Ryan Green - Fred & Rose West: Britain’s Most Infamous Killer Couples

The story of the couple so horrifically take so many young lives begins in Herefordshire Parish, of Much Marcle, 18 miles northwest of Gloucester, in the very place most of the murders would later take place. On the 29 th of September 1941, Frederick Walter Stephen West was born. He was the second child and first son of Walter Stephen and Daisy Hannah West, descendants of several generations of farm labourers. Much ado has been made about Fred Wests childhood, and understandably so: one of the most common features of sex criminals and child abusers is having experienced abuse themselves. There is a great deal of confusion around the issue when it comes to Fred West, however. Most of it has been created by Fred West himself through the tangle of misleading and contradictory tales he told to the police upon his capture. Many outlets that reported or commentated on the story chose to take the more sensational allegations that came out of the West investigation at face value, while others acknowledged that little could be confirmed, no matter how compelling the story of Wests childhood would be if it had been true to his account.

The entire affair is clouded with a fog of uncertainty, but a probable narrative can be pieced together. Of Wests childhood, what can absolutely be ascertained is that he grew up in a large, close-knit family. Despite the austerity of the war and post-war periods, Walter and Daisy West went on to have four more children after Fred. Daisy was particularly close to her eldest son there was no doubt in anyones mind that he was her favourite. This manifested in a rigid over-protectiveness, including his being forbidden to date until he was 21. He also had a close relationship with his father, who was far more permissive and provided a strong role model for young Fred. The exact nature and extent of his influence, however, has been up for debate.

In the course of the investigation, Fred West claimed that everything he did was inspired by his childhood. According to him, incest was a common, accepted thing in Walter and Daisys household, and both parents engaged in intercourse with their children. He would claim that his own first sexual experience was with his mother, at the age of twelve. He also claimed that Walter was fond of bestiality and introduced him to it, and that his father once told him that if he wanted to do anything at all, he could do it as long as he did not get caught. But as weve said, those accusations are not overly credible. Well examine them in further detail in Chapter 4.

The man who whose vaguely sinister visage came to loom in the minds of the horrified public, started out as a charming blond-haired and blue-eyed infant. He wasnt much gifted academically he performed dismally in most subjects in school and had difficulty reading and writing throughout his life. This led to a great number reprimands and punishments, which Daisy took personally. She rushed to his defence on multiple occasions, making a row at the school over what she took as personal affronts and as bias against her golden son. The effect of this on young Fred was likely less than ideal, placing him on the receiving end of a great deal of ridicule for being a mommas boy and causing distance from and friction with his classmates.

All the same, he did show some talent with his hands, doing rather well in art and woodworking. This served him well in his adult life, as he became a competent builder. This same skill was also ideal for the hiding of the bodies of his victims.

While he was a rather intransigent and strong-willed young man, it appears that for most of it he wasnt especially violent or immoral. On the 28 th of November 1958, when Fred was at the age of seventeen, something changed that: a motorcycle accident. He came away from the mishap with a broken arm and leg and a fractured skull. He wound up with a plate in his skull, the broken leg set shorter than the other, leaving him with a permanent limp. His family also noticed a marked change in his character following the accident an increasingly volatile temper, lack of overall emotional control, and a predilection for theft and shoplifting that would continue well into his adulthood.