She remains among the UK’s most infamous and prolific serial killers, convicted of 10 murders including that of her own daughter.
A new three-part documentary series Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story, released by Netflix on Wednesday 14 May, sheds new light on the lives and crimes of the notorious murderers.
While testimony from family members of some of the victims gives an insight into the pain and torment they went through for decades.
We take a look at her life and crimes.
Rosemary West met Fred when she was 15 years old (Photo: Netflix)Although repulsed by his scruffy, dirty appearance, the teenager known then as Rosemary Letts was flattered by the attention he gave her. He asked her out on a date on a number of occasions but she refused.
Rose’s parents disapproved of the relationship and forbade her from seeing him but she continued, and so social services were contacted and she was placed in a home.
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Two months later, Fred was imprisoned for theft,and during his time in jail Rose, then aged 17, was left in charge of the three girls. She is said to have subjected her stepdaughters to physical and emotional abuse and eventually killed eight-year-old Charmaine shortly before Fred was released from prison.
It was to be the first of the 10 murders, for which Rose West was convicted.
Several months later, they moved to a three-storey house at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, which they rented from the council before later buying.
While living there, Rose had seven further children between 1972 and 1983, five daughters and two sons. After the birth of her second child, she began work as a prostitute at the family home. At least three of her children are understood to have been conceived by clients.
The road in Gloucester the family moved to in 1972 (Photo: Netflix)Where is Rose West now, and what do we know about her life?
She maintained she had never met at least six of the victims and said she loved her daughter Heather.
After seven weeks of evidence, the jury convicted her of all 10 murders and she was sentenced to life in prison without parole – later changed by the Lord Chief Justice to a minimum of 25 years. In 1997, then Home Secretary Jack Straw placed a whole-life tariff on her sentence.
She was initially imprisoned at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Middlesex, before being transferred to Low Newton in County Durham
In 2019, West was moved to HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire.
“They then brought younger women prisoners in, who were in for 12 months, 18 months, who were pretty wild and were out for fights to show who had the bragging rights, this sort of thing.
He said he would not be surprised if she was a model prisoner, enjoying classes such as sewing, but one who could stand up for herself if confronted.
The 12 victims of the Wests (Photo: Netflix)What did Fred and Rose West do?
In June 1987, the couple killed their 16-year-old daughter Heather, fearing she would disclose what was going on at house, and buried her body under the patio. It was to a be threat used against their remaining children and one which would eventually lead to the couple’s downfall.
When the West’s children were interviewed by police, they said their father had told them if they told anyone about what happened at Cromwell Street they would be “buried under the patio” like their sister Heather.
Detectives then discovered that Fred’s stepdaughter Charmaine and first wife Rena were also missing.
The West family home at 25 Cromwell Street (Photo: Netflix)The following day Fred West admitted killing his daughter Heather but said his wife had no part in it. He offered to show officers where she was buried in the back garden at the family home.
These included former lodgers and women who had been reported missing after hitch-hiking or travelling in the area.
Also found there was the body of 18-year-old Ann McFall, believed to be Fred West’s first victim. She had been a nanny to his daughter Anne Marie and stepdaughter Charmaine through his marriage to Rena. She was pregnant with his child.
Fred West originally confessed to all 12 murders and said his wife was not involved. But he withdrew this confession while in prison on remand, claiming Rose was culpable, when she refused to have any further contact with him.
A timeline of the deaths of the 12 victims
1967: Anne Mcfall 1971: Charmaine West 1971: Catherine “Rena” Costello 1973: Lynda Gough 1973: Carole Ann Cooper 1973: Lucy Partington 1974: Therese Siegenthaler 1974: Shirley Hubbard 1975: Juanita Mott 1978: Shirley Anne Robinson 1979: Alison Chambers 1987: Heather West Read More Details
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