Daughter of man who murdered at least 12 victims with his wife shares chilling insights to their life

Warning: This article contains content which some readers may find distressing

The daughter of Fred West claims her step-mother Rose West had a ‘temper’ she wasn’t ‘able to control’ while sharing a bleak insight into their life.

The new Netflix series, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, sheds light on the harrowing tale of Fred and Rose West - a married couple convicted of killing a handful of young women in Gloucestershire.

The Netflix TV programme, told over three parts, uses unseen footage, police interrogations and actual, eerie voice recordings from the guilty pair to paint a picture of the couple who were capable of such horrific crimes.

Who are Fred and Rose West?

Frederick ‘Fred’ West and his wife Rosemary ‘Rose’ West (neé Letts) are prolific serial killers.

Active in Gloucestershire, England, between 1967 and 1987, the pair are confirmed to have murdered at least 12 young women between them.

These include Fred’s first wife, Catherine ‘Rena’ Costello, his eight-year-old step-daughter Charmaine, and his and Rose’s eldest daughter, Heather, 16.

The remains of nine girls were recovered from their ‘house of horror’ home at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester. Three further bodies were later found elsewhere, as per BBC.

How many children did Fred West have?

The harrowing story of Fred West and his wife Rose has been made into a Netflix docuseries (Netflix)

When Fred married his first wife in November 1962 in her hometown of Glasgow, she was already pregnant with Charmaine.

A year after welcoming the child, who would go on to be brutally murdered by Rose, Rena gave birth to the couple’s second daughter, Anne Marie.

The serial killer welcomed a child with Rose when she was 16 named Heather.

Months after Fred and Rose the knot and moving to their infamous Gloucestershire abode on Cromwell Street, Rose gave birth to Mae.

Rose began prostituting herself with the help of her spouse and went on to give birth to three more children whose fathers were all her clients.

The total number of children shared between Fred and Rose was ten.

What has Fred’s daughter revealed?

Anne Marie, who is thought to be around 60 years of age, has described her estranged step-mother as having one ‘hell of a temper’ that she ‘was not able to control’, as per ABC in 2024.

"She made us do most of the household chores despite our ages, and if we didn't do them right she erupted.”

Last year, the survivor spoke about the death of her sister Heather and step-sister Charmaine, revealing: “The police found it difficult to pinpoint exactly when my sister was killed, and I wasn't able to help much because I was so young at the time.

"Hospital records show that Charmaine had been treated for an ankle injury on 28 March 1971. The notes don't specify what caused the puncture wound.

"One day I came home from school to be told by Rose that Charmaine had gone off with her mother. I knew better than to question my stepmother and simply accepted what she said as fact."

Rose West is currently still behind bars in England (Netflix)

Anne Marie, who said she was sexually abused by her father when she was just eight, described in her autobiography that she’d ‘looked’ for Heather since the day she vanished on June 19, 1987.

It’s understood she also gave a statement to the police about the abuse she’d suffered at 25 Cromwell Street.

This was later retracted, with the outlet claiming the incident ‘shone a momentary light for investigators, telling them all was not right on Cromwell Street.’

In 1999, Anne Marie gave evidence against both parents at their murder trial.

What happened to Fred and Rose West?

After being arrested and officially charged in February 1994, Fred - previously described as the ‘epitome of evil’ - asphyxiated himself in his HMP Birmingham cell while awaiting trial on 1 January 1995.

Ten months after the death of her husband, Rose, who was being held in Durham, was convicted of ten murders.

She was given ten life sentences at Winchester Crown Court in November 1995, with Judge Justice Charles Mantell saying at the time: "If attention is paid to what I think, you will never be released.”

Rose was initially incarcerated at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey before being transferred to HM Prison Low Newton in County Durham.

The 71-year-old is now behind bars at HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire where she maintains her innocence.

Speaking about Rose’s life now behind bars, her former legal representative Leo Samuel Goatley told Cosmopolitan: “If she wrote to me, it was normally about things happening in the prison where she was.

"They would have these routine cell searches, and she'd have to move all her things out of her cell, which she found very disruptive.

“Also, the prison regime changes over time. Initially, she was on a wing, and they were all lifers, so they felt fairly settled and had routines.

“They then brought younger women prisoners in, who were in for 12 months, 18 months, who were pretty wild and were out for fights to show who had the bragging rights, this sort of thing.”

Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story is available to stream on Netflix now.