Frederick was born in Much Marcle, Herefordshire into a poor family of farm workers. He left school aged fifteen, academically completely undistinguished, and began work as a casual labourer. A spate of petty crime and a conviction for child-molesting (he got a thirteen year old pregnant) led to him moving away from his rural home until 1962.
He married Rena Costello, a prostitute, in November 1963 and they moved to Glasgow. She gave birth to a girl, Charmaine, in March 1963 and another girl, Anna Marie, in 1964. During this period Fred was working as a casual labourer and an ice-cream man. In late 1964 they moved to Gloucester and Fred took a job in an abbatoir. Their marriage under strain, Fred and Rena separated and when she returned in 1966 he was living with another woman, Anna McFall. Fred killed the pregnant McFall around July 1967 and buried her near Much Marcle. Rena returned to live with him and their children for a short time before she left again.
In late 1968 Fred met Rosemary Letts (b. 1953). He made her pregnant, a fact she concealed from her parents until Fred was on a short prison sentence for unpaid fines. She left her family home and moved into that of Fred on Midland Road. She gave birth to Heather in 1970, she was uncaring for the other children. Charmaine died in mid-1971 while Fred was still in prison probably from the actions of Rose. Fred returned and the body was dismembered and concealed beneath the floor of the home. Rena returned to Gloucester in August 1971 seeking her children. Fred killed her and disposed of the body near his childhood home. Rose and Fred married in January 1972, but despite this Fred regularly encouraged her to prostitute herself. Rose gave birth to Mae in June of 1972 and the family moved to a new home at 25 Cromwell Street, a unprepossessing three-storey structure with a cellar.
Fred adapted the cellar as a place for Rose to work from and also extended and soundproofed it. It was there that Fred raped 17-year old Caroline Owens, who they had taken in as a nanny, in late 1972. Fred was arrested and went to trial in January 1973, but he escaped with only a fine. Fred then began to follow a pattern: Young females would come to their home as lodgers or to care for the children and would be abused and then killed. The first victim of this approach was Lynda Gough, killed shortly after Fred's trial, the second was 15-year old Carol Ann Cooper, abducted and killed around November 1973, and the third was Lucy Partington, killed in January 1974. The bodies were dismembered and disposed of beneath the floor of the cellar as Fred extended and renovated the building.
Lucy Partington, Carol Cooper, Julia Mott and Shirley Hubbard were killed from 1973 to 1975. They were all buried beneath the cellar floor. There was hiatus before Shirley Robinson, a pregnant ex-prostitute, was killed in July 1977 and buried in the garden. Also in 1977 Alison Chambers and Therese Siegenthaler were abducted, abused and finally tortured and killed by the Wests.
Rose was often pregnant, giving birth to Tara (December 1977), Louise (November 1978) and Barry (June 1980), Rosemary Junior (April 1982) and Lucyanna (July 1983). Tara, Rosemary and Lucyanna were not children of Fred.
From the deaths of Chambers and Siegenthaler, if the Wests continued their behaviour they did not conceal the bodies in their home. The next woman to be buried at Cromwell Road was Fred's daughter Heather. She was killed and buried in the garden some time in 1987.
Following the report of the rape of a minor, the police obtained a search warrant. After examining the house they arrested Fred for rape and sodomy of a minor and Rose as an accomplice. Police interviews of the Wests' children rapidly revealed the abuse sustained and pointed up the mysterious disappearences of Charmaine, Heather and also Rena. The six surviving children still at home were taken into care.
The rape case again Fred collapsed when the two main witnesses declined to testify. However the police were able to obtain a further search warrant in February 1994, allowing them to excavate the garden in search of Heather. The police began searching the house and excavating the garden on February 24, 1994. On the 25th, after the police had uncovered human bones, Fred confessed, retracted and then re-confessed to the murder of his daughter, denying that Rose was involved. Rose was not arrested until April 1994, initially only on sex offences. The extended search and the grisly finds prompted much media interest.
On December 13 he was charged with twelve murders and on January 1, 1995 he committed suicide in his cell at Birmingham's Winson Green Prison. The evidence against Rose was largely circumstantial and she did not confess. She was tried from October 1995, found guilty of ten murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. In October 1996 the Wests' home was demolished and the site became a simple path.
Like many serial killers, Fred's behaviour has been linked to a youthful head injury. He had a motorcycle accident in 1958 which left him briefly in a coma with a broken leg and skull damage which required a fixative metal plate.