Born in 1953, Rosemary was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her violent paranoid schizophrenic father. At the age of 15 she met and eventually started dating a 28 year old Fred West. At this point in time Fred had already committed a couple of murders.
The following year Rosemary started prostituting herself from the family home, often with Fred watching on. Around the same time she helped Fred to sexually abuse his own then 8yo daughter, Anne Marie. Anne Marie was repeatedly raped by both Rosemary and Fred, and also Rosemary’s father. She was turned into prostitution by the Wests by the time she was 15.
In 1971, while Fred was in prison for stealing car tyres, Rosemary murdered her step daughter, Charmaine West. Once Fred got out of prison he buried the body and subsequently murdered Charmaine’s mother, Rena Costello when she attempted to collect her daughter from the West’s house.
Over the course of their marriage, Fred and Rosemary had 8 children, all of whom suffered horrific abuse. Rosemary encouraged Fred to abuse all of their daughters and ultimately murder their daughter Heather. The attack and murder of Heather was apparently witnessed by one of their youngest children, Barry, who was 7yo at the time. He has alleged that Rosemary killed Heather by stamping on her head repeatedly until she no longer moved.
Between 1973 and 1979 Fred and Rosemary West went on hunts to abduct victims. These would be bound, raped and tortured, before being murdered and dismembered. The bodies were buried under the house and in the garden.
Rosemary West was convicted of 10 murders and is currently living in some comfort in a top security prison in Durham in the UK. She has a TV, radio and CD player in her cell and has reported told her legal team she is very happy in prison and has no interest in appeals. Just keeping her in her comfort so far has cost around $1,400,000. That does not include any legal costs.