Multiple murderers don't usually start off killing people. They begin with smaller offences and build their way up to murder. It is known that Fred West, an abattoir worker who had no medical training, attempted to perform an (illegal) abortion on a teenage prostitute in the mid-1960s. The girl lost so much blood she was lucky to survive, but she suffered acute peritonitis and ended up having to undergo a hysterectomy. West was not prosecuted as the girl didn't press charges.

West was a petty criminal known to police as he he had spent time in jail for offences such as theft and burglary. In 1972 he was arrested for the rape of 17-year-old Caroline Owens, for which he was fined and jailed.

West lived with his second wife Rose and various children at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, when his killing spree was discovered.

The Prostitute Wife

At the age of 15, Rose was attacked at a bus-stop and raped. When she met Fred he was already a killer and he began her induction as his partner-in-crime. That the family was dysfunctional was well-known; Rose was a prostitute who was actively encouraged by her husband to raise money this way. Three of the youngest children of the family were not Fred's own and were of mixed race.

Heather West (17 October, 1970 - ? June, 1987)

Nobody noticed when Heather West disappeared without trace. She had left school and if anyone asked of her whereabouts, the family said she had found a job elsewhere and moved away. As far as we know, Heather was Fred West's last victim. She was also indirectly responsible for bringing him to justice. It was a family in-joke that the children were warned that if they didn't behave or co-operate (West sexually abused the children) they would 'end up under the patio like Heather'. Some of the younger West children were overheard discussing this at school, and the alarm was raised.

The Wests were arrested in February, 1994 when they couldn't explain the disappearances of Heather and her older step-sister Charmaine. The younger children were taken into care and questioned separately; and the excavation of the garden at their home commenced. The authorities were looking for one body, possibly two, but three non-matching femurs were found, so the search was expanded.

The house became one of Britain's most infamous addresses as body after body was recovered from the cellar and garden. A total of nine corpses were exhumed and identified, including the remains of the West's daughter Heather. Other murder victims were found elsewhere, and possibly many more remain undiscovered, crudely buried in anonymous unconsecrated graves.

The Known Victims

• Anna McFall, a children's nanny from Scotland. She was Fred's lover and eight months pregnant with his child when she was killed in 1967. Her body was found in 'Fingerpost Field' near Much Marcle, on the Herefordshire-Gloucestershire border.

• Mary Bastholm, a 15-year-old, went missing in Gloucester in 1968, but her body has never been found. Fred West admitted killing her.

• Rena Costello West, Fred's first wife, was killed in 1971. Her body was found in 'Letterbox Field' near Much Marcle.

• Charmaine West, Rena's elder child and Fred's step-daughter, was aged eight when she was killed in 1971. Fred was in jail at the time of the killing, and Rose West was her sole carer. Her body was found buried at 25 Midland Road, Gloucester, which was where the Wests lived at that time.

• Lynda Gough, a Gloucestershire needleworker, was 21 when she was killed in 1973. Her body was found beneath the cellar floor at 25 Cromwell Street.

• Lucy Partington, a university student from Cheltenham, was 21 when she was killed in 1973. Her mutilated body was found beneath the cellar floor at 25 Cromwell Street.

• Carol Ann Cooper, a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Worcester, was killed in 1974. Her body was found beneath the cellar floor at 25 Cromwell Street.

• Shirley Hubbard, 15, another schoolgirl from Worcester, was killed in 1974 and her body buried beneath the cellar floor at 25 Cromwell Street.

• Therese Siegenthaler, a 21-year-old hitchhiker from Switzerland, disappeared in 1974 and her remains were found buried beneath the cellar floor at 25 Cromwell Street.

• Juanita Mott from Newent was 19 when she was killed in 1975. Her body was found beneath the cellar floor at 25 Cromwell Street.

• Shirley Robinson, 18, was the West's lodger, babysitter and Fred's lover. She was heavily pregnant with his child when she was killed in 1978. Her body was found in the garden of 25 Cromwell Street.

• Alison Chambers, a 17-year-old runaway from Swansea, Wales, vanished in 1979. Her remains were found in the garden of 25 Cromwell Street.

• Heather West, 16, Fred and Rose's oldest daughter, was killed in 1987. Her body was found in the garden of 25 Cromwell Street.

The Survivor

In 1972 Caroline Owens was waiting for a bus when Fred West stopped and offered her a lift. He took her back to 25 Cromwell Street and Rose served her tea. The next morning Caroline awoke to find herself between Fred and Rose in their bed; she had been beaten and raped. They only let her leave when she promised not to tell anyone of her ordeal. She did report the assault to the police and West was arrested and jailed. When detectives investigating the disappearances of Lucy Partington and Heather West heard of this previous case, they had a modus operandii for West.

The Unknown Victims

West said that there were two other bodies in shallow graves in the woods but there was no way they would ever be found. He also confessed that there were 20 other bodies 'spread around' and he would give the police details of the location of a grave annually. Police believe the Wests may have murdered as many as 30 people.

Fred West's Life Ends

Following his arrest, West claimed he had committed all the murders himself and Rose had nothing to do with any of it. Unfortunately for the families of the missing, West committed suicide before he divulged any useful information about the remaining undiscovered victims, taking his secrets to his own grave. On 1 January, 1995, the killer was found hanged in his Birmingham prison cell. He had been awaiting trial on 12 murder charges, abduction, false imprisonment and various sexual offences.

Demolition

In October 1996, Gloucester City Council demolished number 25 Cromwell Street. Requests for a memorial garden to be built on the grounds were rejected due to worries that it might become a morbid shrine; instead there is now a landscaped footpath leading to the city centre.

Rose West's Punishment

After her husband's suicide, the prosecution had to find evidence of Rose West's involvement in the crimes. She denied any responsibility but investigations on Charmaine West's remains and comparisons with dental records pinpointed her death to a time when Fred was in jail, with Rose being her sole carer.

Lynda Gough's family called at 25 Cromwell Street enquiring after the missing girl. When Rose answered the door, Lynda's mother noticed that Rose was wearing Lynda's distinctive slippers, and Lynda's nightie was hanging on the washing line. When challenged, Rose said Lynda had been a lodger, and when she moved out she had left some things behind but didn't leave a forwarding address.

After one of the most sensational trials of the 20th Century, Rose West was found guilty of ten murders and jailed for life, receiving a 'whole life' tariff¹. Myra Hindley's death in jail in 2002 left Rosemary West as the only (confirmed) female prisoner on the 'whole life' tariff register.