Fred And Rose West: A British Horror Story

Summary

Netflix's Fred and Rose West docuseries unveils 100+ hours of police interviews revealing gruesome details.
Fred and Rose West's reign of terror lasted over 20 years, ending with the shocking discovery of multiple bodies.
Fred West confessed to 12 murders; his wife, Rose, involved in 10, continuing to deny charges while serving life in prison.

Netflix's big week of true crime content continued with the release of Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story on May 14. This case is one of the most notorious in British history, and Netflix's deep dive unveils previously unheard interrogations, as well as key contributions from the victims' families, journalists and law enforcement linked to the case.

Fred and Rose West were among the worst serial killers of all time, and their reign of terror went on for over 20 years, until social services investigated a claim made by the evil couple's children that they had murdered their daughter, Heather, and buried her under the patio. The police made the shocking discoveries of more bodies, and the rest is history.

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By Callum Murray

Fred And Rose West: A British Horror Story Reveals Over 100 Hours Of Police Interviews That Piece Together The Grisly Details Of The Notorious Murder Spree

Fred And Rose West: A British Horror Story
Contributors
Air Date	May 14, 2025
Directed by

The initial big misconception about this serial killer case was that it was Fred West who was the instigator of all the brutal murders. In reality, his wife Rose was just as evil as he was, and it really was a marriage made in hell. Fred was 27 years old when he met 15-year-old Rose while she was working at a cake shop in Cheltenham, England. A month after her 16th birthday, Rose was pregnant with their first child. Fred later claimed during his police interrogation:

I trained Rose to do what I wanted. That is why our marriage worked out so well. She just blended into my way of living.

During the investigation into the murders , it was revealed that Rose acted alone in the murder of their daughter, Heather, as Fred was in prison for petty crimes. It's clear Rose was just as deranged as her husband, and might have committed heinous crimes without any extra influence. When it was clear that Rose was distancing herself from Fred when the truth was coming out, he began to tell the full story about her involvement in the murders. The pair would cruise around looking for potential victims, and it led to nine dead bodies in total being found at their infamous house, 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester. It was revealed that between them, Fred and Rose West were responsible for at least 12 murders, and possibly more.

Fred West Killed Himself Before Facing A Trial And Rose Was Convicted Of 10 Murders And Sentenced To Life In Prison

The true-crime documentary shows Fred West confessing to 12 murders, and features real footage of him helping the police locate the bodies of his victims at 'the house of horrors' at 25 Cromwell Street. During the police interrogations featured in Netflix's true story, it was striking how matter of fact he was when describing how and why he committed the murders, while Rose denied everything and continues to do so while serving a life sentence at HM Prison New Hall. It is widely believed that Fred West's first victim was a woman called Ann McFall in 1967, who was a nanny to his daughter, Charmaine West, during his first marriage to a woman called Catherine 'Rena' Costello. Charmaine and Rena were also both murdered.

During Fred and Rose West's reign of terror, in addition to the murder of their own children, the pair would target runaways, and this is partly why they were able to evade justice for so long. However, one of their first victims was a woman called Caroline Owens, who was a nanny to their children. She was a key witness in the trial, and told the court how she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by Fred and Rose, but luckily, she was able to escape. Interviews with Caroline Owens feature in the Netflix true-crime documentary, as well as family members of their many victims.

Fred And Rose West's Known Murder Victims

Alison Chambers
Thérèse Siegenthaler
Shirley Hubbard
Lucy Partington
Juanita Mott
Lynda Gough
Carole Ann Cooper.
Catherine 'Rena' Costello
Charmaine West
Heather West
Shirley Robinson
Ann McFall

The last known victim was in 1987, but it was another seven years before Fred and Rose West were brought to justice, so did they simply stop killing or are there more victims out there?