Post by The HangMan on Apr 13, 2006 4:56:58 GMT -5
Frederick Walter Stephen West (September 29, 1941 – January 1, 1995) was an English construction worker and serial killer who, together with his wife Rosemary West, was responsible for the murder of at least twelve young women, many at the couple's home in Gloucester, England. He committed suicide in his cell at Winson Green Prison while being held on suspicion of murder.
Biography
West was born in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, into a poor family of farm workers. He left school aged fifteen, academically undistinguished, and began work as a casual labourer. After a spate of petty crime and a near- conviction for child molestation in November 1961, resulting in the pregnancy of a thirteen-year-old, he moved away from his rural home until the Spring of 1962.
He married Catherine (Rena) Costello, a prostitute, in November 1962 and they moved to Glasgow. She gave birth to a girl, Charmaine, in March 1963 which was born to a Pakistani bus driver. West was not her natural father, whereas another girl, Anna Marie, who was born in July 1964 was.
During this period, West was working as an ice cream man but in late 1965 he accidentally ran over a four-year-old boy with his ice-cream van. At the very end of 1965 they moved to Gloucester, and West took a job in an abattoir. Their marriage under strain, the Wests separated, and when she returned in 1966 he was living with another woman, Anna McFall. West killed the heavily pregnant McFall around August 1967 and buried her in a field near Much Marcle. Rena returned to live with him and their children for a short time before leaving again.
In late 1968 West met Rosemary Letts (b. 1953). She became pregnant by him, something she concealed from her parents until West was serving a short prison sentence for unpaid fines. She left her family home and moved in with West in Midland Road in Gloucester. She gave birth to a girl, Heather, in 1970, and often neglected the older children. Charmaine died in mid-1971 while West was still in prison, probably at Letts' hands. West dismembered the body upon returning from prison, and hid it under the floor. Rena returned to Gloucester in late August 1971 looking for her children. West murdered her and disposed of the body near his childhood home. The couple married in January 1972, but West regularly encouraged Rose to prostitute herself. Rose gave birth to a girl, Mae, in June 1972, and the family moved to a new home at 25 Cromwell Street, an unprepossessing three-story house.
West adapted the cellar as a place for his wife to work, extending and soundproofing it. It was there that West raped 17-year-old Caroline Owens, whom they had taken in as a nanny, in late 1972. West was arrested and went to trial in January 1973, but he was only fined. West then began following a pattern: young females would come to their home as lodgers or to care for the children and would be abused and then murdered. The first victim was Lynda Gough, murdered shortly after West's trial. The second was 15-year old Carol Ann Cooper, abducted and murdered around November 1973, and the third was Lucy Partington (a relative of Martin Amis), murdered in January 1974. The bodies were dismembered and disposed of under the cellar floor as West extended and renovated the building.
Lucy Partington, Therese Siegenthaler, Carol Cooper, Juanita Mott and Shirley Hubbard were murdered from 1973 to 1975. They were all buried under the cellar floor. There was a hiatus before Shirley Robinson, a pregnant ex-prostitute, was murdered in May 1978 and buried in the garden. In August 1979 the Wests abducted, abused, tortured and killed Alison Chambers.
Rose was often pregnant, and gave birth to Tara (December 1977), Louise (November 1978), Barry (June 1980), Rosemary Junior (April 1982) and Lucyanna (July 1983). Tara, Rosemary and Lucyanna were not West's children.
If the Wests continued their behaviour after killing Chambers and Siegenthaler, they did not conceal the bodies in the house. The next woman to be buried at Cromwell Street was West's daughter Heather. She was murdered and buried in the garden some time in 1987.
Following the report of the rape of a minor, police obtained a search warrant. After examining the house, they arrested West for rape and sodomy of a minor and Rose as an accomplice. Police interviewed the Wests' children, discovering the abuse and the mysterious disappearances of Charmaine, Heather and Rena. The six surviving children still at home were taken into care.
The rape case against West collapsed when the two main witnesses declined to testify. However, the police obtained a further search warrant in February 1994, allowing them to excavate the garden in search of Heather. The police began searching the house and excavating the garden on February 24, 1994. On the 25th, after the police had uncovered human bones, West confessed, retracted and then re-confessed to the murder of his daughter, denying that Rose was involved. Rose was not arrested until April 1994, initially only on sex offenses. The extended search and the grisly finds prompted much media interest.
