{"id":110615,"date":"2025-05-18T02:47:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T02:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/110615\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T02:47:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T02:47:15","slug":"i-looked-in-evil-serial-killer-rose-wests-eyes-told-her-fred-had-killed-himself-her-reaction-was-terrifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/110615\/","title":{"rendered":"I looked in evil serial killer Rose West’s eyes & told her Fred had killed himself – her reaction was terrifying"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONSTER murderess Rose West barely flinched when she was told husband Fred had killed himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But there was a terrifying \u201cglint\u201d in her eye when she heard he had taken his own life while in prison awaiting trial in 1995.<\/p>\n

\"Mugshot<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

The police mugshot of killer Rose West after she was convicted in 1995Credit: PA:Press Association\"Vanessa<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Ex-prison governor\u2009Vanessa Frake-HarrisCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd\"Fred<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Monster Rose\u2009at home with husband Fred, who took his own life in January 1995 while awaiting trial<\/p>\n

Prison governor Vanessa Frake-Harris<\/a>, who broke the news to the female serial killer<\/a>, thinks Rose believed<\/a> Fred\u2019s death<\/a> would mean she could pin their gruesome crimes entirely on him.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI told her along with the duty governor that Fred had committed suicide, and there was no emotion. She blinked a couple of times and then said, \u2018Oh right\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe didn\u2019t even flinch \u2014 nothing had altered in her expression. No tears, no nothing \u2014 just that glazed stare. The level of control and \u00addissociation was staggering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI firmly believe she felt that with Fred dying, she would get off all of the charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was almost a glint in her eye as if to say, \u2018OK, he\u2019s dead \u2014 he can take the rap for it. I\u2019m happy to plead to the lesser charges\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately for all the victims and survivors, she was convicted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now three-part Netflix<\/a> docuseries Fred And Rose West: A British Horror Story is re-examining their case.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s crimes<\/a> are some of the most horrific in criminal history.<\/p>\n

They raped, tortured and murdered at least 12 women before burying the bodies beneath the patio and cellar of their home at 25 Cromwell Street<\/a>, Gloucester, between 1973 and 1987.<\/p>\n

Vanessa reveals that West<\/a> was a manipulative and dominant prisoner at Holloway Prison<\/a> in North London<\/a>, ahead of her trial.<\/p>\n

Netflix\u2019s Fred & Rose West A British Horror Story launches 14 May \u2018Narcissistic psychopath\u2019<\/p>\n

She was given ten life sentences at Winchester Crown Court in November 1995 for ten murders.<\/p>\n

And The Sun on Sunday can reveal that, now aged 71, her routine has barely changed in 30 years.<\/p>\n

Currently held at HMP New Hall<\/a>, near Wakefield, West Yorks<\/a>, she spends her days knitting, listening to The Archers on Radio 4, baking and feeding the birds.<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview, Vanessa says: \u201cRose was very compliant and charming. She did what she was told, when she was told to do it. She was no problem to the staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you always felt there was an underlying sense that she was full of her own importance. And I had no doubt she was guilty.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a typical narcissistic psychopath, she is devoid of any kind of emotion \u2014 very manipulative, lacking in empathy, no remorse.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe could be very charming to those in her circle \u2014 for us, that meant the prison staff \u2014 and willing to do whatever it took to appear totally different to the person she actually is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vanessa spent three months with the killer, who spent her days in large \u201cCoke-bottle glasses\u201d while dressed in dowdy cardigans.<\/p>\n

The ex-jail boss says: \u201cWe used to call her \u2018Auntie Rose\u2019 because she was just like the old auntie you\u2019d pop round to see for tea and cakes, and because she had the big glasses and knitted all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had this real sing-song way about her, saying \u2018Mor-ning\u2019 in a chirpy kind of way. She was never any bother. She just wanted to knit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time we didn\u2019t allow \u00adknitting needles in, but the governor made an exception because West was kept in the segregation unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was separated from the \u00adgeneral population, not only for her safety but the safety of others.<\/p>\n

\"Collage<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

From left: Therese Siegenthaler, 21; the couple\u2019s daughters Charmaine, 8, and Heather West, 16; Shirley Anne Robinson, 18; schoolgirl Shirley Hubbard, 15Credit: Rex Features\"Collage<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

From left: Lynda Gough, 19; Juanita Mott, 18; Lucy Partington, 21; Carole Ann Cooper, 15, and Alison Chambers, 16Credit: Rex Features\"Mary-Ann<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Mary-Ann Mitchell, half-sister of victim Juanita Mott, in the new Netflix showCredit: Netflix\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

House of horror 25 Cromwell Street, where the couple\u2019s crimes took placeCredit: SWNS<\/p>\n

