
Rose West has abandoned plans to appeal against her
conviction for her part in the Cromwell Street murders.
West, still maintains her innocence but said she was ready
to spend the rest of her life in prison.
West's solicitor expressed surprise at the decision but
her brother Andrew Letts said he was relieved she would
never be free.
October 2008, Rose
West moved from HMP Bronzefield, in Ashford, to HMP
Durham.
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