Fred and Rose by Howard Sounes

This was the bland semi-detached home of Fred and Rose West, and the guardian of their incredible secret: the remains of nine young women - many of them dismembered, decapitated and showing evidence of sexual torture - were buried under its cellar, bathroom floor and garden. The remains of Fred's eight-year-old stepdaughter were under the extention of a nearby house; his first wife and nanny were buried in windswept fields some miles away. There are undoubtedly many other victims whose fates may never be known. Yet Fred and Rose West, who committed at least nine of these murders together, continued to preserve the facade of normal married life. Friends and neighbours considered them a loving if somewhat eccentric couple, and their crimes went undetected for over twenty years.FRED & ROSE documents the lives and crimes of the most notorious murderers in Britain's recent criminal history, and offers completely new insights into these strange and tragic events.

Just in case this true crime story is not as widely known as I might think,this couple Fred and Rose sexually tortured and murdered many girls and then buried the bodies in the basement of the homes they lived in.Among the victims were their own children.

I still get the shivers when I just look at this book.Luckily it is only on my desk now so I can do this post but otherwise it is in a cupboard well hidden away.This book was one of the first true crime books I ever read so I have no idea if the shivers are due to having read it then before I was a seasoned true crime reader or if it was because it really was a horrific story.To be honest I think I must err on the side of the horrific story.The details included in this book are truly terrible.I could not get my mind around the fact that customers/clients were entering the house at all times of the day,a house that at any one time included at least 3 children.Customers who were coming to visit Rose who was prostituting herself for extra money or kicks,this fact is not really made clear in the book.

The details of the abuse of the young girls in the house was also very disturbing.The methods used,the activities entered into by this sick couple and the decision to include the children as well made me want to puke.I would recommend this book only to readers who are absolutely sure that they could handle all the gory details.

This book also highlighted for me (same as Secrets In The Cellar by John Glatt)how some neighbors are so involved in their own lives that they are totally oblivious to what is going on around them never mind right next door.Surely all these men visiting at all hours of the day and night must have raised some doubts? Then after the fact,the number of boarders (Fred and Rose also took in boarders)who then testified as to the strange noises they heard at night,is further proof that most people just do not want to get involved in the troubles of others.

Even more appalling is that after all of this,Fred then manages to commit suicide and never have to face the families of the victims.Surely he should have been watched day and night after being put in prison awaiting trial.

This book has lots and lots of photographs.Really personal photographs of Fred and Rose when they were still young.Photographs of the children and victims when they were alive and well.Photos of the house 25 Cromwell Street.There is also a 3D diagram of the house with all the different floors and a very confusing and unbelievable family tree which includes various boyfriends who were the fathers of some of Rose's children,then the children Fred had with other women,the children that this couple had together,and still the foster children they had.Really you would think there would be authorities checking up that these children were safe,but apparently not.

This writer,Howard Sounes,is able in this book to take many confusing details and present them in a way which is easy to read and folow.It is the details themselves which are very disturbing and not for the faint hearted.Venture at your own peril!



Here are some more book details:
Fred & Rose: The Full Story of Fred and Rose West and the Gloucester House of Horrors
Country: United Kingdom
Format: Softcover
Publisher: SPHERE
ISBN: 9780751513226
Publication date: December 1995
Edition: Paperback original
Pages: 362
Illustrations: Illustrated

Butcher by Gary C. King

They called him Uncle Willie. At night, Robert 'Willie' Pickton visited the streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The women he picked up never came back... His Methods were rape and torture.For years, police built a long list of missing prostitutes, women at the edge of society. Some people claimed there was a serial killer. One detective lost his job for saying so. But investigators didn't have a single body.On land that had made his family millions, on a squalid pig farm near a school, a condo development and a Starbucks, Robert Pickton ran a house of horrors for decades. Friends, neighbours and community leaders came and went, while Pickton committed debauchery, torture, and bloodletting rivalling the worst on record. What he did to his victims was unspeakable. What he did to the bodies was unimaginable. How he got away with it is the most shocking crime of all...

I read this book at the best time for me.After reading the book on Andrea Yates and the drowning of her 5 children my nerves were done and I decided to take a hiatus from true crime books for a while.The reason this book Butcher was the best book to read after my hiatus is because it included no childhood details which would have induced another emotional reaction from me.This serial killer tortured and murdered 49 women so needless to say background details on the victims would have resulted in an extremely large book and an emotionally wrecked reader.