On December 13, West was charged with twelve murders, and on January 1, 1995, he committed suicide in his cell at Birmingham's Winson Green Prison. The evidence against Rose was largely circumstantial, and she did not confess. She was tried from October 1995, found guilty of ten murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. A whole life tariff was imposed on her, and she is extremely unlikely to be released.
In October 1996, the Wests' home was demolished, and the site became a simple path.
West's sociopathy has been linked to a head injury. He had a motorcycle accident in 1958 which briefly left him in a coma, with a broken leg and skull damage which required a fixative metal plate.
Rosemary West (born November 29, 1953 as Rosemary Letts) is a British serial killer.
Known history
She was convicted of murdering ten teenage girls, including her own common law step-daughter, Charmaine, and also of a serious sexual assault on a woman. The police suspect she was involved in further murders for which she has not been convicted. She killed Charmaine alone, but her other murders were all believed to have been carried out with her husband and fellow serial killer Fred West.
Rosemary or "Rose" was West's second wife. They developed a habit of picking up girls from bus stops in and around Gloucester, England (they would be less afraid of a couple than of a lone man) whom they would imprison in their home for several days before killing them. During the time of their imprisonment, the victims were sadistically tortured.
West was brought up in a large family, many of whom were in care, and all of whom were abused by West and her husband. West had a voracious sexual appetite and enjoyed extreme bondage and sadomaschistic sex, even more so than her husband. She was bisexual, but preferred women, and it is likely that her victims (apart from Charmaine) were picked up mostly for her sexual pleasure. She also worked as a prostitute, often preferring black clients, and many of her children were fathered by these clients.
Other victims?
West was arrested in 1994. The crimes for which she was convicted occurred from 1972 to 1978, by which time the basement of the Wests' house at 25, Cromwell Street was full of the bodies of her victims (apart from Charmaine, who was buried at the Wests' previous home of 25, Midland Road, Gloucester). The only other body found at Cromwell Street was Heather, West's daughter, who was murdered by the Wests in 1987. The police consider it highly unlikely that the Wests just stopped their sexually motivated murders in 1978, and there are likely to have been many more murders with the bodies being buried elsewhere.
Rose West was convicted of ten murders and the police have concluded that her late husband Fred murdered a total of twelve, but Rose played no part in the first two murders (both committed in the 1960s) because she did not meet Fred until 1970.
Some reports claimed that the Wests may have killed as many as 30 people. Most of the victims were people whose disappearances were unlikely to be detected, which is why their killing spree went undetected for over 20 years. All of the 12 known victims of the Wests were women or girls, though it is possible that the Wests may have murdered men and boys as well.
Conviction
Although she did not confess, the evidence against West, which was all circumstantial, was overwhelming. She was tried in October 1995, after her husband's suicide. The jury was unanimous: West was guilty of ten murders, and the judge, Jeremy
ustice Mantell, sentenced her to life imprisonment.
Since the trial Rosemary West's Counsel has claimed that there was no direct evidence to link her to the murders. Her counsel also accused the media of having "a malign influence" on her trial. Richard Ferguson, QC, said "Other than the sheer horror of the discovery of the remains of the victims, the most striking feature of this case, say the defence, was the dearth of evidence to connect the applicant to these crimes." He said the evidence linking Rosemary West to the deaths of Heather West, her daughter, Charmaine West, her husband's step-daughter, and Shirley Robinson, a lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, was "tenuous."
Evidence connecting her to the seven victims of sex killings found at Cromwell Street, "was virtually non-existent unless the evidence advanced under the banner of similar fact evidence was properly admissible". Rosemary West had never admitted being involved, and there was evidence that Frederick West had carried out two murders and other attacks on his own.
The remains of Ann McFall, who disappeared before Frederick West met Rosemary, were found dismembered and bound with cord. Mr Ferguson said this showed that Rosemary West had not been involved in killing the seven Cromwell Street victims discovered in similar circumstances.
