Netflix is adding another true crime documentary series to their already impressive roster. Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story will be available to watch on Netflix in May, and viewers should be prepared for some pretty uncomfortable details of the couple’s crimes.
Fred West first met 15-year-old Rose Letts at a bus stop in 1969. At the time, he was married to Rena, and they shared two daughters named Charmaine and Anne Marie. Rena had left Fred a year earlier, likely due to his abusive behavior, but had come back to give their marriage another try.
Rose moved in with the Wests to become a full-time nanny to their children, despite her parents’ disapproval. Eventually, Fred and Rose moved in together, and their daughter Heather was born in 1970. In 1971, Fred was in jail for theft, when Charmaine disappeared. According to Anne Marie, she came home from school one day only to be told by Rose that Charmaine had gone to live with her mother Rena, and later that same year, Rena too disappeared.
A romance made in hell
In 1972, Rose and Fred were married, and moved into their home on Cromwell Street in Gloucester…the same home that would later become known as the House of Horrors. It’s a pretty accurate description, since it would later be discovered that Rose and Fred had committed at least 12 murders, along with physical and sexual abuse of their own children.
As you may have guessed, Rose herself had done away with her step daughter Charmaine, and later both of her parents are suspected as having killed their daughter Heather. After she disappeared, Fred often joked about Heather being buried in the garden. But it wasn’t a joke, and that is indeed where her body was eventually discovered.
What investigators found when they began digging on the West property was truly horrific. In addition to the 12 confirmed victims, police suspect Fred was responsible for the disappearance of at least one 15-year-old girl whose body was never found.
In later years, the Wests’ children would suffer mentally from the abuse they all endured, and more than one would end up attempting suicide. It’s a tragic legacy, and goes to show how lasting the repercussions of murder and abuse are.
In the Netflix docuseries, viewers will be able to see previously unreleased video and audio recordings. We will also get to hear from family members of some of the Wests’ victims, and learn how many of them made it through the trauma by virtue of seeking justice for their murdered girls and women.
All three episodes of Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story will be available to stream on Netflix on May 14.