Convicted serial killers Fred and Rosemary West (Picture: PA/EMPICS) The macabre story of Fred and Rosemary West shocked the nation almost 25 years ago when it was discovered that the twisted serial killer couple had murdered several people, including some of their own children
Police officer 'stole £65 from dead man's wallet then tried to cover it up' To this day, Fred and Rose West still manage to hold the nation's attention, with Rose West making headlines every time she appeals her sentence or stories of her time in prison emerge, such as of her baking Victoria Sponge cakes
With Trevor McDonald taking a deeper look at the murderous pair in an ITV documentary, here's everything you need to know about their victims and how their home turned into a terribly literal house of horrors
(Picture: SWNS.COM)How did Fred and Rose West meet? Fred West met Rosemary Letts in 1969 at Cheltenham bus station, just after she turned 15
Advertisement Advertisement At first, Rose was not at all impressed by Fred's appearance, untidy as it was, but soon the attention he showered her with became enough to win her over, as he continued to sit next to her at the same bus stop day after day
Even so, Rose turned him down twice when he asked her for a date, but did allow him to walk her home
Eventually, Fred – who had a history of harassing women – won Rose over by asking a customer at the bakery where Rose worked to bring her a present from him
When he walked into the shop and asked her for a date minutes later, she accepted
Who were Fred and Rose West's children? Fred and Rose kept a household rife with physical, psychological and sexually sadistic abuse
The Wests, who were married in 1972, and had a total of five kids together, with Fred bringing two with him from his previous marriage to Rena Costello. During her time as a sex worker, Rose also bore three other children, fathered by her clients
The children they shared together, Charmaine (who died when she was eight years old), Anna Marie, Heather Ann (who died when she was 16), Stephen, and Mae, all suffered in one way or another at the hands of both their parents, and sadly only Anna Marie, now 54, Stephen, also 54, and Mae, 46, are known to have survived their parents' cruelty
Fred physically abused Rena, who ended up leaving both of her children, Charmaine and Anne Marie, in his care when she fled their marriage
She used to travel back and forth to England from her native Scotland to try and ensure their well-being
Heather Ann West disappeared in 1987 (Picture: PA Archive/PA Photos) However, Charmaine, who suffered greatly at the hands of her step-mother, according to her sister Anna Marie, is thought to have been killed by Rose in 1971
Advertisement Advertisement Fred and Rose's daughter, Heather Ann, then disappeared suddenly after she left school in 1986
For years, Fred would 'joke' and threaten his other children that they'd wind up 'under the patio' with their sister if they didn't submit to his will and his sexual advances
The murders committed by Fred and Rosemary West Including two of their own children, the Wests are thought to have murdered at least 12 people, however Fred once claimed that he had killed over 20 people, according to a Channel 5 documentary, which aired in 2001, based on Fred's police interviews
Most of the West's victims were subject to rape and other forms of sexual torture before they died
Their first victim as a couple was 19 year old Lynda Gough, who was found dismembered, with bones missing, in a pit beneath the couple's garage at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester
Carol Ann Cooper, who was 15 when she was killed, Lucy Partington, 21, Therese Siegenthaler, 21, Shirley Hubbard, 15, Juanita Mott, 18, Shirley Robinson, 18, and Alison Chambers, 16, were all murdered by the Wests, and the majority of these murders were thought to have been commuted with a sexual motive in mind
These women and children were often either lodgers with the Wests, friendly with the couple, or they were targeted when they were in transit from one place to another, like waiting for a bus, as Lucy likely was when she was taken
Shirley Hubbard was just 15 at the time of her murder (Picture: PA Archive/PA Images) Aside from killing children and young women, Fred's first wife Rena was murdered when she was 27, shortly after her daughter, Charmaine, in 1971
It's thought she wanted to confront Fred about her daughter's whereabouts. She was found dismembered, and is thought to have been strangled
Advertisement And before Fred and Rose had even met, Fred had taken up with the teenage Anne McFall
In July 1967, the 18-year-old vanished. She was eight months pregnant with Fred's child at the time
Her dismembered remains weren't found until 1994 – she'd been buried in a cornfield, her limbs had been severed, and several of her bones were missing, which turned out to be a trademark of the Wests' crimes
When were the Wests caught and what was their sentence? After their children came forward and accused their parents of abuse in 1992, the police and social services began investigating Fred and Rose
Even though, in the end, the children didn't want to testify in court, the investigation cast light on Heather Ann's suspicious disappearance, and in 1994, the police got a warrant to search the West's property for Heather's body, and Fred confessed to the murder of his daughter
Soon enough, the police found the remains of multiple women in the West's property, and despite Fred's claims that Rose was innocent, they were both charged jointly with murder before the year was out
Rosemary West after she had been imprisoned for life on ten counts of murder (Picture: PA Archive/PA Images) After her arrest, Rose publicly distanced herself from Fred, probably in an attempt to likewise distance herself from the crimes they committed together
In the end, Fred West committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell on January 1, 1995
He was 53-years-old. Rose was found guilty of all 10 murder charges brought against her and was given a life sentence
She lives to this day in Low Newton prison, County Durham, and has maintained her innocence and said that she plans to appeal her sentence
Advertisement An insider at the prison previously called Rose West a 'deeply manipulative person', according to the Daily Star
'Many believe that she is more evil than her husband Fred,' the source said. 'She is one of the few inmates who I would describe as pure evil.' Fred & Rose West The Real Story with Trevor McDonald airs on Thursday 31 January on ITV and will be available on ITV Player after this date
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