287
MORE TERRIBLE
THAN WORDS
CAN EXPRESS
FRED AND ROSEMARY WEST, 1971–87
An artist’s impression of Fred
and Rosemary West at Gloucester
Magistrates Court on 30 June 1994.
Fred was charged with 12 murders, but
Rosemary was only charged with 10.See also: Ted Bundy 276–83 ■ Ian Brady and Myra Hindley 284–85 ■ Colin Pitchfork 294–97SERIAL KILLERS
subjected her to a horrifying
12-hour ordeal in which they bound
and raped the 17-year-old. After
the assault, Owens broke down in
tears. This had some effect on Fred
West, who said that she could
leave, provided she promised to
return and continue working as
their nanny.
Traumatized, Caroline Owens
fled back to her mother’s house
and called the police. However,
Owens was too ashamed to report
the rape, and so in 1973, the Wests
were charged at Gloucester
Magistrates Court with the lesser
offence of indecent assault, fined
£100, and released.Continuing nightmare
This initial case merely hinted at
the criminal depravity that went
unnoticed inside the Wests’ home
at Cromwell Street, Gloucester,
for almost 20 years. The couple
“harvested” their victims by hiring
teenage girls as nannies, renting
rooms to young women, and
abusing their own children.
In the summer of 1992, social
workers and police officers once
again visited the Wests’ home,
alerted by reports of both childI met Rose at sixteen
and trained her to
what I wanted.
Fred Westabuse and a missing girl. They
searched the house and removed
five children from the home, placing
them in foster care.
However, another year elapsed
before social workers called police
to report comments from the
rescued children about 16-year-old
Heather West – daughter of Fred
and Rosemary. During the search
of the house the children indicated
that Heather was “under the patio”.
This began what became the
investigation of Britain’s most
notorious killers.
Police excavated the garden at
25 Cromwell Street and discovered
not only the remains of Heather and
Fred West’s eight-year-old daughter
Charmaine, but also the skeleton
of Charmaine’s mother, Catherine
Costello. Charmaine is believed to
have been the Wests’ first victim,
killed by Rosemary in 1971 in order
to sever links with Costello, who
was Fred’s first wife. Costello was
subsequently killed by the couple
when they feared she suspectedwhat they had done to Charmaine.
Fred and Rosemary’s daughter
Heather suffered a lifetime of
molestation and beatings and was
eventually murdered in June 1987
by Rosemary, in her husband’s
absence, after a “blazing row”.
In total, nine bodies were found
buried at 25 Cromwell Street. One
more was discovered at the Wests’
previous home in Gloucester, and
two others were buried nearby in
a remote field. The couple were
accused of collectively killing
12 people in the span of 20 years.
Fred West confessed his guilt,
but used a blanket in his cell to
asphyxiate himself, 10 months before
his trial. Rosemary maintained her
innocence, but she was eventually
convicted of 10 murders, and
sentenced to life imprsonment. ■286-287_Fred_Rosemary_West.indd 287 17/01/2017 14:16