Timeline Born Fred West 29 September 1941 Rosemary Letts 29 November 1953 The Victims 1967 - Ann McFall 1970 - Rena Costello 1972 - Charmaine West, 8 1973 - Linda Gough, 21 (seamstress from Gloucester). 1973 - Lucy Partington, 21 (university student, from Cheltenham). 1974 - Carol Cooper, 15 (schoolgirl from Worcester). 1975 - Juanita Mott, 19 (from Newent, Gloucestershire) 1975 - Shirley Hubbard, 15 (schoolgirl from Worcester) 1977 - Therese Siegenthaler, 21 (Swiss hitchhiker) 1977 - Alison Chambers, 17 (originally from Swansea) 1978 - Shirley Robinson, 18 (lodger and Fred's lover. Heavily pregnant) 1987 - Heather West, 16 Arrested 1 March 1994 - Fred West 25 April 1994 - Rose West Trial Rose West - 3 October 1995 Convicted Rose West - 22 November 1995 Died Fred West - 1 January 1995 |
Rosemary
Rosemary was born in 1953 in Northam, United Kingdom. While her mother was pregnant with her, she received electroshock therapy that may have caused prenatal injury. Rosemary's father was a schizophrenic and was also prone to violence. Rosemary grew up performing poorly in school and was sexually active at a young age. When she was a teenager, she was caught in bed with one of her younger brothers, sexually fondling him. Rose's mother finally left her abusive husband and took Rosemary with her. During this time, Rosemary was spending time around older men and that is when she met Fred. Fred Fred West was born in 1941 into a poor family of six in Much Marcle, United Kingdom. Fred's father had incestuous relations with Fred's sisters. Fred had a low IQ and dropped out of school to became a farm laborer. Fred suffered from two different head injuries that may have caused damage leading him to commit crime later in life. Fred married Rena Costello and together they had one child. Fred demanded sex from Rena and was not interested in “regular" sex. Fred then met Anna McFall and she became pregnant with Fred's child. Anna wanted Fred to divorce Rena but he refused and instead murdered Anna and their unborn child. The next year, Rena could not handle Fred anymore and abandoned their child with Fred. Fred committed a lot of petty thefts and moved around from job to job after his mother passed away. Fred was working as a bakery truck driver which is how he met Rosemary. The “Perfect" Match Fred was 12 years older than Rosemary when they met in 1968. In 1970, Rose moved in with Fred and his two daughters. Fred introduced Rose into a world of prostitution, pornography, and sadism. Rose had an abusive childhood so this was not all new to her. A year after living together, Rose became pregnant and the family moved to their new home. Rose gave birth to Heather, making her a mother of three girls at the age of 17. The Crimes In 1970, Fred was arrested for theft and was sent to Leyhill Prison to serve a ten month sentence. While Fred was in prison, his daughter Charmaine went missing, it is believed that Rose killed her. The next year, Charmaine's biological mother came back to get her, and she also was killed. When questioned, the West's told the story that Charmaine's mother came and took Charmaine back to live with her. In June of 1972 Rosemary officially became a West and the two were married. Fred prostituted Rosemary out and would watch her have sex with others through peep holes in the bedroom. The West's took in hitchhiker, Caroline Roberts, made her their nanny and give her a place to live. Roberts felt as though something was wrong and decided it was time to leave the West's. When she tried to leave, Roberts was hit unconscious by Fred and woke up in the West's home. While there, she resisted and the couple threatened her. Caroline was sexually assaulted and tortured for twelve hours by the Wests. She was able to escape and went to the police. Her story was not strong enough to arrest the couple and they were able to escape charges with only a fine. From this incident, Fred and Rose learned that they would not be able to allow their victims to live. In 1972, they killed Lyndia Gough and later abducted and killed 15 year old Carol Ann Cooper. Fred raped his eight-year old daughter and at times, Rose would hold her stepdaughter down while she was being raped by her father. Fred and Rose's home became their own twisted playground. They drilled holes in the toilet and bedroom walls which provided peepholes for them both. They installed intercoms in the bedroom which would allow them to hear what was going on. Their house turned into a party house where people would go for drugs, drinks, and sex. It was all a trap. Girls would come to the home and even though Fred was older, they looked at Rose and assumed no harm would come to them. They were wrong. Victims of the West's were often bound and tortured. They were sexually assaulted and eventually killed. In April of 1978, Fred impregnated an 18 year old girl named Shirley Robinson. She thought she was going to marry Fred, but Rose would be the only Mrs. West and at 8 months pregnant, Shirley was murdered. Rose and Fred's first child together, Heather West, who was raped by Fred as well, threatened to tell the authorities about what was going on in the home. She was killed and buried in the back garden. Fred and Rose told people that their 16 year old daughter had simply run off. This was only realized seven years after the murder. The Investigation The authorities were notified that the children at the West home were being abused. This started the investigation which would uncover the rapes, torture, and murders in which the West's participated in. In 1994, a warrant was obtained in order to search the West's home. The bones of many victims were uncovered and the questions started. Slowly, Fred confessed to different murders. He claimed some where from rough sex turning bad, and his stories kept changing. The one story that never changed was that of Rose's innocence. Rose never confessed and portrayed herself as another victim of Fred's. Once the investigators started putting the timeline together, they realized that Fred could not have killed his step-daughter because he was in prison at the time, which would mean Rose was involved. The Trial In June of 1994, the “trial of the century" began. Rose faced charges including the murder of her 16 year-old daughter, eight-year old step daughter, and her husband's pregnant lover. On New Year's Day in 1995, Fred slowly asphyxiated himself using a blanket as a rope. Rose was left to take the blame but was only found guilty for three of the ten murders. Rose was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that she never be released. Rose is currently serving her sentences in HMP Low Newton, she will never be released, and has yet to admit her guilt. |
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Leah Ristow
Leah Ristow