Serial Killers Fred and Rosemary West - "The House Of Horrors"
- 8 years ago
Serial Killers Fred and Rosemary West - "The House Of Horrors" ---
Uploader: forthedishwasher ---
The disappearance of Heather West, Frederick and Rose West's eldest daughter, led ultimately to the Cromwell Street murder inquiry, Winchester Crown Court was told yesterday.
Brian Leveson QC, for the prosecution, told the court: "In June 1987, when she was 16 years old, she disappeared. Her parents did not report her missing. The reason is simple. They knew that she was dead because both had been involved in killing her.
"Rosemary West, this defendant, was interviewed by the police. She said that she had heard from Heather on the telephone. The authorities continued looking and on 24 February 1994, armed with a search warrant, they returned to 25, Cromwell Street."
He said that they unearthed Heather West's bones under a patio in the back garden two days later. The head had been severed and the bones had been chopped up to reduce the space in which the skeleton could be buried.
"The police continued digging and what they found was more terrible than words can express. Over the days which followed, the skeletal remains of eight other young women were found, each under the ground at the home of Mr and Mrs West."
Thus began a huge investigation for Gloucestershire Police which discovered that girls who came and went to 25, Cromwell Street over the years had been subjected to "violent and degrading sexual activity".
Mr Leveson said that it was not suggested that Mrs West had acted alone. As far as all 10 murders were concerned, she acted together with Frederick West, her husband, who was found dead in his prison cell on 1 January this year.
Mr Leveson told the jury that Rosemary Letts met Frederick West in 1969 when she was 15 and he was 27. They began a relationship and their daughter, Heather, was born in 1970 when they moved with Fred West's other two children to a ground floor flat at 25, Midland Road, Gloucester. In November that year, Mr West was sent to prison for 10 months for dishonesty. Mr Leveson said: "At the age of 17, it cannot have been easy for Rosemary West to cope with Charmaine, only 10 years younger, Anne Marie, who was six, and baby Heather in a small flat."
Mr Leveson said that it was impossible to precisely date when Charmaine vanished but when people asked about her whereabouts, they were told that she had gone to Scotland with her mother.
On 25 April, 1994, the police extended their search from Cromwell Street to Midland Road, where they discovered a skull and bones which were later identified by experts as being those of Charmaine.
In January 1972 Frederick West married Rosemary and later that year they moved to Cromwell Street, where they lived for the next 22 years. Mrs West had seven more children.
Mr Leveson said that the Wests picked up a 17-year-old girl called Caroline Owens who was hitchhiking to Tewkesbury in the autumn of 1972.
During the journey the Wests offered Miss Owens a job as their nanny and she accepted and moved in to Cromwell Street. After a few weeks Miss Owen left but in December 1972 the Wests once again picked her up when she was hitch-hiking. Mr Leveson said: "As they left Gloucester, Rosemary West put her arm around Caroline Owens and started talking of sexual matters. She tried to kiss Caroline on the mouth and began to touch her hair and fondle her breasts."
Mrs West then sexually assaulted Miss Owens and Mr West stopped the car. He then punched her in the face knocking her senseless and when she came round she was being tied up and gagged.
"Thus gagged she was driven back to Cromwell Street with Rosemary West holding her down and continuing the assault upon her. She was bundled indoors and taken to the first-floor front bedroom. The tapes were cut free. She was stripped naked and was laid on the bed, Mrs West touched her vaginal area, she struggled and her hands were once more tied up behind her back. She was subjected to a series of sexual indignities."
The following morning Miss Owens was released after promising not to tell what had happened but she reported it to the police and the Wests were arrested. They were subsequently charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and with indecent assault and on 12 January 1973 they were fined at Gloucester magistrates court after pleading guilty to both charges.
Mr Leveson then told the horrific story of how a series of girls were murdered after being held captive and sexually abused. The first victim was Lynda Gough, 19, from Gloucester.
Miss Gough, a seamstress, left home suddenly on 19 April, 1973. Her parents did not hear from her and began to make enquiries which led her mother to Cromwell Street, where Mrs West told her that Lynda had gone to Weston-Super-Mare.
