A new Netflix documentary, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, will delve into the gruesome killings of the twisted pair and how their horrifying crimes were finally uncovered
It is 30 years since serial killer Rose West began her whole life sentence after being convicted of the murders of 10 victims.
Her husband, and partner in crime, Fred, had taken his own life before he could stand trial.
Now, a new Netflix documentary, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, will look at the most gruesome parts of their crimes with “previously unseen police video and unheard audio recordings”. It will also delve into the lives of the families and loved ones of their victims and how they have coped in the aftermath, as well as how Gloucestershire Police uncovered the horrifying murders.
Released on May 14, the series will also look into the search for the many bodies of the West’s victims and how police compiled enough evidence to ensure the murderous pair were never freed.
A spokesman for Netflix said: “With exclusive access to previously unseen police video and unheard audio recordings, the three-part series will show how the Gloucestershire police were able to unearth the remains of the West’s 12 victims to build a case against them that would bring closure for the families of the victims.
“The series features family members of some of the victims – a few of whom are speaking for the first time – giving insight into the pain and torment they went through for decades. From discovering that their missing loved ones were brutally murdered, to the trauma they experienced and the strength they displayed during the trial.”
Fred and Rose West were finally arrested in 1994, more than 20 years after their reign of terror started. Their crimes first surfaced when the body of their daughter, Heather, was found in the garden of 25 Cromwell Street, the home where they raped and killed many of their victims.
Fred attempted to cover for Rose, and she maintained her innocence, but the couple’s crimes would eventually come to light. The couple met when Rose was just 15 and Fred 27, and it soon became apparent they shared the same twisted fantasies. The couple set up a home together with Fred’s two children from an earlier relationship.
Fred and Rose would find babysitters for his two daughters as often as possible so they could fulfil their darkest desires, which included taking advantage of the vulnerable. But then Fred was jailed for 10 months for petty thefts and Rose was left in charge of her two step-daughters and her own child.
It was while Fred was behind bars that the darkest parts of Rose’s personality emerged when she murdered his daughter, eight-year-old Charmaine. The act is said to have “excited” Fred, who confessed to Rose that he had already carried out a double murder.
He had killed his first wife and their nanny, who was carrying his child. Fred encased Charmaine in concrete in their first home in Midland Road, where she would remain undiscovered for more than 25 years. By 1972, the couple had married and Rose was expecting their second child, so the couple moved to a bigger home on Cromwell Road. Here, their appetite for sexual deprivation increased still further and the house became known for its sex parties.
Fred would pick men up from local pubs to bring back to have sex with his wife while he watched through spy holes. Three of Rose’s eight children are by partners she slept with behind Fred’s back.
Her father was also once again involved in the family and would visit the house to have sex with his daughter. Before long, even this wasn’t enough and Fred created a ‘sex dungeon’ in the basement of Cromwell Street. They would lure victims downstairs and carry out extreme acts of sexual violence and torture.
When the couple’s depraved actions finally caught up with them in 1994 and police found the bodies in both the home and garden of 25 Cromwell Street, officers made other gruesome discoveries. Along with their victims, Fred and Rose had also buried the tools of their torture.
Initially, Fred did everything he could to protect his wife. Before search teams arrived for a second day, Fred made a remarkable confession – he marched into a police station and told officers he was responsible for killing Heather.
Experts now believe he was doing this in a desperate bid to stop the police from continuing their search and implicating his wife, Rose, in his sick world of rape, torture and murder. But as police continued their search, more and more bodies were discovered.
In a seemingly desperate bid to protect his wife from criminal charges, Fred continued to confess to the murders. He even returned to the home and showed officers where many of his victims were buried.
Such was his devotion to his beloved Rose, Fred is even reported to have told his son Stephen just before he handed himself into police “Look son, look after mum and sell the house “I’ve done something really bad. I want you to go to the papers and make as much money as you can.”
But police were certain Fred had not acted alone and then the body of Fred’s step-daughter, Charmaine, from his first marriage to Rena Costello was discovered in a cellar in another house where Fred had been a tenant. The use of dental records revealed Charmaine had been killed when Fred was in prison for theft – leaving the only possible murderer to be Rose.
She too was arrested and charged with multiple murders, which she denied. Following their arrests, the first time Fred and Rose West saw each other was during their joint first appearance in court. Fred’s solicitor, Howard Ogden, said: “She was stony-faced and cold and that was a big shock to Fred.
“He thought she would be desperate to embrace him and be so grateful for taking the rap but in fact, she was hoping to save her own neck.” Author of An Evil Love, Geoffrey Wansell, added: “She never came near him. He looked at her the whole time they were in court. “He tried to catch her eye and even tried to touch her at one point. She was unmoved. She had written him off.”
Fred, who had previously fully admitted he was the one responsible for the deaths, suddenly started to reply ‘No comment’ when police asked for more information. This had devastating consequences for Rose, who could no longer claim Fred had been the only one responsible as the evidence stacked up against her.
Fred West was found dead in his prison cell on January 1, 1995, just weeks before his and Rose’s murder trial was due to start. His suicide note was a final love letter to his wife – and contained his final, horrifying, wish.
Fred wanted to be buried with the daughter, Heather, whom he and Rose had killed as well as his step-daughter and first wife. The note read: “Well Rose it’s your birthday on 29 November 1994 and you will be 41 and still beautiful and still lovely and I love you. We will always be in love. The most wonderful thing in my life was when I met you. Our love is special to us. So, love, keep your promises to me. You know what they are.
“Where we are put together forever and ever is up to you. We loved Heather, both of us. I would love Charmaine to be with Heather and Rena. You will always be Mrs West, all over the world. That is important to me and to you. I haven’t got you a present, but all I have is my life. I will give it to you, my darling. When you are ready, come to me. I will be waiting for you.”
Underneath the note was a drawing of a gravestone with the words “In loving memory. Fred West. Rose West. Rest in peace where no shadow falls. In perfect peace, he waits for Rose, his wife.” Rather than being devastated her husband was dead, Rose saw this as her ‘get out of jail’ card.
Her solicitor, Leo Goatley, said: “I told Rose Fred was dead and her emotions were confused. There was a certain glow and relief in her expression. If she was distressed she certainly didn’t betray that to me.”
Despite no forensic evidence against Rose, and with Fred no longer alive, she still faced a murder trial, charged with 10 deaths. She was convicted of all 10 charges and told she would spend the rest of her life behind bars. Rose West still insists she is innocent of the crimes.