Netflix’s Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story
Fred and Rose West are known as two of the most notorious serial killers in UK history. The story of their victims and the horrific crimes they committed are the focus of Netflix’s new docuseries, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story. As you’re watching, you might be wondering where Rose West is now, whether she’s still in prison, and if she’s in contact with her kids.
Rosemary West was 15 years old and working at a bakery when she first met Fred. She encountered the 27-year-old at a bus stop and eventually left her job to move in as a full-time nanny for Fred’s two children. Fred had previously been married to Catherine “Rena” Costello, with whom he had two daughters, Charmaine and Anne Marie.
Rose gave birth to their first child, Heather, in 1970. She and Fred married in January 1972 and went on to have eight children, many of whom they physically and sexually abused. The couple eventually moved into a house at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, England. According to the West children, their mother was engaged in sex work, although police stated she was “not known to [them]
as a prostitute,” according to ABC AU.
The couple’s eldest surviving daughter, Mae West, wrote about her parents’ obsession with sex in her 2020 memoir, Love as Always, Mum xxx. She recalled sex toys and hardcore porn videos, many filmed by Fred and featuring Rose and others, scattered around the home.
At the same time, Mae also recalled seemingly normal family moments, like the iced cakes Rose baked for their birthdays or the Christmas presents bought from the Argos catalogue. The family also went on camping holidays, during which Mae and her sisters were spared from their father’s abuse.
On January 12, 1973, the couple were convicted of kidnapping and abusing Caroline Owens, a girl who had been their nanny for a short period in late 1972. (Owens later testified in Rose’s trial that she was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and held against her will by both Rose and Fred.)
Anne Marie, who was sexually abused by her father, wrote that the children were isolated from the outside world. “We lived in a vacuum at Cromwell Street. No-one was allowed in without Dad’s or Rose’s permission, not even our playmates from school,” she said, per ABC AU.
What Did Fred And Rose West Do?
Netflix’s Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story
Fred and Rose West were accused of raping, torturing, and killing at least 12 people over more than 20 years. Rose was convicted of participating in 10 of the murders. Their victims included their daughter Heather, Fred’s ex-wife Rena, Fred and Rena’s daughter Charmaine, as well as lodgers, nannies, hitchhikers, and other vulnerable women in the area. Some victims were mutilated, and many were decapitated.
Anne Marie, who had run away from home, alerted authorities about the physical abuse she both saw and experienced in the house. She also expressed concern about her missing sister, Heather. What seemed to be silly rumor about Heather being buried in the outside patio made its way to social workers, who notified police and executed a search of the property.
Police discovered nine sets of human remains throughout the property – dubbed the “House of Horrors” – including in the cellar, beneath the patio, and near the bathroom and kitchen window. Additional remains were found in nearby fields in Kempley.
One of Fred’s first victims was Ann McFall, a woman who lived with Fred in his caravan and was pregnant with his first child. He also killed his former wife Rena, who left him in 1969 amid reports of violence and sexual abuse, according to the BBC.
With Rose’s help, Fred went on to kill 10 more women. Some victims, like Carole Ann Cooper and Lucy Partington, were picked up while hitchhiking or waiting at bus stops, while others were lodgers staying in their home.
Perhaps the most horrific of the couple’s crimes was the murder of their first-born daughter Heather. Her body was the first discovered when police searched 25 Cromwell Street, and she’s believed to be the final victim in their killing spree.
Fred West’s biographer Geoffrey Wansall told the BBC that Heather was “rebellious, difficult, and refused to collaborate with her father’s plans.” While Heather and her sister tried to protect each other from their father, Wansall said he believed she threatened to go to the police to tell them about his crimes.
What Was Rose West Sentenced To?
Netflix’s Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story
Fred eventually admitted to murdering the women, but claimed he acted alone. He committed suicide on January 1, 1995, at the age of 53, in his cell at Birmingham Prison, while Rose continued to profess her innocence.
Rose pleaded not guilty to ten counts of murder. The trial lasted more than a month, and she was found guilty of ten murders. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, becoming the only the second woman in the UK’s modern history to be given that sentence, per ABC AU.
Where Is Rose West Now?
Rose West is still in prison and serving out her life sentence at HM Prison New Hall.
Shortly after being found guilty, she attempted to appeal her convictions, but her application for appeal was refused, according to Netflix’s Tudum.
Rose’s daughter Mae wrote in her book that when she visited her mom in prison, she believed she was telling the truth. “I kept loyal to Mum. She claimed that Dad influenced and controlled her and that she’d made a pact to stay with him as long as he didn’t harm us kids,” she said, according to Daily Mail.
Eventually, Mae realized her ‘coercive” and “controlling” mom was guilty of the crimes she denied.
“I didn’t realise it at the time, but Mum manipulated me. She started to hug me and hold my hand when I visited her. She’d never shown me any affection before. She signed all her letters ‘Love as always, Mum’, yet she’d never told me she loved me before,” she wrote.
Mae also called Rose a “hypocrite,” especially for acting “high and mighty” in prison – intervening in her children’s lives and claiming that her sister Louise wouldn’t be a good parent, while ignoring the fact that she and Fred had violently and sexually abused them.
She revealed that she eventually stopped visiting her mother, and Rose has stopped writing to her.
‘Her death will be the next thing,” Mae said of her then-70-year-old mother. “I suppose she might make a deathbed confession. I just wish she’d tell the truth to the authorities, then we’d all know, wouldn’t we?”
As for the rest of the West children, Mae said they are still close. “They say that families are broken up by these things, but we’ve stuck together. Actually, we’re very lucky.”
Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story is streaming on Netflix. Watch the official trailer below.
