For decades, one half of Britain’s most infamous criminal team lived in the shadows, hiding horrific crimes behind the façade of an ordinary family life.
Alongside her husband, this woman carried out a series of murders and sexual assaults that horrified the nation, targeting young women — and even their own children.
Over more than 20 years, the couple committed acts so brutal and unimaginable that they still defy belief.
What turned a seemingly normal young woman into one of history’s most ruthless killers? Was she ever truly “ordinary”? To understand her transformation into a mass murderer, we must start at the very beginning: her childhood.
A Family That Seemed Perfect — From the Outside
Born in North Devon in 1953, she grew up with her parents and six siblings. Even before she was born, her mother underwent electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression — something many believe may have affected the child developing inside her.
Outwardly, the family appeared picture-perfect. Her father, Bill Letts, polite and charming, had served on wartime aircraft carriers. Her mother, Daisy, small, dark-haired, and soft-spoken, was considered a local beauty.
But behind this peaceful exterior, life was anything but normal. Even before her birth, deep problems were already present.
In 1950, the family moved into a council house in Northam. With Bill still serving in the Navy, Daisy was often alone with her children — and began to unravel. She drowned in depression, obsessively cleaning the house and scrubbing her children relentlessly. Her behavior became increasingly unstable, bordering on the neurotic.
Electroconvulsive Therapy While Pregnant
By 1953, Daisy suffered a severe breakdown and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Bideford, where she underwent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Her head was shaved, electrodes attached, and powerful electrical shocks sent through her brain, causing violent convulsions and memory loss.
Despite being pregnant with her fifth child, doctors continued the treatment right up until days before the baby’s birth.
When the baby arrived, people admired her beauty — but strange behaviors worried the family. She rocked her head for hours, and her siblings complained about hearing her bang her head rhythmically against her cot at night.
As she grew, these behaviors intensified. She would swing her head slowly back and forth, slipping into long, trance-like states as if disconnected from the world around her.
There were also claims that her father struggled with severe psychiatric issues, including paranoid schizophrenia. According to author Jane Carter-Woodrow, the girl was groomed and sexually abused by her father — and possibly her grandfather as well.
Meeting the Man Who Would Shape Her Future
She met her future husband at just 15 while waiting at a bus stop. He was 27 — divorced, already a father, and deeply troubled.
Their relationship turned romantic immediately, and she soon became nanny to his daughters — a role that would mark the first step in a long, horrifying partnership.
His past was just as dark. He claimed he had been abused as a child and suffered multiple head injuries that altered his personality. By his teens, he had committed serious crimes, including sexual assaults, and as an adult, his violence continued.
When they married in the early 1970s, their cruelty escalated dramatically.
Their first child was born in 1970 — and soon after, the abuse extended to the older children. Within months, the young mother committed her first murder, killing an 8-year-old girl in the home while her husband was in jail. She buried the body under the kitchen window of their Gloucester house.
A Path of Horror
From 1973 onward, the couple began targeting young women, luring them to the house under the pretense of nanny jobs. Many victims were sexually assaulted, tortured, and dismembered before being buried on the property.
Their own nine children were subjected to severe abuse. Between 1972 and 1992, they were admitted to the hospital 31 times — yet social services never intervened.
Their last known murder was that of their daughter Heather in 1987, after she tried to escape their control.
How Their Crimes Finally Came to Light
Authorities first became suspicious after Heather confided in a friend. Investigators soon uncovered corroborating statements from her siblings, along with medical records that backed up the abuse.
Chillingly, police records showed a long-running family “joke” that Heather was “under the patio.”
Despite mounting evidence, the parents were initially cleared.
But one determined detective refused to drop the case. A search warrant led officers to 25 Cromwell Street, where they excavated the garden — uncovering Heather’s remains. Her father eventually confessed to multiple murders.
She was arrested shortly after, on April 20, 1994.
As the full story broke, the world learned the names that would forever be associated with these atrocities: Rose West and Fred West.
Their five remaining minor children were immediately taken into protective custody.
Trial and Conviction
Before Fred West could stand trial, he died by suicide on January 1, 1995. His wife, however, faced justice.
During her 1995 trial, Rose insisted she had been a victim of Fred — claiming she had no role in the killings. But numerous witnesses, including her stepdaughter Anna Marie, her own mother Daisy, her sister Glenys, and a surviving victim named Owens, testified against her.
At one point, Rose broke down in the witness box, crying and saying she was “sorry” as evidence mounted.
Her defense argued she had been manipulated by an older, abusive partner — but the prosecution countered that it was impossible for her to live in that house and know nothing about the murders.
Janet Leach, Fred’s appointed “appropriate adult,” testified that Fred told her Rose “played a major part” in the killings — and that the couple had agreed Fred would take the blame.
After seven weeks, Rose West was convicted of 10 murders and sentenced to life without parole. All her appeals have failed.
The house at 25 Cromwell Street was demolished in October 1996.
Rose West Today
Rose West now serves her sentence at HM Prison New Hall in West Yorkshire. She passes time listening to music, playing games, and teaching cross-stitch to other inmates.
She has been transferred several times, including once due to a plot against her life.
The Netflix series Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story (May 14) brought renewed attention to the case. Anna Marie, the Wests’ oldest surviving child, was the only sibling who testified about the abuse.
Her husband told the Daily Mail in May 2025 that she remains estranged from her siblings despite living nearby.
“They’re the ones who carry the trauma of what happened in that house,” he said. “Even when they live close, they don’t see each other — it only reopens old wounds.”
He also explained the toll of constant media interest:
“Every few years, the case resurfaces, like now with this new documentary. The public becomes fascinated again — but the children live with that pain every single day.”