She is Britain's most prolific female serial killer. She had previously, along with Fred West, been convicted of a serious sexual assault in the 1970s. Her original minimum term set by the judiciary was 25 years, but this was increased to whole life in 1997 by home secretary Jack Straw. A November 2002 law lord's ruling could see West released in 2019, by which time she will be 66 years old.
Biography
West was born in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, into a poor family of farm workers. He left school aged fifteen, academically undistinguished, and began work as a casual labourer. After a spate of petty crime and a near- conviction for child molestation in November 1961, resulting in the pregnancy of a thirteen-year-old, he moved away from his rural home until the Spring of 1962.
He married Catherine (Rena) Costello, a prostitute, in November 1962 and they moved to Glasgow. She gave birth to a girl, Charmaine, in March 1963 which was born to a Pakistani bus driver. West was not her natural father, whereas another girl, Anna Marie, who was born in July 1964 was.
During this period, West was working as an ice cream man but in late 1965 he accidentally ran over a four-year-old boy with his ice-cream van. At the very end of 1965 they moved to Gloucester, and West took a job in an abattoir. Their marriage under strain, the Wests separated, and when she returned in 1966 he was living with another woman, Anna McFall. West killed the heavily pregnant McFall around August 1967 and buried her in a field near Much Marcle. Rena returned to live with him and their children for a short time before leaving again.
In late 1968 West met Rosemary Letts (b. 1953). She became pregnant by him, something she concealed from her parents until West was serving a short prison sentence for unpaid fines. She left her family home and moved in with West in Midland Road in Gloucester. She gave birth to a girl, Heather, in 1970, and often neglected the older children. Charmaine died in mid-1971 while West was still in prison, probably at Letts' hands. West dismembered the body upon returning from prison, and hid it under the floor. Rena returned to Gloucester in late August 1971 looking for her children. West murdered her and disposed of the body near his childhood home. The couple married in January 1972, but West regularly encouraged Rose to prostitute herself. Rose gave birth to a girl, Mae, in June 1972, and the family moved to a new home at 25 Cromwell Street, an unprepossessing three-story house.
West adapted the cellar as a place for his wife to work, extending and soundproofing it. It was there that West raped 17-year-old Caroline Owens, whom they had taken in as a nanny, in late 1972. West was arrested and went to trial in January 1973, but he was only fined. West then began following a pattern: young females would come to their home as lodgers or to care for the children and would be abused and then murdered. The first victim was Lynda Gough, murdered shortly after West's trial. The second was 15-year old Carol Ann Cooper, abducted and murdered around November 1973, and the third was Lucy Partington (a relative of Martin Amis), murdered in January 1974. The bodies were dismembered and disposed of under the cellar floor as West extended and renovated the building.
Lucy Partington, Therese Siegenthaler, Carol Cooper, Juanita Mott and Shirley Hubbard were murdered from 1973 to 1975. They were all buried under the cellar floor. There was a hiatus before Shirley Robinson, a pregnant ex-prostitute, was murdered in May 1978 and buried in the garden. In August 1979 the Wests abducted, abused, tortured and killed Alison Chambers.
Rose was often pregnant, and gave birth to Tara (December 1977), Louise (November 1978), Barry (June 1980), Rosemary Junior (April 1982) and Lucyanna (July 1983). Tara, Rosemary and Lucyanna were not West's children.
If the Wests continued their behaviour after killing Chambers and Siegenthaler, they did not conceal the bodies in the house. The next woman to be buried at Cromwell Street was West's daughter Heather. She was murdered and buried in the garden some time in 1987.
Following the report of the rape of a minor, police obtained a search warrant. After examining the house, they arrested West for rape and sodomy of a minor and Rose as an accomplice. Police interviewed the Wests' children, discovering the abuse and the mysterious disappearances of Charmaine, Heather and Rena. The six surviving children still at home were taken into care.
The rape case against West collapsed when the two main witnesses declined to testify. However, the police obtained a further search warrant in February 1994, allowing them to excavate the garden in search of Heather. The police began searching the house and excavating the garden on February 24, 1994. On the 25th, after the police had uncovered human bones, West confessed, retracted and then re-confessed to the murder of his daughter, denying that Rose was involved. Rose was not arrested until April 1994, initially only on sex offenses. The extended search and the grisly finds prompted much media interest.
