Are Fred and Rose West still alive?
Fred West: Expert reveals the 'joke' which exposed killer
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Fred and Rose West have made headlines once again this week after “possible” evidence was found of a missing woman, Mary Bastholm, in Gloucester. Detectives searching the Clean Plate cafe linked to the potential victim of Fred and Rose said they found “possible evidence to suggest a body could be buried within the property”. They also found “an image of what appeared to be blue material buried in one area of the cellar”. Ms Bastholm was wearing a blue coat when she went missing more than 60 years ago.
Following a review, Gloucestershire Constabulary has now approved excavation work to begin to establish if any human remains are present in the Clean Plate cafe.
Detective Chief Inspector John Turner said: “The analysis from our experts and the material provided by the production company means there is enough evidence to justify excavation work beginning.
“I have spoken to the family and was so impress by their quiet dignity and gratitude for all the work we’ve done and will be doing.
“They understand it is possible we won’t find human remains but they also know that we will do everything we can to establish if Mary is buried at this location.”
Ms Bastholm was just 15-years-old when she went missing and was on her way to catch the bus to visit her boyfriend, Tim Merrett, in January 1968.
The teenager’s disappearance has remained a mystery ever since, although there has been much speculation over the years on whether she could be one of the West’s many victims, especially as Fred was a regular customer.
The Wests have always denied all knowledge of Ms Bastholm, whose body has never been recovered.
Fred and Rose West’s crimes shocked the nation to its core when they eventually surfaced.
A jury trial found Fred and Rose guilty for the murders of 12 and 10 women, respectively, including their own children.
Rose was found guilty of murdering her eldest daughter Heather, 16, stepdaughter Charmaine, eight, Fred’s pregnant lover Shirley Anne Robinson, 18, Therese Siegenthaler, 21, Shirley Hubbard, 15, Juanita Mott, 18, and Alison Chambers, 17.
Fred faced further charges relating to the murder of his first wife, Catherine Costello, 26, and girlfriend Anne McFall, 18.
The family home, dubbed the “House of Horrors”, in Cromwell Street, Gloucester, remains one of the UK’s most notorious addresses after police discovered the bodies of nine women, including their daughter Heather, buried in the cellar and garden of the house.
The police’s discovery revealed the true nature of the Wests, exposing a sordid tale of sexual obsession, promiscuity, torture and child abuse.
A chance conversation between a group of schoolchildren and an officer on the beat in Gloucester kicked off the investigation in 1992.
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Detective Constable Hazel Savage heard about a West “family joke” the children told social workers, in which they said the couple’s missing daughter Heather was “under the patio”.
Detective Constable Savage eventually convinced her superiors of the possibility the “joke” was in fact the truth, uncovering the grim reality of the Wests’ murder spree in February 1994.
After initially finding Heather’s body, teams of police diggers essentially dismantled the lower parts of the house, finding more and more bodies as they did so.
The trail lead officers to nearby Midland Road and Much Marcle, Fred West’s birthplace, where fields in Kempley expelled the bodies of his first wife Catherine, nanny Anne McFall and her unborn baby.
Are Fred and Rose West still alive?
Fred West is dead, having committed suicide in his cell at Winson Green Prison, Birmingham.
The serial killer was found dead on January 1, 1995, before he was able to stand trial for his gruesome crimes.
At the bottom of a suicide note Fred left behind was a drawing of a gravestone, within which was written: “In loving memory, Fred West. Rose West.
“Rest in peace where no shadow falls. In perfect peace he waits for Rose, his wife.”
Rose is still alive and serving her life-term in prison, with the judge at her trial emphasising she should never be paroled.
Rose was initially imprisoned at HMP Bronzefiled as a Category A prisoner; she was later transferred to HM Prison Low Newton before being transferred again to HM Prison New Hall in 2019, where she remains to this day and continues to protest her innocence.
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