Between 1967 and 1987, in the quiet English town of Gloucesterdisappeared Twelve young women. Nobody could imagine that years later, in 1994, their remains were found buried in the garden and near the number 25 of Cromwell Street. Some of the victims were minors, others pregnant. Two of them were daughters of the same killers: Frederick and Rosemary West.
West spouses is one of the most upsetting criminal events in British history. To tell it today, with new testimonies and unpublished documents, is the Netflix documentary “A British Horror Story: the story of Fred and Rose West”available from May 14th. In three episodesthe documentary traces the descent into the horror of a couple who transformed their home into a prison of violence and death. Here are some of the most upsetting details.
The “courtyard of the horrors” of Fred and Rose West
The West attracted young women or vulnerable women, often escaped from home or institutes. After adapting them, they subjected them to torture, abuse and finally killed them, burying the bodies in the property or in the surrounding area. Their cruelty did not even spare the children: they harassed them regularly, threatening them with phrases like “You will end up in the courtyard, like your sister”. Two of the victims were their daughters: Charmaine and Heather.
Fred West confessed the crimes in an attempt – never completely successful – to exonerate roses. It was he who led the police to the places of the burials. But the investigations soon revealed that his wife also actively participated in the murders. Rose will be sentenced to life imprisonment for ten killings. Fred took his life in prison in 1995, before facing the trial.
Disturbed childhood of Fred West
Fred West was born in a poor and violent family. According to his stories, at 12 he suffered sexual abuse from the motherwhile the father would hate his sisters. He also declared that he had committed acts of zoophiliabut the younger brother Doug defined all this “Delusions of a sick mind”.
In 1961 he was accused of abusing his younger sister, Kitty, who was pregnant. The case was archived because the girl refused to testify, but Fred was still removed from the family. Shortly after he met Rena Costello, a pregnant woman from another man. The two married Fred adopted her daughter, Charmaine. Together they had a second daughter, Anne Marie.
But family life was immediately marked by violence. Fred beat Rena, forced her to prostitute himself and sexually abused little Charmaine.
The meeting with Rose
In 1967 Rena left Fred, leaving him the custody of his daughters. That same year he completed his first murder: Anne Mcfall, an 18 -year -old pregnant with himand former babysitter of his daughters. Two years later he met Rosemary Lettsjust fifteen years old. Despite the young age (she 15, he 27) the two immediately began a relationship: Rose moved with Fred and began to take care of the girls.
In 1970 their first daughter was born, Heather Ann, who according to some sources would actually be the daughter of Rose’s father, known for having abused her. In 1971, while Fred was in prison for theft, Rose killed Charmaine, eight years old. At the release, Fred also killed Rena, who returned to look for her daughter. Both were buried: Charmaine under a house in Midland Road, Rena in a field in the village of Kempley, next to Anne Mcfall.
Fred and Rose married in 1972. She began to prostitute herself, even with Fred’s consent, who welcomed the children who were born from relationships with customers. They had eight in total.
Abuses and murders
Over the years, the Cromwell Street house became a true horror center. The West rented the rooms to young girls in difficultythen submit them to rape, torture And murders. Fred designed to transform the basement into one “Torture room” And he confessed to go in search of adolescents who made the hitchhiking: he considered them easy to attract.
He abused his daughter Anne Marie and the Tata Catherine Owens, who was also kidnapped and tortured. In 1973 he tried to report them, but after a humiliating trial, he abandoned the accusations. The Wests were condemned only to a fine of 25 pounds. Years later, his testimony proved to be fundamental: Catherine was the only survivor capable of telling the horror.
From that moment, the couple no longer left witnesses in life. The victims were first abused, then killed and finally dismembered and buried in the garden.
Even within the home, hell continued. The daughters Anne Marie, Heather, Mae and the young Louise suffered all abuse. Heather, Fred and Rose’s first -born, was killed at 16.
The arrests and the process
In 1992, Louise trusted the abuses suffered to a friend. The mother of the friend denounced the fact, but the investigation was archived. However, it was sufficient to attract police attention. The youngest children had started to tell at school that “those who behaved badly ended up in the garden”, like his sister Heather.
In 1994, investigators obtained a mandate to inspect the house: they found human bones, which confirmed to be Heather. At that point Fred began to collaborate, bringing the investigators to the places where he had buried twelve bodies. Nine were found in the home garden, three in the countryside.
Among the victims:
- Heather West16 years old, daughter of the West
- Shirley Robinsonpregnant with the eighth month
- Alison Chambersescaped from an institution
- Lynda Goughwelcomed by the West in 1973
- Carol Cooperescaped from an institute in Wocester
- Lucy Partingtondisappeared after a visit to a friend
- Thérèse SiegenthalerSwiss student
- Shirley Hubbardlived with an adoptive family
- Juanita Motta couple of the couple
January 1, 1995, Fred West took his life in prisonleaving a ticket in which he seemed to want to protect Rose again. But the evidence against her were overwhelming. During the trial, the details that trapped – combined with the testimony of Owens – allowed the jury to sentence her to life imprisonment for ten murders.
Rose West today is 69 years old, is still in prison and continues to proclaim himself innocent.
The Docuserie on Netflix: why see it
To tell in detail the horror buried behind the ordinary facade of the West family is the documentary “A British Horror Story: the story of Fred and Rose West”available on Netflix from May 14th. Composed of three episodesthe series traces the story with a powerful and disturbing documentary cut, bringing to light unpublished materials which add new layers of restlessness to one of the most upsetting criminal stories in British history.
The heart of the document is the Original recordings of interrogations of Fred West with the police, recently found, which return the direct voice of the murderer and the coldness with which he told the crimes. Confessions, interspersed with archival movies and reconstructions, show an apparently collaborative man but ready for anything protect your wifeeven after capture.
To complete the story there are the testimonies of theFred defense lawyerOf Former members of the police and of Investigative journalists who followed the case in the 90s, when the news deeply shook Great Britain. Their stories highlight the institutional shortcomingsi failures of justice and the psychological dynamics who allowed the couple to act undisturbed for almost two decades.
