The crimes of serial killers Fred and Rosemary West are some of the most stomach-churning in British history. The couple came together when Rosemary (pictured above, center) was in her teens, and she had to care for Fred’s two young children from a previous marriage while he was in prison for petty crimes. It is believed that in 1971, Rosemary, who had recently given birth and had anger and mental health issues since infancy, murdered Fred’s older daughter and hid the body until his return, after which he disposed of it. When the daughter’s mother came in search of her, she too was murdered, beginning a two-decade period of savage crimes that would include the abduction, incarceration, and rape of numerous young women and girls, and at least twelve murders.
The victims included several of Fred and Rosemary Wests’ own children. The bodies of their victims were often interred in their own home, later dubbed the “House of Horrors.” In 1973, Fred was put on trial for the rape and imprisonment of teenage nanny Caroline Owens, but the court ruled that the crimes against her had been consensual, and the Wests were simply fined.
The killers finally faced justice in 1994, when Fred was charged with 12 counts of murder and Rosemary with 10. However, Fred died by suicide in his cell before his trial was due to begin, while in 1995, Rosemary was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The house where they committed their crimes was destroyed the next year. An appeal lodged by Rosemary in 1996 failed, while another in 2000 was dropped, and she will likely die behind bars.
