The serial killer and his wife, Rose, murdered at least 12 women and girls, some of whom were their own daughters
To residents of Cromwell Street in Gloucester, Fred West presented himself as the cheeky yet affable neighbour, peppering conversations with crude jokes and a knowing wink.
Yet beyond the front door of what became known as the House of Horrors, a much more sinister tale was playing out – and amongst the many victims was an 18-year-old girl who had taken lodgings with Fred and his wife Rose.
Kathleen Richards, a fellow tenant, remembered her first encounter with the couple alongside Shirley Robinson. Fred boldly introduced the teenager as his “lover” right in front of Rose.
A stunned Kathleen couldn’t fathom that Shirley, an attractive girl who was 17 at the time, could possibly be romantically entangled with such a dishevelled married man in his late 30s.
Yet Shirley later confirmed to Kathleen that it was indeed true. What’s more, she was expecting Fred’s baby, reports the Mirror.
Detectives subsequently determined Fred systematically preyed upon young women who were vulnerable or alone, providing them with shelter or assistance before gaining dominance over them. Tragically, Shirley became one such casualty.
Kathleen observed that Shirley often appeared melancholy and didn’t seem to have her own bedroom. Indeed, one evening she witnessed her entering the couple’s bedroom – an arrangement that proved to be routine.
What unfolded between them was a chilling dynamic of manipulation and power imbalance. Fred cunningly portrayed himself as Shirley’s rock, while systematically stripping her of her independence.
Experts who later analysed Fred’s actions identified a distinct grooming pattern, where care and protection were twisted into tools for domination and exploitation.
At the time, Shirley’s abrupt vanishing act barely raised eyebrows, with the serial killer casually telling Kathleen that she’d gone back to her family in Germany, a claim Kathleen found strange.
In the late 1970s, missing teenage girls were often presumed to be runaways, a notion Fred exploited to his advantage. He spun tales to various people that Shirley had voluntarily left and relocated.
These assertions went largely unchallenged, enabling him to dodge suspicion while Shirley’s family were left in the dark.
Rose was a constant presence during this period, with investigators later describing the household atmosphere as oppressive and volatile.
Kathleen soon found herself in Fred and Rose’s crosshairs, seemingly chosen to fill the void left by Shirley’s disappearance. In the midst of this terrifying ordeal, Kathleen made the courageous decision to flee.
She escaped the house of horrors in the dead of night, clad only in her pyjamas, when Fred suggested they watch a ‘special video’ together.
For years, her fate was shrouded in mystery. It wasn’t until the police investigations of the 1990s, when the full extent of West’s heinous crimes began to emerge, that her case was revisited.
Evidence unearthed during these investigations revealed that West had murdered Shirley and hidden her body, perpetuating his lies for decades. This revelation was a crushing blow for Shirley’s family, who had lived with uncertainty for years.
What Fred had portrayed as a young woman choosing to vanish was, in truth, another calculated move designed to shield himself.
He was convicted of at least 12 murders, most of which were committed with the assistance of his wife, but he took his own life while incarcerated in January 1995, aged 53.
Rose, now 71, continues to serve a life sentence.