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(Redirected from Rose West)
'Rosemary Pauline West' (born November 29, 1953 as 'Rosemary Letts') is an English serial killer, now an inmate at HMP Bronzefield, Ashford, Middlesex. Together with her husband Fred, she is believed to have tortured and murdered at least 12 young women[1], many at the couple's home in Gloucester, England.
Rosemary West and her husband were convicted of a serious sexual assault in January 1973. For this, the Wests were fined for indecent assault of Caroline Raine, who escaped and reported the couple to the police, although no prison sentence resulted from their subsequent conviction.
The Wests developed a habit of picking up girls from bus stops in and around Gloucester, England and imprisoning them in their home for several days before killing them.
She had a voracious sexual appetite and enjoyed extreme bondage and sadomasochistic sex. She was bisexual, but preferred women, and many of their victims were picked up for her and her husband's sexual pleasure.[1] West also worked as a prostitute. Two of her children were fathered by these clients, in April 1982 and July 1983.
The crimes for which she was convicted occurred mainly between April 1973 to August 1979. Charmaine West, (daughter of Fred's previous wife Rena), who was murdered in June 1971, was buried at the Wests' previous home of 25 Midland Road, Gloucester. One of the bodies found at Cromwell Street was that of their eldest daughter, Heather, who was murdered in June 1987.
The police consider it highly unlikely that the Wests just stopped their sexually-motivated murders in 1979, or simply stopped killing in 1987. No one will ever know for certain if this was the case, but the murders almost certainly would have stopped in August 1992, when Fred West was arrested after being accused of raping his 13-year-old daughter three times, and Rosemary West was arrested for child cruelty. That case against them collapsed in June 1993 when their daughter refused to testify in court.
All of the Wests' children were removed from their custody to foster homes. This case brought to light the disappearance of Heather West in 1987, and finally caused their downfall.
Although she did not confess, the evidence against Rosemary West, which was all circumstantial, was overwhelming. She was tried in October 1995, after her husband's suicide. The jury was unanimous: West was found guilty of ten murders on November 22, 1995, and the judge, Mr Justice Mantell, sentenced her to life imprisonment, saying: "If attention is paid to what I think, you will never be released."
The Lord Chief Justice decided that West should spend at least 25 years in prison, but this was increased to whole life in 1997 by the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw. A November 2002 Law Lord's ruling could see West released in 2019, by which time she will be 66 years old.
A great deal has been written about a possible lack of evidence linking her to the murders at Cromwell Street and it has been suggested that her conviction seems to be based on little more than the idea that "She Must Have Known" (see Brian Masters' 1996 book). It has also been suggested (Masters, 1996) that Rosemary West was really only put on trial at all because the main suspect (Fred West) committed suicide before he could be convicted. Masters asserts that the police had never intended to prosecute her and clearly only did so because of the enormous public appetite for retribution fed by overwhelming and highly prejudicial media coverage. However, Rose West was arrested and jointly charged with the murders prior to Fred West's suicide. [2]
The key evidence that linked Rose West to the murders at the trial was:
★ Rose West's involvement with Fred West in the kidnap, rape and torture of Caroline Roberts (formerly Owen, formerly Raine) in 1972 (although this "so-called" similar fact evidence has been disputed as Caroline Raine was not murdered and it is not therefore a "similar fact")[3].
★ Evidence that Charmaine West disappeared while Fred West was in prison.
Since the trial, Rosemary West's Counsel has claimed that there was no direct evidence to link her to the murders. Her counsel also accused the media of having "a malign influence" on her trial. Richard Ferguson, QC, said "other than the sheer horror of the discovery of the remains of the victims, the most striking feature of this case, say the defence, was the dearth of evidence to connect the applicant to these crimes." He said the evidence linking Rosemary West to the deaths of daughter Heather West, her husband's step-daughter Charmaine West, and Shirley Robinson, a lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, was "tenuous."
The remains of Ann McFall, who disappeared before Frederick West met Rosemary, were found dismembered and bound with cord. Mr Ferguson said this showed that Rosemary West had not been involved in killing the seven Cromwell Street victims discovered in similar circumstances.
★ The Cromwell Street Murders: The Detective's Story, Bennett, John, , , Sutton Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0750942738
★
★ She Must Have Known: Trial of Rosemary West, Masters, Brian, , , Doubleday (London), 1996, ISBN 0385406509
★ The Lost Girl: How I Triumphed Over Life at the Mercy of Fred and Rose West, Roberts, Caroline, , , Metro Books (London), 2005, ISBN 1843580888
★ Fred and Rose: The Full Story of Fred and Rose West and the Gloucester House of Horrors, Sounes, Howard, , , Warner Books (London), 1995, ISBN 0751513229
★ An Evil Love: The Life of Frederick West, Wansell, Geoffrey, , , Hodder Headline (London), 1996, ISBN 0747217602
★ Out of the Shadows: Fred West's Daughter Tells Her Harrowing Story of Survival, West, Anne Marie, , , Simon & Schuster, 1995, ISBN 0671719688
★
1. BBC Article with detail of the 12 accusations. Retrieval Date: 14 August, 2007.
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/1/newsid_2514000/2514189.stm
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3509899.stm
★ BBC website about the West murder case
★ BBC report of West's conviction
★ Rv ROSEMARY PAULINE WEST 1996 LTL C0004000(Legal Document of the trial)
★ ''Time''
★ CourtTV Crime Library- Fred and Rosemary West
Rose West in the early 80's.
| Contents |
| Early Life and marriage to Fred West |
| Other victims? |
| Later years and conviction |
| Doubt over guilty verdict |
| Further reading |
| References |
| External links |
Early Life and marriage to Fred West
Rosemary West and her husband were convicted of a serious sexual assault in January 1973. For this, the Wests were fined for indecent assault of Caroline Raine, who escaped and reported the couple to the police, although no prison sentence resulted from their subsequent conviction.
