MONSTER murderess Rose West barely flinched when she was told husband Fred had killed himself.
But there was a terrifying “glint” in her eye when she heard he had taken his own life while in prison awaiting trial in 1995.
PA:Press AssociationThe police mugshot of killer Rose West after she was convicted in 1995[/caption]
Times Newspapers LtdEx-prison governor Vanessa Frake-Harris[/caption]
Monster Rose at home with husband Fred, who took his own life in January 1995 while awaiting trial
Prison governor Vanessa Frake-Harris, who broke the news to the female serial killer, thinks Rose believed Fred’s death would mean she could pin their gruesome crimes entirely on him.
She said: “I 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, ‘Oh right’.
“She didn’t even flinch — nothing had altered in her expression. No tears, no nothing — just that glazed stare. The level of control and dissociation was staggering.
“I firmly believe she felt that with Fred dying, she would get off all of the charges.
“There was almost a glint in her eye as if to say, ‘OK, he’s dead — he can take the rap for it. I’m happy to plead to the lesser charges’.
“Fortunately for all the victims and survivors, she was convicted.”
Now three-part Netflix docuseries Fred And Rose West: A British Horror Story is re-examining their case.
The couple’s crimes are some of the most horrific in criminal history.
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, Gloucester, between 1973 and 1987.
Vanessa reveals that West was a manipulative and dominant prisoner at Holloway Prison in North London, ahead of her trial.
‘Narcissistic psychopath’
She was given ten life sentences at Winchester Crown Court in November 1995 for ten murders.
And The Sun on Sunday can reveal that, now aged 71, her routine has barely changed in 30 years.
Currently held at HMP New Hall, near Wakefield, West Yorks, she spends her days knitting, listening to The Archers on Radio 4, baking and feeding the birds.
In an exclusive interview, Vanessa says: “Rose 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.
“But you always felt there was an underlying sense that she was full of her own importance. And I had no doubt she was guilty.
“Like a typical narcissistic psychopath, she is devoid of any kind of emotion — very manipulative, lacking in empathy, no remorse.
“She could be very charming to those in her circle — for us, that meant the prison staff — and willing to do whatever it took to appear totally different to the person she actually is.”
Vanessa spent three months with the killer, who spent her days in large “Coke-bottle glasses” while dressed in dowdy cardigans.
The ex-jail boss says: “We used to call her ‘Auntie Rose’ because she was just like the old auntie you’d pop round to see for tea and cakes, and because she had the big glasses and knitted all the time.
“She had this real sing-song way about her, saying ‘Mor-ning’ in a chirpy kind of way. She was never any bother. She just wanted to knit.
“At the time we didn’t allow knitting needles in, but the governor made an exception because West was kept in the segregation unit.
“She was separated from the general population, not only for her safety but the safety of others.
From left: Therese Siegenthaler, 21; the couple’s daughters Charmaine, 8, and Heather West, 16; Shirley Anne Robinson, 18; schoolgirl Shirley Hubbard, 15Rex Features
From left: Lynda Gough, 19; Juanita Mott, 18; Lucy Partington, 21; Carole Ann Cooper, 15, and Alison Chambers, 16Rex Features
NetflixMary-Ann Mitchell, half-sister of victim Juanita Mott, in the new Netflix show[/caption]
SWNSHouse of horror 25 Cromwell Street, where the couple’s crimes took place[/caption]
“Staff would give her wooden knitting needles — then collect them from her later — and she would always have multicoloured wool collected from the canteen every day.
“All day long she would knit. She never had any patterns and we never knew what she was knitting — 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.
“It was if her brain was busy. On what, I dread to think.
“She was constantly monitored as there was a risk of self-harm. And at the time she was allowed to wear her own clothes — very dowdy cardigans, blouses and trousers.
“She wore the standard-issue plastic shoes we called jellies.
“Her days were routine. She ate all her meals in her cell and did a bit of cleaning on the landing.
“In the afternoon she exercised by herself in a fenced-in yard and at 6pm we’d get her out of her cell to the communal room for an hour so she could watch TV.”
At New Hall she has her own cell, with a shower, on a special unit called the Rivendell wing — for women with complex personality issues — and goes to church services conducted by the rural jail’s chaplain.
A second prison source says: “She knits endlessly. She is quiet and doesn’t cause any conflict.
West will die in prison
“If you saw her, you could never think that she is a killer.”
West was sent to New Hall in 2019. The source adds: “She looks her age now — she is a pensioner.
“She is overweight, struggles with stairs and her eyesight is failing.
“She likes going to church but she has never shown any remorse.”
Vanessa, who spent 16 years at HMP Holloway before moving to Wormwood Scrubs, eventually quit because she developed PTSD from dealing with violent cons.
She says: “I have no doubt West will be lording it up there now.
“She was a very dominant character with other prisoners but never over-dominant — always staying just below the line.
“She 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.”
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
Vanessa on West
In 1997, Home Secretary Jack Straw imposed a whole life tariff — only the second time it had been used on a woman, after serial killer Myra Hindley in 1990. It means West will die in prison.
Vanessa, who has written a book titled The Governor: My Life Inside Britain’s Most Notorious Prisons, says of West: “When she was sentenced in court, there was no emotion, and that’s the typical trait of a psychopath.
“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.”
During her service Vanessa also encountered Moors murderer Hindley, who had a relationship with West in Durham Prison, after she was asked to help in her transfer to a new jail.
Hindley, along with Ian Brady, sexually assaulted and murdered at least five children in and around Manchester between 1963 and 1965.
The former governor remembers that a “manipulative” Hindley, who was “legendary for getting staff wrapped around her finger”, made her a cup of tea.
Vanessa says: “Hindley was a narcissist of the purest kind.
“She craved notoriety. She wanted to be feared and revered.
“She was the sort of person who would get a kick out of seeing my shock when she gave me the tea.
‘Revel in her notoriety’
“She would have loved nothing more than to watch my eyes grow wide upon her return, and I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of thinking she had that effect on me.”
Vanessa says she was not surprised that Hindley and West had a relationship.
Gone are the days when we thought women were mad and not bad
Vanessa
She says: “The 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.”
She believes that West will love featuring in the new Netflix documentary — although it could bring her danger.
Vanessa says: “She 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’s always one. And some women just love to kill.
“Gone are the days when we thought women were mad and not bad.
“There are bad women just as there are bad men.”
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