Fred & Rosemary West

Victims

Conclusion:

The West's are believed to have raped, tortured, murdered and dismembered at least 10 women together. Although Fred killed two women, one being his first wife Rene Costello, on his own before meeting Rose. Rose killed Fred's daughter, Charmaine, all on her own.

Although, Caroline Owens (seen at the bottom left corner) was not murdered by the West's, she did fall victim to their abuse, rape and torture. She helped lead police to the West's when she came forward with her statement about the treatment she received while being a nanny to the family.

The first victim was their seventeen year old daughter, Heather Ann. She was last seen on June,19.1987, but suspiciously was never reported missing to the police. Her remains were found underneath a patio in the garden at 25 Cromwell Street on February 26.1994. Alison Jane Chambers, was the second remains discovered, on Monday, February.28.1994, again in the garden at the home. The third victim found was Shirley Robinson, who was pregnant with Fred's baby after having an affair with him. Therese Siegenthaler was born in Switzerland but moved to England where she met the West's, her body was the fourth found, this time under the floorboards of the basement in 25 Cromwell street. Other victims found were Shirley Hubbard, Lucy Partington, Juanita Mott who was found in the cellar, Lynda Gough, who was found in the bathroom, Charmaine West (Fred's daughter from his previous marriage) was found under the kitchen floorboards, and Ann McFall who was the last victim found, who was also believed to be six months pregnant.

A victim who survived the murder spree of the West's but was subjected to their violent tendencies, rape, and sexual abuse, blames the police for the West's murder spree. Caroline Owens came forward to police in 1972 after she was raped, tormented, and held captive by the West's. An officer accused her of 'crying rape' and suggested she had agreed and even enjoyed having sex with them because of the fact she wasn't a virgin. The murder spree was able to continue after this report because of the sexist and ignorant minds of the police force, who only charged the West's 100 euros. If police had actually investigated and dealt with the situation appropriately they would have been able to catch the West's earlier and prevent these murders that followed. Since this incident happened in 1972 you would think that crimes like rape would be better taken care of but unfortunately they are not. Many ignorant people still blame the victim and rapists hardly ever get the justice they deserve further leading to more rapes and/or more serious crimes. To prevent atrocious crimes like this from happening police and the justice system should see the violent habits of rapists and sexual offenders and should provide harsher punishments and victims of rape and sexual offenses should always come forward because you never know what other things they are capable of.

A picture of Caroline Owens, the women who helped in the capture of the West's. She worked as a nanny for the family before she realized their psychotic agenda.

Mental Health

Fred Wests mental health:

Fred had a metal plate put into his head after a motorcycle accident at the age of 17. Dr. Ashcroft (a renowned psychologist, who did not treat West) believes that a damaged 'frontal lobe' could contribute to violent sexual behavior seen in Fred. He also believes that being put into a coma for a week also contributed to West's fantasies about murder and sexual violence. Although not diagnosed, Fred showed similar characteristics with that of a schizophrenic, such as having no perception of reality and the inability to show remorse.

Rose Wests mental health:

Much like her husband, Rosemary also showed very similar characteristics and personality traits to a schizophrenic. After years of abuse, exposure to electric shock therapy while her mother was pregnant, and odd sexual behavior Rose was obviously destined to be mentally unstable.

Rosemary Letts: Childhood & Background

Frederick West: Childhood & Background

-Rosemary Letts (later became Rosemary West after marriage) was born to a mother who suffered from severe depression and who received electric shock therapy while pregnant with her.

-Rosemary's parents split when she was a teenager, making her very moody and depressed and causing her too accomplish very little academically in school.

-Rosemary moved in with her father who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, who would often beat and sexually abuse her.

-She was bullied and tormented by her peers because of the fact she was a bit overweight and not very bright. She acted out by attacking her bullies.

-Rose was once caught getting into bed with one of her younger brothers and sexually fondling him.

-Her father disapproved of her dating boys her own age, she pursued relationships with older men; one man took advantage and raped her.

Born: November 29th 1953

Barnstaple, Devon

-Fred West was born into a poor family of farm workers during the time of World War II.

-West claims that his father had incestuous relationships with his daughters. Incest was apparently a normal occurrence in their household. Fred also claims he was taught bestiality from his father at an early age.

-His father was his main influence in his killing spree because he taught him everything he did or does is right unless he got caught.

-His mother, Daisy West, began to abuse him sexually at the age of 12.

-He left school at the young age of 15. He was never an academic student but showed an interest for woodwork and art.

-After suffering two different occurrences of head injury' putting him into two separate comas, his family reported that he would have sudden fits of rage and adapted violent behavior.

Born: September 29th 1941

Much Marcle, Herefordshire

Personality Traits

Fred West:

-Fred was a violent psychopath who had the characteristics of an impulsive liar due to the influence his father had on him as a child and because of reoccurring head trauma believed to have given him significant brain damage.