The Wests developed a habit of picking up girls from bus stops in and around Gloucester, England and imprisoning them in their home for several days before killing them.
She had a voracious sexual appetite and enjoyed extreme bondage and sadomasochistic sex. She was bisexual, but preferred women, and many of their victims were picked up for her and her husband's sexual pleasure.[1] West also worked as a prostitute. Two of her children were fathered by these clients, in April 1982 and July 1983.
Other victims?
The crimes for which she was convicted occurred mainly between April 1973 to August 1979. Charmaine West, (daughter of Fred's previous wife Rena), who was murdered in June 1971, was buried at the Wests' previous home of 25 Midland Road, Gloucester. One of the bodies found at Cromwell Street was that of their eldest daughter, Heather, who was murdered in June 1987.
The police consider it highly unlikely that the Wests just stopped their sexually-motivated murders in 1979, or simply stopped killing in 1987. No one will ever know for certain if this was the case, but the murders almost certainly would have stopped in August 1992, when Fred West was arrested after being accused of raping his 13-year-old daughter three times, and Rosemary West was arrested for child cruelty. That case against them collapsed in June 1993 when their daughter refused to testify in court.
All of the Wests' children were removed from their custody to foster homes. This case brought to light the disappearance of Heather West in 1987, and finally caused their downfall.
Later years and conviction
Although she did not confess, the evidence against Rosemary West, which was all circumstantial, was overwhelming. She was tried in October 1995, after her husband's suicide. The jury was unanimous: West was found guilty of ten murders on November 22, 1995, and the judge, Mr Justice Mantell, sentenced her to life imprisonment, saying: "If attention is paid to what I think, you will never be released."
The Lord Chief Justice decided that West should spend at least 25 years in prison, but this was increased to whole life in 1997 by the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw. A November 2002 Law Lord's ruling could see West released in 2019, by which time she will be 66 years old.
Doubt over guilty verdict
A great deal has been written about a possible lack of evidence linking her to the murders at Cromwell Street and it has been suggested that her conviction seems to be based on little more than the idea that "She Must Have Known" (see Brian Masters' 1996 book). It has also been suggested (Masters, 1996) that Rosemary West was really only put on trial at all because the main suspect (Fred West) committed suicide before he could be convicted. Masters asserts that the police had never intended to prosecute her and clearly only did so because of the enormous public appetite for retribution fed by overwhelming and highly prejudicial media coverage. However, Rose West was arrested and jointly charged with the murders prior to Fred West's suicide. [2]
The key evidence that linked Rose West to the murders at the trial was:
★ Rose West's involvement with Fred West in the kidnap, rape and torture of Caroline Roberts (formerly Owen, formerly Raine) in 1972 (although this "so-called" similar fact evidence has been disputed as Caroline Raine was not murdered and it is not therefore a "similar fact")[3].
★ Evidence that Charmaine West disappeared while Fred West was in prison.
Since the trial, Rosemary West's Counsel has claimed that there was no direct evidence to link her to the murders. Her counsel also accused the media of having "a malign influence" on her trial. Richard Ferguson, QC, said "other than the sheer horror of the discovery of the remains of the victims, the most striking feature of this case, say the defence, was the dearth of evidence to connect the applicant to these crimes." He said the evidence linking Rosemary West to the deaths of daughter Heather West, her husband's step-daughter Charmaine West, and Shirley Robinson, a lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, was "tenuous."
The remains of Ann McFall, who disappeared before Frederick West met Rosemary, were found dismembered and bound with cord. Mr Ferguson said this showed that Rosemary West had not been involved in killing the seven Cromwell Street victims discovered in similar circumstances.
Further reading
★ The Cromwell Street Murders: The Detective's Story, Bennett, John, , , Sutton Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0750942738
★
★ She Must Have Known: Trial of Rosemary West, Masters, Brian, , , Doubleday (London), 1996, ISBN 0385406509
★ The Lost Girl: How I Triumphed Over Life at the Mercy of Fred and Rose West, Roberts, Caroline, , , Metro Books (London), 2005, ISBN 1843580888
★ Fred and Rose: The Full Story of Fred and Rose West and the Gloucester House of Horrors, Sounes, Howard, , , Warner Books (London), 1995, ISBN 0751513229
★ An Evil Love: The Life of Frederick West, Wansell, Geoffrey, , , Hodder Headline (London), 1996, ISBN 0747217602
★ Out of the Shadows: Fred West's Daughter Tells Her Harrowing Story of Survival, West, Anne Marie, , , Simon & Schuster, 1995, ISBN 0671719688
★
References
1. BBC Article with detail of the 12 accusations. Retrieval Date: 14 August, 2007.
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/1/newsid_2514000/2514189.stm
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3509899.stm
External links
★ BBC website about the West murder case
★ BBC report of West's conviction
★ Rv ROSEMARY PAULINE WEST 1996 LTL C0004000(Legal Document of the trial)
★ ''Time''
★ CourtTV Crime Library- Fred and Rosemary West
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