I enjoyed this book which contained the results of a massive and endless amount of research.I enjoyed the way this information rolled and was easy to keep track of.This is the perfect true crime book for the reader who is not interested in the emotional element of true crime stories but is instead concerned with real research,the evolvement of a crime case from the realisation that a crime is being committed,in this case that there was indeed a serial killer on the loose,the investigation,how the case broke open,the court case.It contains a lot of very interesting and pertinent information.In fact if you enjoyed the way Helter Skelter is written then you will enjoy this book.The style of writing is very similar and the story evolves in much the same way.

I loved this piece "Despite all of the fear and paranoia generated and fueled mostly through conspiracy theorists,Y2K passed with nary a significant event anywhere in the world.Many people stocked up on supplies and rations for what they believed was going to be an "end of the times" event, only to find out later that they should have saved their money for the hard times that would hit much later in the first decade of the new century" Boy,don't we know it now...

This serial killer case turned out to be the largest,most expensive serial murder investigation in Canadian history and by 2004,costs were estimated to exceed $70 million.Willie Pickton had indicated to an undercover cop in his cell that he was disappointed that he had not made his target of 50 kills by one short.That might lead anyone to conclude that by catching this man only then and spending so much money to investigate this case and convict him that they had actually saved one life only.For the reader who might have missed the next part in the conversation he does include that maybe after his initial goal of 50 he might have started another killing spree with a goal of 25 kills.This man is a monster.

I was flabbergasted by his sentence of second degree murder.The authorities must really start to look into the way they choose juries.A second degree murder charge indicates no premeditation.How do you by mistake kill 49 people?The sheer number of victims indicates premeditation surely.I must add though that he was only charged with much less murders than the 49 (there was a lack of evidence as many of his victims had been fed to the pigs on the farm he lived on)he did kill but still how do you even murder 2 people on different occasions with no premeditation,never mind 6??

Another mind boggling fact is that this Willie Pickton at the time of his arrest had personal assets to the value of $10 million.He was unkempt,dirty and disgusting.No one in their right mind could ever have guessed this man to be worth anything,never mind actually be quite wealthy.

I could not find this book on Amazon so I cannot provide the link but here are some more book details to help in your search of this book if you are interested in reading it.
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
ISBN: 9780786019342
Publication date: April 2009
Length: 174mm
Width: 106mm
Thickness: 25mm
Weight: 168g
Edition: illustrated edition
Pages: 320

The book is fortunately available on Kalahari so in this case South Africans can still order it.See link below

Through The Window by Diane Fanning:a true crime book review

The true story of Tommy Lynn Sells, considered one of the worst serial killers in history, and one of his victims--a ten-year-old girl--who survived her vicious attack and led authorities to the arrest of the 35-year-old drifter. photos. Original.
Ten-year-old Krystal Surles watched in horror as her best friend was murdered at the hands of an intruder. Then with cold-blooded precision, he brought a twelve-inch boning knife to Krystal's throat. With a single, violent slash, he severed her windpipe and left her for dead. Miraculously, she survived and would lead authorities to the arrest of 35-year-old Tommy Lynn Sells.

Prepare yourself for a totally surreal experience.I have no idea of the title of the book "Through The Window" is because the killer entered though a window in order to kill the little girl's friend and then try and kill her(she is the one who finally identified him and ended his reign of terror) or because the entire time you are reading this book you get the feeling that you are watching the events unfold through a window.

I consider myself to be quite versed on the happenings of the crime world but I could not believe that I have NEVER heard of this serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells.We have all heard of Jeffrey Dahmer and of course Ted Bundy.Jeffrey Damher and Ted Bundy had a specific modus operandi and "reason behind their madness".Tommy Lynn Sells in my opinion is the ultimate serial killer.He just killed for no rhyme or reason.Completely without emotion even to the final confession.He lived as he saw fit by his own rules with no regard to the consequences and completely and utterly remorseless.This man cannot even be described as an animal as animals have instincts.He has none of the qualities that would classify him as a human or a live breathing being of this earth.

Never mind that I felt I was watching through a window the worst thing is I felt he was watching the events unfold as well standing next to me at the window while his physical body committed the murderous acts.This book is not for the faint hearted.I just want to mention one killing spree so you can make up your mind if you can handle this book.He comes upon a small family.He kills the father.Then the little boy.As he is trying to kill the mother she goes into labour.He stops and watches the child being born.Then he kills the baby and then the mother.All for no other reason other than he could.

This books details all his criminal acts which he confessed to but the idea is there were so many that even he has forgotten about some.Diane Fanning wrote this book so brilliantly that any reader will be sucked into the events and as the book progresses you enter a self preservation mode where your mind numbs to the murderous acts and you are absolutely a zombie at the end of this book.It is a brilliant brilliantly written book for the out of body experience that it offers.I highly recommend this book.




I read this book in February 2009.It has 244 pages and 8 pages of pictures.