-He was extremely self conscious due to the bullying he received in school because of the humiliation his overweight and poorly dressed mother bestowed onto him when she would make frequent visits to his school to yell at his teachers for punishing her "favorite" son. Peers would continually taunt him and call him a mommy's boys while also making fun of his mothers appearance. Low self esteem and twisted ideas and stereotypes of the opposite gender were also caused by his mothers history of sexually violating him. This caused him to be very aggressive and perverted towards females, later causing him to rape, beat, torture, and murder his female victims.

-Rose was a very self conscious woman who was easily manipulated and dominated by men due to her being raised by a very sexually abusive and controlling father.

-She was physically pretty and looked petite in comparison to her husband but Rosemary was just as violent and abusive as Fred, as said before, she killed his daughter from his first marriage alone.

-Rose often was the one to capture the women they killed by lying and manipulating them.

Rose West:

An early photo of the West's, only about five of the murders had taken place at the time of the photo.

The Killing Spree that shocked Britain:

Introduction: Into a Serial Killers mind

Psychological Theories

25 Cromwell street, the house in which Fred and Rose lived with their nine children. This is where majority of the murders happened and where almost all of the bodies were buried.

Rose and Fred were married in 1972, even though he was twelve years older than her, had a history of violence, had been married before, and even had different stints in jail for petty crimes, Rose was deeply in love with him. Although on the surface Rose seemed very different from her husband they had one thing in common; they were both violent psychopathic serial killers. The pressure of caring for three children that biologically were not hers (he killed his first wife, leaving the children in the care of Rose) became too much for her too handle. She killed Charmaine West, while her husband was still in prison, and temporally hid the body until her husband could give her a more suitable burial. He agreed to get rid of the body and dismembered her fingers and toes, just as he had done to his first wife. When Rose and Fred had their second child, a daughter Mae, they were already very sexually abusive to their first daughter Heather. Rose earned money as a prostitute while her husband indulged in violent sex acts with young girls, usually being his own daughters. The basement cellar of their home was converted into a sort of torture chamber, and his eight year old daughter was the first one to be subjected to the brutal rapes of her father, while her stepmother Rose held her down. They warned her if she told anyone of the occurrences she would be beaten. Their crimes soon extended beyond their family, as they raped, murdered, and abused many innocent women who unfortunately came across the West's murderous path. After brutal sexual attacks, painful abortions (only if they were to become pregnant by West), and beatings, they were all murdered, dismembered, and buried in different areas of the family home. The West's were finally apprehended when police obtained new information that the West's had raped their daughter Mae and filmed it. Mae informed a peer at school, who then confided in her mother, who called the police, which started an investigation. The police obtained a search warrant and began to look for the West's "missing" daughter Heather, after the children of the house informed the police that Fred often joked about her being under the patio. After digging up the backyard for several days the police found a human thigh bone, which was in fact Heather West's. They went on to find many other bodies and human remains of the other victims

A family photo from Fred's childhood. Present in the photo is his mother and siblings

A mugshot taken of Fred and Rose.

-Freud's debate of nature or nurture comes into play in this case, due to the terrible childhood of both Fred and Rose.

-Fred being in an incestuous relationship with his mother, grew up feeling self conscious, violated, and had twisted views and morals when it came to women, causing him to rape and kill them.

-Rose was subjected to shock therapy while in the womb and was also raised by two mentally ill parents. Also participating in incestuous relations with her father even after she was married to Fred. Once a victim of rape and also a victim to her father's sexual abuse, Rose was easily controlled by men and was so used to being sexually violated she didn't even comprehend what rape and sexual abuse was. Later, she helped her husband rape the victims and even let him rape and impregnate her own eight year old daughter, Ann Marie. Later, Fred illegally performed her abortion along with others. She was forced by Fred to become a prostitute and performed sadistic sexual acts in the master bedroom of their home, the most frequent client was her own father, while Fred watched. Five of her kids were fathered by Fred, while three were fathered by clients she'd met through prostitution.

Fred West being arrested by English police.

Frederick and Rosemary West are Britain's infamous husband and wife duo, who together killed, raped, and tortured at least eleven young girls, including some of their own family members. Fred killed at least two women alone before later joining forces with his wife. Rose killed one, Fred's daughter from his first marriage, on her own while her husband was serving time for theft. The crimes often occurred in the couples homes in Gloucester, 25 Midland Road and then 25 Cromwell Street, later renamed "The House of Horrors" after the bodies had been discovered. The house was demolished in 1996 after the couples arrest and Fred's suicide in jail before trial. Rosemary West was convicted on 10 counts of murder and serves life in prison. This presentation takes a look into the lives of Fred and Rosemary West, notorious serial killers and tries to find an answer as to what made them into cold blooded psychopaths.

Rosemary as a teenager.

An explicit photo of Rosemary West taken by Fred and advertised in a local newspaper. An ad was written by Fred to attract locals to come to the house to participate in sexual acts with Rose in their home.

Fred & Rosemary West

By:Nadia Smith and Anna Salinas