Naman Shrestha
On the outside, Fred and Rose West seemed like a regular couple, but little did the world know about the dark secrets they had kept buried. In the 1990s, the police discovered the remains of nine young women underneath the West residence at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, England. With Fred taking all of the blame at the start of the investigation, Rose maintained her innocence. However, as the case progressed, evidence proved Rose’s involvement in the murders as well. Netflix’s ‘Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story’ is a three-part UK true crime docuseries that chronicles all the intricate details of the infamous killings committed by two of the UK’s most notorious serial killers. After the death of Fred, Rose became the center of attention and received punishment for the crimes.
Rose West Was Involved in the Murder of At Least Ten Young Women
Rosemary “Rose” Pauline West (née Letts) was born on November 29, 1953, to William Andrew “Bill” Letts and Daisy Gwendoline Fuller in the town of Northam in Devon, England. Not only was it a difficult pregnancy for her mother, but she also allegedly battled depression during and after the pregnancy. It has been alleged that William and Daisy shared a turbulent relationship; thus, the environment at the Letts household was anything but stable. It was in early 1969 that Rose’s path crossed with 27-year-old Fred West at a bus stop. One thing led to another, and they soon got together.
A few weeks later, the 15-year-old left her job at a local bakery. She soon secured full-time employment as a nanny to Fred’s stepdaughter, Charmaine, and daughter, Anne Marie, whom he shared with his first wife, Catherine “Rena” Costello. Rose’s parents found Fred’s intentions to be suspicious and were totally against their relationship. They pulled out all the stops to prevent her from seeing him. However, she went against their wishes and chose to be with him. Eventually, her parents cut all ties with her. In 1970, Rose and Fred gave birth to Heather, their first child. A couple of years later, on January 29, 1972, the couple made their relationship official, but without the presence of any of their loved ones.
They soon relocated to a house at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, located in Gloucestershire in South West England, which would later be dubbed the “House of Horrors.” That same year, the newly married couple welcomed their second daughter, Mae. In late 1972, they kidnapped Caroline Owens and assaulted her, for which they were convicted on January 12, 1973, and fined £25 ($48.34) each. Starting with Charmaine West, Rose is believed to have been involved in the murder of at least 10 young women between 1971 and 1987, including Lynda Gough, Lucy Partington, Juanita Mott, Therese Siegenthaler, Alison Chambers, Shirley Robinson, Carol Ann Cooper, Shirley Hubbard, and Heather West.
During the same time period, Rose West gave birth to several other children, including Tara, Louise, Barry, Rosemary Jr., and Lucyanna, not all of whom were fathered by Fred. After Rose was arrested for child cruelty in connection with the sexual assault of one of Fred’s daughters in August 1992, the authorities focused on the disappearance of Heather West, which led to the horrific discovery of multiple sets of human remains at 25 Crowell Street. In February 1994, Rose and Fred West were arrested for the murders. Although the latter confessed to the crimes, he later recanted his confession to several of the murders.
Rose West is Serving Her Sentence at a Prison Facility in West Yorkshire, England
In February 1995, Rose West pleaded not guilty to the ten charges of murder against her as her defense claimed that she was manipulated by her husband, Fred, and was not aware of his actions to the full extent. Finally, her trial commenced several months later, on October 3, 1995. During the trial, she took the stand and testified for herself, claiming that she was a victim of Fred’s violent nature and had never even met six of the victims for the murder of whom she was charged. Rose also told the jury that her relationship with Heather might be deteriorating because she allegedly abused her siblings, but she claimed to have no knowledge of her murder. She said that she even tried to prevent one of the sexual assaults her husband had committed.
On the other hand, the prosecution presented enough circumstantial evidence against her in front of the jury to prosecute her for the gruesome crimes. After nearly seven weeks of testimony, on November 22, 1995, the jury deliberated and returned with a guilty verdict, convicting her of all ten murders. Ultimately, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and was subjected to a whole life tariff, becoming only the second woman in the history of the UK to receive a whole life tariff. Soon after her conviction and sentencing, Rose filed an appeal in 1996 and 2000, claiming that the discovery of new evidence in the case proved her innocence and she had not received a fair trial due to the publicity the case received. When her first appeal was rejected by the court, she dropped the second one and announced that she would not appeal her case any longer.
However, she maintained her innocence over the years. For the initial phase of her sentencing, she was treated as a Category A prisoner and held at HM Prison Bronzefield, Middlesex, before being transferred to HM Prison Low Newton in County Durham. It was reported that she had an alleged affair with another killer named Myra Hindley while sharing a prison cell on the same wing at HM Prison in Durham. In 2003, she was allegedly set to tie the knot with Dave Glover, the bass player of Slade. The media attention that the two received cost him his position in the band. It was alleged that Rose West was threatened by the serial killer Joanna Dennehy at HM Prison Low Newton, which is why she was transferred to HM Prison New Hall in West Yorkshire, where she has been incarcerated since 2019.
Read More: Anne Marie West: What Happened to Fred West’s Daughter?
