Netflix currently has several shows that are based on recently discovered audio tapes of notorious serial killers. There's "Conversations With A Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes", "Conversations With A Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes", "Memories Of A Murderer: The Denis Nilsen Tapes" and "Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes". The latest of these is about Fred and Rose West. In three episodes (covering some 50 hours of police interrogations) we watch the horrific story unfold. The police team includes DC Hazel Savage who was determined to get to the bottom of the situation. Without her, the Wests might have continued with their horrible deeds.
It all starts when the West children (who were taken away from their parents due to their poor treatment) kept telling each other that if they didnt behave, they would end up like Heather-- 2 down and 3 across in the back patio.
The Wests had 10 children total:
From Fred's fist marriage
- Anna Marie
- Charmaine (killed by Rose)
- Heather (killed by the Wests)
- Mae
- Stephen
- Barry (committed suicide)
- Tara
- Louise
- Rosemary Jr
- Lucyanna
Fred and Rose were both supposedly sexually assaulted as children (although Fred's siblings deny this). He was 27 and she was 15 when they first met. Fred had Rose prostitute herself after they were married. Rose's own father was one of her steady clients. Their depravity also extended to their children. Anna Marie was raped by Fred at the age of eight and then put into prostitution at the age of 13. The Wests had an area set up in their house where clients visited. Fred had the rooms bugged so he could see and hear what was going on. It blows my mind that the Wests were maintaining lodgers on the upper floor of the house at the same time. Did one suspect anything?
Interviewed for this show is also Janet Leach the "appropriate adult" assigned to the case. In the UK if someone is a vulnerable adult (and might not understand what is happening) they are assigned an "appropriate adult". It's basically a volunteer social worker. Poor Janet-- she was drug through the ringer by the press because of her dealings with Fred. She even had a stroke on the witness stand during the trial due to all the stress.
What is so chilling about this series is Fred doesnt seem to have any remorse during the police interviews or when he's taking them to uncover the bodies at 25 Cromwell Street and elsewhere. The same for Rose. Fred eventually confesses to all the murders and says Rose had nothing to do with them. It is later proven that she killed eight year old stepdaughter Charmaine herself (while Fred was away in prison). She was also an active participant in the other murders If the police hadnt been able to prove her involvement, she might be a free person today. Horrifying!
In the end, Fred hung himself in jail. He previously told oldest son Stephen that the police would never know the fill extent of what he had done (so there may be more victims). Fred had been charged with 12 counts of murder. Rose went to trial and was sentenced to 10 life terms. She is one of 4 women in the UK under a "whole life order" (which basically means she should never get out of prison). Their victims included: Ann McFall (Fred's nanny), Rena Costello (Fred's first wife), Charmaine West (Fred's daughter), Lynda Gough, Carol Ann Cooper, Lucy Partington, Therese Stegenthaler, Shirley Hubbard, Juanita Mott, Shirley Ann Robinson (was 8 months pregnant with Fred's child), Alison Chambers and Heather West (Fred and Rose's daughter)
Will you learn anything new about the West's case from this series? If you're a die hard true crime fan, probably not. There arent many new facts here. But if you dont know anything about the case, you'll learn plenty. What gets me most about all these shows are the interviews with the victim's families and others involved in the case. While the news of the crimes is, sensationalized no one thinks about all the lives that were shattered due to the West's actions.
Grade: No grade assigned since this is a documentary.
Photo Credit: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/26/gordon-burn-england-happy-like-murderers-fred-rose-west
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