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The story of Fred and Rosemary West is very commonly known and has been publicised in both academic as well as less reliable, more hype-inciting books, magazines and websites, so to retell the whole story would be rather repetitive.
For a good detailed account (though a bit trashy, but it's true enough on the factual side if you neglect their reasoning) got to

http://www.crimelibrary.com/ serial_killers/weird/west/inde x_1.html

Here's the quick and rash summary:
Fred had a history of crime including sexual offences and (some sources are not too sure) murder before he met Rose, but when they did, they really were 'the perfect match'. Far from just following Fred's malicious orders, Rose has actually by now been proven to have been a major driving force behind the couples series of crimes.
They included torturing, sexually abusing and killing some of their own children, as well as several nannies and hitchhikers and then burying them in their garden, cellar and under a veranda especially built by Fred for this purpose when they ran out of space in the house.
The graphic sexual detail of the torture and offences I don't need to recall here, but both were driven by a very sadistic nature and Rose, especially, has been the subject of many studies as she defies completely the notion that 'a woman couldn't do that kind of thing'. Sexual abuse of a woman by another woman or a woman being aroused by seeing another woman tortured in the most nasty ways was what really shocked the public about this case, as well as the fact that Rose, not Fred was the dominant partner in all respects (and the sheer number of victims, as well as the cold-blooded planning of their kidnappings and torture sessions, including the setting up of a torture chamber in their house and having several girls at once imprisoned in their house, making them hear and watch each others plight).
Suffice it to say that Fred actually committed suicide in prison, while Rose remains imprisoned to this day.

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