Where is Rose West now? Is serial killer wife of Fred West still alive, does she have kids - what did she do?

The spotlight has fallen once again on the horrendous crimes of Fred and Rose West in a Channel 5 documentary, examining the crimes of the notorious couple
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Fred West was charged with 12 murders but took his own life in a Birmingham prison before his trial while Rose West, now 67, was convicted of 10 murders in November 1995 and is serving a life sentence.

Fred and Rose West (SWNS).Fred and Rose West (SWNS).
Fred and Rose West (SWNS).
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In Fred And Rose West: The Search For The Victims, investigators uncover the story of 15-year-old Mary, as well as the lives of 12 other young women known to have been murdered by Fred and Rose West.

Here’s all you need to know about the most infamous killers in British criminal history.

Which prison is Rose West in?

Rose West became the most notorious female mass killer in Britain, since Myra Hindley, when she was jailed in 1995 for the murder of 10 young girls and women.

With her husband Fred, Rose preyed on vulnerable young girls and women, to play out their fantasies, which eventually led to murder.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In one of the major trials of the 20th century, Rose West was caged for life after being found guilty of 10 murders at her trial at Winchester Crown Court.

According to The Sun, Rose is now being held at HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire.

She moved from Durham’s Low Newton prison in 2019 and apparently changed her name by deed poll in a bid to move on from her past.

Who were Fred and Rose West’s victims?

The trial judge, Justice Charles Mantell, told Rose West she should never be released when the jury found her guilty of murdering her husband Fred’s pregnant lover Shirley Anne Robinson, 18, Lynda Gough, 19, Carol Ann Cooper, 15, Lucy Partington, 21, Therese Siegenthaler, 21, Shirley Hubbard, 15, Juanita Mott, 18, and Alison Chambers, 17.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rose West was also found guilty of murdering her eldest daughter Heather, 16, and stepdaughter Charmaine, eight.

Builder, Fred, 53, killed himself in his remand cell at Winston Green jail, Birmingham, on New Year’s Day 1995 before facing trial.

He had escaped justice and his wife was left to face the courts and the world, alone.

He was accused jointly on the 10 counts and alone faced further charges alleging the murder of his first wife, Catherine Costello, 26, and girlfriend Ann McFall, 18.

The ‘House of Horrors’ at Cromwell Street

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The “House of Horrors” at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, became one of the most notorious addresses in the country after police discovered the bodies of nine women, including their daughter Heather, buried in the cellar and garden of the terraced house.

It was a chance conversation between a group of schoolchildren and a beat police officer in a street in Gloucester that started the investigation in 1992.

The Wests’ horrifying trail of murder, abduction, sexual torture and depravity was eventually uncovered because of the tenacity of Detective Constable Hazel Savage.

She heard about a West ‘family joke’, which the children told to social workers, that the couple’s missing 16-year-old daughter Heather was “under the patio”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Fred West admitted killing his daughter when he appeared in Gloucester Magistrates’ Court after her body was found.

It was Heather’s disappearance which eventually led police seven years later to the drab inner city house and the launch of the marathon investigation.

A search warrant brought police diggers to the back garden and Heather’s remains were the first to be uncovered.

Who was Mary Bastholm?

Rose and Fred West hit the headlines again in June 2021 as police investigated the disappearance of Mary Bastholm.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mary’s disappearance in 1968 came at a time when Fred West, who often did jobs in the street where she worked as a waitress in a cafe, was abducting girls in Gloucester.

Forensic archaeologists were undertaking exploratory work at the Clean Plate cafe in Southgate Street in connection with the disappearance of 15-year-old Bastholm, who was last seen alive in January 1968.

Gloucestershire Police had received possible evidence from a TV production company to suggest the body of the missing teenager could be buried at the location.

One of the findings presented to police was a photo taken by the production company of what appeared to be blue material buried in one area of the cellar.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Gloucestershire Constabulary said teams of experts had failed to find any human remains, and that the “blue” material was likely to be connected to a buried pipe.

Fred West is said to have confessed to killing Mary in conversation with his son, Stephen, but never admitted it to police.

Mary’s body was not found during the 1994 excavation of the West’s home on Cromwell Street in Gloucester.

When is Fred And Rose West: The Search For The Victims on TV?

Fred and Rose West: The Search For The Victims is on Channel 5 on Tuesday 23 August, between 10pm and 12am.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The documentary will examine the crimes of the pair, revealing the true horror of what took place behind closed doors at 25 Cromwell Street and other addresses in Gloucester over the course of many years.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day.