Fred West

Fred West
Fred and Rose in the mid-1980s
Born	Frederick Walter Stephen West (1941-09-29)29 September 1941 Much Marcle, Herefordshire, England
Died	1 January 1995(1995-01-01) (aged 53) Winson Green Prison, Birmingham, England
Cause of death	Suicide by asphyxia
Criminal penalty	Committed suicide prior to conviction
Spouse(s)	Catherine Costello (m. 1962; her murder 1971) Rosemary Letts (m. 1972; his suicide 1995)
Conviction(s)	Earlier convictions for: Actual bodily harm Child molestation Deception Indecent assault Possession of stolen goods Sexual assault Theft Unpaid fines
Killings
Victims	12-13+
Span of killings	July 1967–June 1987
Country	United Kingdom
Date apprehended	24 February 1994

Frederick Walter Stephen "Fred" West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995) was an English serial killer who committed at least 12 murders between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire, England, the majority with his second wife, Rosemary West.

All the victims were young females. At least eight of the murders involved the Wests' sexual gratification and included rape, bondage, torture and mutilation; the victims' dismembered bodies were typically buried in the cellar or garden of the Wests' Cromwell Street home, which became known as "the House of Horrors". In addition, Fred is known to have committed at least two murders on his own, while Rose is known to have murdered Fred's stepdaughter, Charmaine. The pair were apprehended and charged in 1994.

Fred West asphyxiated himself while on remand at HM Prison Birmingham on 1 January 1995, at which time he and Rose were jointly charged with nine murders, and he with three additional murders. In November 1995 Rose was convicted of ten murders and sentenced to ten life terms with a whole life tariff.

Frederick Walter Stephen West was born on 29 September 1941 at Bickerton Cottage, Much Marcle, Herefordshire, the first surviving child born to Walter Stephen West (5 July 1914 – 28 March 1992) and Daisy Hannah Hill (20 May 1922 – 6 February 1968). His was a poor family of farm workers, close-knit and mutually protective; his father was a disciplinarian and his mother overprotective.

In 1946 the family moved to Moorcourt Cottage, at Moorcourt Farm, where Fred's father worked as a milking herdsman and harvest hand. The cottage had no electricity and the sole source of heat came from a log fireplace. By 1951 Fred's mother had given birth to eight children, six of whom survived, but Fred was always his mother's favourite. He was seen as a mother's boy, and relied mostly on his siblings for companionship.