Understanding Fred and Rose West by Leo Samuel Goatley Book Review

It’s no surprise that the book “Understanding Fred & Rose West by Leo Goatley” has caused quite a stir. After all, it is about one of the most infamous serial killer couples in history. When I first heard about this book, I was excited to learn more about the motivations and inner workings of the Wests, especially as Leo Goatley was their solicitor. But after reading it, I have to say that my expectations were not met. Let’s take a look at why this book fell short of its promise of understanding.

Click me to go to my Review

Synopsis

Fred and Rose West, between them were charged with the serial murder of twelve young women and girls, spanning a period of over twenty years. While they were known to the police, incredibly the monsters that lurked within remained undetected, concealed in a cocoon of mundane domesticity, surrounded by children and the frenetic humdrum of Gloucester working-class life.

Yet their crimes had a depth of depravity and horror quite beyond belief, where this psychopathic folie à deux acted out uncontrollable sexual perversions on innocent young women before their lives were taken and their bodies destroyed. Fred committed suicide awaiting trial. Rose West was convicted in 1995 of ten murders after a lengthy trial at Winchester Crown Court.

So, who were Fred and Rose West, and how did they become the monsters they were? What in their respective nurturing and personalities made them do what they did?

These are the questions the law does not ask. Rose West’s solicitor for twelve years, Leo Samuel Goatley, uses an eclectic mix of experience and knowledge to offer some philosophical leads to consider and apply in a subjective and innovative psychoanalysis to the aberrant lives of Fred and Rose West.

About The Author

Leo Samuel Goatley lives in Gloucester. He has practised as a solicitor for over thirty-five years and during that time covered the full panoply of criminal legal aid work. From 1992 to 2004 Goatley acted for Rose West, firstly in proceedings relating to child abuse allegations and then from 1994 onwards in the ‘House of Horrors’ trial and subsequent appeal relating to the serial killing of young women and girls by Fred and Rose West. Prior to qualifying he attended the College of Law in Chester.

My Review

For those who don’t know, Fred and Rose West are infamous for the murders of 12 young women in their ‘House of Horrors’ in Gloucester. In 1995 Fred hung himself in prison and Rose was convicted for 10 of the murders and is currently serving a whole life sentence for those murders. Leo Samuel Goatley was their solicitor, initially in 1992 for the arrest of Fred West for the rape of one of his daughters, he was never charged after none of his children would give evidence. This led to an investigation which uncovered much more serious cases of sadism, rape, torture and murder of 12 women, though Fred admitted there are many more victims.

I had high hopes for this book, being that it was written by their solicitor. After the rape accusations, Leo Goatley remainded as Rose West’s solicitor for her trial, conviction and another 12 years through the appeals process etc. unfortunately in “Understanding Fred & Rose West by Leo Samuel Goatley” there are no new disclosures of information despite many years in contact with Rose. There is the bare minimum of information on the crimes. This means a reader who already knows this information from elsewhere doesn’t gain any additional insight into their lives and makes you wonder at the authors intentions at writing the book in the first place.

Another significant problem with this book is its tone, which is unnecessarily grotesque in places, making it uncomfortable and unenjoyable to read at times. While it certainly adds to the atmosphere of dread and horror that surrounds the Wests, it does so at the expense of providing any real insights into their lives or motivations for committing their crimes.

While there are some interesting ideas in here that aren’t necessarily shared elsewhere (such as theories on what drove Fred and Rose to commit their atrocities), they are not based on fact and thus can only be taken as speculation at best. In addition, some of the theories and speculation of what could have happened detract from the ‘understanding’ and instead provide confusion as they are not based on fact, only conjecture. This detracts from what could have been an enlightening exploration into one of history’s darkest chapters.

Some of the speculation is written almost like fantasy, like someone has got carried away with their thoughts on what might have happened. None of this helps or goes towards explaining why Fred and Rose acted as they did, what drove them to begin their killing spree or why it suddeny ended. If indeed it really ever did. In addition, as someone with all of the information I had expected there to be an analyses for the gaps in their killing spree. We know that serial killers are addictive killers, they cannot stop themselves from offending, even if they wanted to, so why are there such big gaps? Some of these could be potentially explained by Fred’s incarceration for petty theft or other criminality but there isn’t a timeline to support this, indeed it’s not discussed at all.

In conclusion, “Understanding Fred & Rose West by Leo Goatley” falls far short of its ambitious goal of providing an understanding into why these two committed such heinous acts. With its numerous omissions, overly grotesque tone, and lack of verifiable evidence backing up some theories presented within its pages, this book fails to provide readers with anything beyond a sensationalized account of what happened – leaving us with more questions than answers when we finish reading it. If you’re looking for a true insight into why Frederick and Rosemary West became monsters instead human beings – then unfortunately this isn’t it!

Rated