Fred & Rose West Victims

Case background and investigation

Between 1967 and 1987, twelve girls and young women whose deaths were later attributed to Fred West, in most cases together with his wife Rose West, disappeared in and around Gloucester, England. The victims included lodgers at the couple's home, young women and teenagers who vanished while travelling or waiting for buses, and members of the Wests' own family.

According to Wikipedia's account, police obtained a warrant in February 1994 to search the garden of 25 Cromwell Street for the couple's daughter Heather, who had not been seen since June 1987, when she was 16. Fred West was arrested on February 24, 1994, and Heather's remains were found on February 26. Over the following days the remains of Shirley Robinson, 18, and Alison Chambers, 16, were also found in the garden, and in early March the remains of Lynda Gough, Carol Ann Cooper, Lucy Partington, Therese Siegenthaler, Shirley Hubbard and Juanita Mott were recovered from the cellar. Those six had disappeared between 1973 and 1975.

Three further victims were found away from Cromwell Street, according to the same account: Charmaine West, Fred West's eight-year-old stepdaughter, at the couple's former home at 25 Midland Road, Gloucester; and his first wife, Catherine 'Rena' West, and Anne McFall, 18, in fields near Much Marcle in Herefordshire.

Fred West was charged with 12 murders. He was found dead in his cell at a Birmingham prison on January 1, 1995, while on remand; UPI reported at the time that he had apparently hanged himself. He was never tried.

Rose West's trial began on October 3, 1995, at Winchester Crown Court. She denied the charges. UPI reported that the jury convicted her on November 21 of murdering Charmaine West, Heather West and Shirley Robinson, and on November 22 of the seven remaining counts. The judge, Mr Justice Mantell, imposed a life sentence on each count and said that in his view she should never be released. According to Crime+Investigation UK, her appeal was rejected in 1996 and she later abandoned further attempts. Wikipedia states that a whole-life tariff was subsequently set and that she continues to maintain her innocence. The house at 25 Cromwell Street was demolished in 1996 and replaced by a walkway.

Police have long considered whether Fred West was responsible for other disappearances, including that of Mary Bastholm, a 15-year-old who vanished in Gloucester in 1968. In May 2021, after a documentary production company reported possible evidence, Gloucestershire Police excavated the cellar of a Gloucester cafe. LBC reported that the force found no human remains or items of significance. Mary Bastholm remains missing, and no one was ever charged over her disappearance.