\u201cStaff would give her wooden \u00adknitting needles \u2014 then collect them from her later \u2014 and she would always have multicoloured wool collected from the canteen every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll day long she would knit. She never had any patterns and we never knew what she was knitting \u2014 it was just constant knitting. It was never anything in particular. She would stare into the distance while she did it, but you could tell that behind her glazed expression, a lot was going on.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was if her brain was busy. On what, I dread to think.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was \u00adconstantly monitored as there was a risk of self-harm. And at the time she was allowed to wear her own clothes \u2014 very dowdy \u00adcardigans, blouses and trousers.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wore the standard-issue \u00adplastic shoes we called jellies.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer days were routine. She ate all her meals in her cell and did a bit of cleaning on the landing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the afternoon she exercised by herself in a fenced-in yard and at 6pm we\u2019d get her out of her cell to the communal room for an hour so she could watch TV.\u201d <\/p>\n

At New Hall she has her own cell, with a shower, on a \u00adspecial unit called the Rivendell wing<\/a> \u2014 for women with complex personality issues \u2014 and goes to church services conducted by the rural jail\u2019s chaplain.<\/p>\n

A second prison source says: \u201cShe knits \u00adendlessly. She is quiet and doesn\u2019t cause any conflict.<\/p>\n

West will die in prison<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you saw her, you could never think that she is a killer.\u201d<\/p>\n

West was sent to New Hall in 2019. The source adds: \u201cShe looks her age now \u2014 she is a pensioner.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is overweight, struggles with stairs and her eyesight is failing.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe likes going to church but she has never shown any remorse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vanessa, who spent 16 years at HMP Holloway before moving to \u00adWormwood Scrubs<\/a>, eventually quit because she developed PTSD<\/a> from dealing with violent cons.<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cI have no doubt West will be lording it up there now.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a very dominant \u00adcharacter with other prisoners but never over-dominant \u2014 always \u00adstaying just below the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a big woman so her stature gave her that dominance in the first place, but her manipulation and coercion of others was quite plain to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

She is a very complex character. She has many facets and Rose West will do what Rose West wants when Rose West wants to do it<\/p>\n

Vanessa on West<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1997, Home Secretary Jack Straw<\/a> imposed a whole life tariff \u2014 only the second time it had been used on a woman, after serial killer Myra Hindley<\/a> in 1990. It means West will die in prison.<\/p>\n

Vanessa, who has written a book titled The Governor: My Life Inside \u00adBritain\u2019s Most Notorious Prisons, says of West: \u201cWhen she was \u00adsentenced in court, there was no emotion, and that\u2019s the typical trait of a psychopath.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is a very complex character. She has many facets and Rose West will do what Rose West wants when Rose West wants to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her service Vanessa also encountered Moors murderer Hindley<\/a>, who had a \u00adrelationship with West in Durham Prison, after she was asked to help in her transfer to a new jail.<\/p>\n

Hindley, along with Ian Brady<\/a>, sexually assaulted and murdered at least five children in and around \u00adManchester between 1963 and 1965.<\/p>\n

The former governor remembers that a \u201cmanipulative\u201d Hindley, who was \u201clegendary for getting staff wrapped around her finger\u201d, made her a cup of tea.<\/p>\n

Vanessa says: \u201cHindley was a narcissist of the purest kind.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe craved notoriety. She wanted to be feared and revered.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the sort of person who would get a kick out of seeing my shock when she gave me the tea.<\/p>\n

\u2018Revel in her notoriety\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cShe would have loved nothing more than to watch my eyes grow wide upon her return, and I wasn\u2019t going to give her the satisfaction of thinking she had that effect on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vanessa says she was not \u00adsurprised that Hindley and West had a relationship.<\/p>\n

\n

Gone are the days when we thought women were mad and not bad<\/p>\n

Vanessa<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She says: \u201cThe power struggle there must have been intense because they were both truly evil women. Serial killers like West and Hindley gravitate towards each other because that is what they have in common.\u201d<\/p>\n

She believes that West will love featuring in the new Netflix documentary \u2014 although it could bring her danger.<\/p>\n

Vanessa says: \u201cShe will revel in it because of the notoriety, and love the fact that Netflix has done this series on her and Fred. But there could be concerns around her safety. A newcomer might see an opportunity to make a name for themselves. There\u2019s always one. And some women just love to kill.<\/p>\n

\u201cGone are the days when we thought women were mad and not bad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are bad women just as there are bad men.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONSTER murderess Rose West barely flinched when she was told husband Fred had killed himself. But there was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[748,30,188,393,560,50178,4884,257,210,29265,451,12,1144,529,50179,712,820,213,118,1890,16,15,1764,7858,10138,7352,2302],"class_list":{"0":"post-110615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-exclusives","13":"tag-fred-west","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-london","16":"tag-mental-health-and-illness","17":"tag-murderers-and-serial-killers","18":"tag-netflix","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-northern-ireland","21":"tag-police","22":"tag-rose-west","23":"tag-scotland","24":"tag-section-newsuk-news","25":"tag-sun-club","26":"tag-the-sun-newspaper","27":"tag-the-sun-on-sunday","28":"tag-uk","29":"tag-united-kingdom","30":"tag-wales","31":"tag-west-midlands","32":"tag-west-sussex","33":"tag-west-yorkshire","34":"tag-yorkshire"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114526555086075388","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}