5 chilling details about Fred and Rose West's crimes

Fred and Rose West were one of the most notorious serial killing couples in the history of Gloucestershire, who were related to the s*xual abuse and murder of 12 women committed between 1967 to 1987. Rose was Fred's second wife, whom he met at a bus stand when she was just 15 years old, The couple married three years later in 1972, only to unleash their s*xual lust on young women victims together.

Over the period, the couple abducted, r*ped, tortured, and mutilated young women to fulfill their fatal s*xual fetish. After brutally slaughtering the victims, the couple then dumped the bodies in the cellar and patio at their residence at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, England. The Fred and Rose West murders slowly became a modern-day horror story, which not just terrified Gloucestershire, but the entire nation.

The complete chain of murders connected to Fred and Rose West is documented in Peacock's World's Most Notorious Killers. The episode titled The West Murders was released on December 2, 2024, at 8 pm ET on Oxygen.

5 key details about the Fred and Rose West murders

1) Both Fred and Rose West were abused in childhood

Fred was raised in a farm (Image via Pexels)

Fred West was born at a farm in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, England, and ever since childhood, he had seen his mother butchering the farm cattle. Belonging to a poor farm of workers, he grew up with a patriarchal father. As per Oxygen, Fred's mother Daisy Hannah Hill, started having s*x with him, which instilled in his mind the tendency to abuse his children.

His father Walter Stephen West, had a very derogatory perception of women, considering them as mere objects to use. Rose West also was s*xually abused by her father Bill Letts, since she was a child, which marked a violent s*xual urge in her mind. Rose first met Fred at a bus stop in 1969, and the two eventually learned about their dark urges.

2) Fred and Rose West trapped their victims in disguise as gentle civilians

Fred and Rose West abducted victims in their car (Image via Pexels)

Fred and Rose West pretended to lead completely normal lives with their kids, at their residence at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, England. Fred had killed his first wife Catherine Costello, and his kid's Nanny Ann McFall, and dumped both of their bodies at a field in Kempley, near his childhood farm village Munch Marcle in Herefordshire.

Together, the couple offered to provide lifts to hitchhikers, knocked them unconscious and brought them to the basement. Fred and Rose West also chose their victims from the tenants, who were living in their residence, to bind them tightly, and disemembering their body parts. Upon searching the West residence, investigators found several remains of dead bodies, duck taped on their skulls, and most of their body parts into pieces.

3) Fred had multiple affairs with other women who he killed with their impregnated child

Fred had multiple affairs with other women (Image via Pexels)

Ann McFall, the first victim of Fred West, was an 18-year-old nanny who had an affair with Fred, became pregnant, and was killed. Her remains, along with her unborn child, were found in a field in Kempley, Gloucestershire.

Shirley Anne Robinson, a tenant in the West's home, also had an affair with Fred, which upset Rose West. Shirley, eight months pregnant, disappeared in May 1978. Her body, along with her stillborn child, was later found buried in the West's garden patio.

4) Fred and Rose West s*xually abused and killed their own children

Fred and Rose abused their kids sexually (Image via Pexels)

Fred had married Catherine Costello, back in 1962 when she was pregnant with a kid from her previous marriage. In 1963, Catherine gave birth to their first baby Charmaine West, who was just eight years old, when she disappeared. After the death of her mother, Charmaine rebelled against the acts of her stepmother Rose, hence was murdered when Fred was in prison.

Fred and Rose West had their first child, born on October 17, 1970. She was just 16 years old when she was murdered by her parents in 1987. As per Oxygen, Heather was r*ped by her parents, and when she threatened them to inform the authorities, they killed her. She was buried under the patio of their backyard.

5) Fred West hanged himself in prison after the couple was arrested

Fred killed himself in the prison after getting arrested (Image via Pexels)

It was in 1994 when the children from the West residence decided to approach a police officer, sneaking away from their parents' radar. The authorities got to know, that Fred was r*ping his daughters, for which he was arrested. The five youngest children from the family were transferred to foster care when they revealed Heather's body buried in the backyard.

The Gloucester Police obtained a search warrant and started an excavation in February 1994. It was then that the authorities obtained the remains of several dead bodies, which also took them ultimately to the basement cellar. Both the couple were taken into custody, however, Fred committed su*cide on January 1, 1995, while captivated at HM Prison Birmingham. Rose West was sentenced to 10 life sentences.

It was in February 1995, when Rose was charged with the murder of 10 women, which she denied. Her trial began at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire, on October 3, 1995, with Judge Sir Charles Mantell.

It was in November 1995, when the jury found her guilty of all the ten murders. She was sent to lifetime imprisonment without any chance of parole. Rose West currently serves her sentence, incarcerated in HM Prison Birmingham.

Edited by Divya Singh