Is Fred West dead? Where is Rose West?
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Fred and Rose West’s horrific legacy revisited after TV gaffe

The notorious couple are back in the headlines after a breakfast show 'appearance'

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Fred and Rose West, have gone down in history as two of Britain’s most notorious murderers.

As they are in the news again today, after a breakfast show accidentally painted them as a loving couple, here’s a reminder of their actual horrific legacy.

Fred and Rose West 25 Cromwell Street
Fred and Rose West mugshots

What did serial killers Fred and Rose West do?

Fred committed at least 12 murders between 1967 and 1987, the majority of which were with Rose.

Their victims were young women and some of the killings involved rape, torture and mutilation.

They would typically dismember the bodies and either bury them in the cellar or garden of their home at Cromwell Street, Gloucester.

Who were Fred and Rose West’s victims?

Most were young women, some who lived at their home as lodgers and worked as nannies.

The first known victim was Anna McFall who, aged 18 and eight months pregnant with Fred’s child, vanished.

He also murdered his ex wife, Catherine Rena West.

Rose killed Rena and Fred’s daughter Charmaine, when he was in prison.

They also killed their own daughter, Heather.

Rose West
Fred West committed the majority of the murders with his wife, Rose (Credit: ITV)

Where is Rose West now?

Rose West is currently behind bars at HM Prison New Hall in Flockton, West Yorkshire.

Read more: Rose West & Myra Hindley with Trevor McDonald: Viewers praise ex prisoner for punching child killer

Sentencing her to life imprisonment in 1995, judge Mr Justice Mantell said at the time: “If attention is paid to what I think, you will never be released.”

Rose was born on November 29, 1953, meaning she is now 66 years old.

Actress Emily Watson played Janet Leach, in ITV drama Appropriate Adult (Credit: ITV)

What happened to Fred West’s appropriate adult, Janet Leach?

Gloucester housewife Janet Leach saw her life dramatically transformed when cops asked her to sit in on interviews with Fred West as an independent safeguard, or ‘appropriate adult’.

After the events of the Fred and Rose West investigation, the social worker sold her story to a tabloid paper, according to the Daily Mail. She also advised on the 2011 true-crime drama, Appropriate Adult.

The Mail reported that, as of 2011, she was still living in the Gloucester home where the police first called her and had not long remarried.

Fred West
Fred West took his own life in his prison cell (Credit: Real Stories / YouTube)

Is Fred West still alive?

No, Fred West died in 1995.

He asphyxiated himself in his cell using a rope he made from a blanket and tags stolen from laundry bags.

Is there a film about Fred and Rose West?

There is the two-part 2011 mini-series, Appropriate Adult, made for ITV. It starred Dominic West as Fred West, Monica Dolan as Rose and Emily Watson as Janet Leach.

Read more: Des: Dennis Nilsen’s friend says David Tennant portrayal was ‘like seeing a ghost’

Rose West in Appropriate Adult
Actress Monica Dolan as Rose West in Appropriate Adult (Credit: ITV)

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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