On December 13, West was charged with twelve murders, and on January 1, 1995, he committed suicide in his cell at Birmingham's Winson Green Prison. The evidence against Rose was largely circumstantial, and she did not confess. She was tried from October 1995, found guilty of ten murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. A whole life tariff was imposed on her, and she is extremely unlikely to be released.
In October 1996, the Wests' home was demolished, and the site became a simple path.
West's sociopathy has been linked to a head injury. He had a motorcycle accident in 1958 which briefly left him in a coma, with a broken leg and skull damage which required a fixative metal plate.
Rosemary West (born November 29, 1953 as Rosemary Letts) is a British serial killer.
Known history
She was convicted of murdering ten teenage girls, including her own common law step-daughter, Charmaine, and also of a serious sexual assault on a woman. The police suspect she was involved in further murders for which she has not been convicted. She killed Charmaine alone, but her other murders were all believed to have been carried out with her husband and fellow serial killer Fred West.
Rosemary or "Rose" was West's second wife. They developed a habit of picking up girls from bus stops in and around Gloucester, England (they would be less afraid of a couple than of a lone man) whom they would imprison in their home for several days before killing them. During the time of their imprisonment, the victims were sadistically tortured.
West was brought up in a large family, many of whom were in care, and all of whom were abused by West and her husband. West had a voracious sexual appetite and enjoyed extreme bondage and sadomaschistic sex, even more so than her husband. She was bisexual, but preferred women, and it is likely that her victims (apart from Charmaine) were picked up mostly for her sexual pleasure. She also worked as a prostitute, often preferring black clients, and many of her children were fathered by these clients.
Other victims?
West was arrested in 1994. The crimes for which she was convicted occurred from 1972 to 1978, by which time the basement of the Wests' house at 25, Cromwell Street was full of the bodies of her victims (apart from Charmaine, who was buried at the Wests' previous home of 25, Midland Road, Gloucester). The only other body found at Cromwell Street was Heather, West's daughter, who was murdered by the Wests in 1987. The police consider it highly unlikely that the Wests just stopped their sexually motivated murders in 1978, and there are likely to have been many more murders with the bodies being buried elsewhere.
Rose West was convicted of ten murders and the police have concluded that her late husband Fred murdered a total of twelve, but Rose played no part in the first two murders (both committed in the 1960s) because she did not meet Fred until 1970.
Some reports claimed that the Wests may have killed as many as 30 people. Most of the victims were people whose disappearances were unlikely to be detected, which is why their killing spree went undetected for over 20 years. All of the 12 known victims of the Wests were women or girls, though it is possible that the Wests may have murdered men and boys as well.
Conviction
Although she did not confess, the evidence against West, which was all circumstantial, was overwhelming. She was tried in October 1995, after her husband's suicide. The jury was unanimous: West was guilty of ten murders, and the judge, Jeremy
ustice Mantell, sentenced her to life imprisonment.Since the trial Rosemary West's Counsel has claimed that there was no direct evidence to link her to the murders. Her counsel also accused the media of having "a malign influence" on her trial. Richard Ferguson, QC, said "Other than the sheer horror of the discovery of the remains of the victims, the most striking feature of this case, say the defence, was the dearth of evidence to connect the applicant to these crimes." He said the evidence linking Rosemary West to the deaths of Heather West, her daughter, Charmaine West, her husband's step-daughter, and Shirley Robinson, a lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, was "tenuous."
Evidence connecting her to the seven victims of sex killings found at Cromwell Street, "was virtually non-existent unless the evidence advanced under the banner of similar fact evidence was properly admissible". Rosemary West had never admitted being involved, and there was evidence that Frederick West had carried out two murders and other attacks on his own.
The remains of Ann McFall, who disappeared before Frederick West met Rosemary, were found dismembered and bound with cord. Mr Ferguson said this showed that Rosemary West had not been involved in killing the seven Cromwell Street victims discovered in similar circumstances.
She is Britain's most prolific female serial killer. She had previously, along with Fred West, been convicted of a serious sexual assault in the 1970s. Her original minimum term set by the judiciary was 25 years, but this was increased to whole life in 1997 by home secretary Jack Straw. A November 2002 law lord's ruling could see West released in 2019, by which time she will be 66 years old.