"The Crown contend that she had been murdered and buried in what had been an inspection pit in a shed or garage. There she stayed for nearly 21 years until 7 March, 1994.
Uploader: forthedishwasher ---
The disappearance of Heather West, Frederick and Rose West's eldest daughter, led ultimately to the Cromwell Street murder inquiry, Winchester Crown Court was told yesterday.
Brian Leveson QC, for the prosecution, told the court: "In June 1987, when she was 16 years old, she disappeared. Her parents did not report her missing. The reason is simple. They knew that she was dead because both had been involved in killing her.
"Rosemary West, this defendant, was interviewed by the police. She said that she had heard from Heather on the telephone. The authorities continued looking and on 24 February 1994, armed with a search warrant, they returned to 25, Cromwell Street."
He said that they unearthed Heather West's bones under a patio in the back garden two days later. The head had been severed and the bones had been chopped up to reduce the space in which the skeleton could be buried.
"The police continued digging and what they found was more terrible than words can express. Over the days which followed, the skeletal remains of eight other young women were found, each under the ground at the home of Mr and Mrs West."
Thus began a huge investigation for Gloucestershire Police which discovered that girls who came and went to 25, Cromwell Street over the years had been subjected to "violent and degrading sexual activity".
Mr Leveson said that it was not suggested that Mrs West had acted alone. As far as all 10 murders were concerned, she acted together with Frederick West, her husband, who was found dead in his prison cell on 1 January this year.
Mr Leveson told the jury that Rosemary Letts met Frederick West in 1969 when she was 15 and he was 27. They began a relationship and their daughter, Heather, was born in 1970 when they moved with Fred West's other two children to a ground floor flat at 25, Midland Road, Gloucester. In November that year, Mr West was sent to prison for 10 months for dishonesty. Mr Leveson said: "At the age of 17, it cannot have been easy for Rosemary West to cope with Charmaine, only 10 years younger, Anne Marie, who was six, and baby Heather in a small flat."
Mr Leveson said that it was impossible to precisely date when Charmaine vanished but when people asked about her whereabouts, they were told that she had gone to Scotland with her mother.
On 25 April, 1994, the police extended their search from Cromwell Street to Midland Road, where they discovered a skull and bones which were later identified by experts as being those of Charmaine.
In January 1972 Frederick West married Rosemary and later that year they moved to Cromwell Street, where they lived for the next 22 years. Mrs West had seven more children.
Mr Leveson said that the Wests picked up a 17-year-old girl called Caroline Owens who was hitchhiking to Tewkesbury in the autumn of 1972.
During the journey the Wests offered Miss Owens a job as their nanny and she accepted and moved in to Cromwell Street. After a few weeks Miss Owen left but in December 1972 the Wests once again picked her up when she was hitch-hiking. Mr Leveson said: "As they left Gloucester, Rosemary West put her arm around Caroline Owens and started talking of sexual matters. She tried to kiss Caroline on the mouth and began to touch her hair and fondle her breasts."
Mrs West then sexually assaulted Miss Owens and Mr West stopped the car. He then punched her in the face knocking her senseless and when she came round she was being tied up and gagged.
"Thus gagged she was driven back to Cromwell Street with Rosemary West holding her down and continuing the assault upon her. She was bundled indoors and taken to the first-floor front bedroom. The tapes were cut free. She was stripped naked and was laid on the bed, Mrs West touched her vaginal area, she struggled and her hands were once more tied up behind her back. She was subjected to a series of sexual indignities."
The following morning Miss Owens was released after promising not to tell what had happened but she reported it to the police and the Wests were arrested. They were subsequently charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and with indecent assault and on 12 January 1973 they were fined at Gloucester magistrates court after pleading guilty to both charges.
Mr Leveson then told the horrific story of how a series of girls were murdered after being held captive and sexually abused. The first victim was Lynda Gough, 19, from Gloucester.
Miss Gough, a seamstress, left home suddenly on 19 April, 1973. Her parents did not hear from her and began to make enquiries which led her mother to Cromwell Street, where Mrs West told her that Lynda had gone to Weston-Super-Mare.
"The Crown contend that she had been murdered and buried in what had been an inspection pit in a shed or garage. There she stayed for nearly 21 years until 7 March, 1994.