User:JCarter823/sandbox/articledraft

Article Draft

Conviction
After police found countless amounts of human remains and apparent signs of child torture in their home, Rosemary West, along with her husband, Fred West, were arrested. The couple was arrested in February of 1994. During her trial, West denied murdering any of the victims. West proceeded to tell the jury how her husband committed these crimes himself, and she had nothing to do with it. She further claimed to have tried to stop one of the sexual assaults her husband committed.

Rosemary West continued to profess ignorance of her husband's murderous activities but the circumstantial evidence that mounted against them during the spring of 1994 was considered sufficient to prosecute her for ten murders: those of the young women whose bodies were found at 25 Cromwell Street, and of Charmaine West. Fred West was charged with two further murders committed during the 1960s before his association with Rosemary.

While on remand at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, Fred West committed suicide by hanging on January 1, 1995, leaving behind a suicide note for his wife and son. Rosemary West went on trial at Winchester Crown Court in October that year.

The jury's verdict was unanimous. On November 22,1995, West was found guilty of 10 murders. The judge, Mr Justice Mantell, sentenced her to life imprisonment, stating, "If attention is paid to what I think, you will never be released."

The Lord Chief Justice later decided that she should spend at least 25 years in prison, but in July 1997, Home Secretary Jack Straw subjected West to a whole life tariff. This was the second instance of a whole life tariff imposed on a woman in Britain in modern times. The first was serial killer Myra Hindley, convicted in 1966 and issued with a whole life tariff in 1990 before dying in 2002.

Early Life and Marriage to Fred West
In 1969, Rosemary, 15 at the time, met Fred, 27. Rosemary met Fred while waiting at a Cheltenham bus stop. Initially, Rose was not interested in Fred. However, Fred promised her a few nights out and she agreed. Rosemary began dating the now 28-year-old Fred West, who was at the time living at the Lake House Hotel Caravan Park in Bishops Cleeve. Her father disapproved of the relationship, threatening to call social services and threatening West directly. Rosemary then moved out of her father's household and into Fred's home where she proceeded to care for West's daughter Anne Marie (by his previous marriage to Rena Costello) and his stepdaughter, Charmaine (daughter of Rena Costello and a Pakistani bus driver). West and Rosemary moved in together at the Lake House Hotel Caravan Park; Charmaine briefly attended Bishops Cleeve County Primary School on Tobyfield Road. However, by 1970, Rosemary became pregnant by West and they moved to a flat in Midland Road, Gloucester. In 1970, Rosemary became pregnant with their daughter, Heather. Heather was born October 17,1970.

Victims
The majority of the crimes for which Rosemary West was convicted occurred between April of 1973 through August of 1979. Her first murder is believed to be Charmaine West, the daughter of Fred's previous wife Rena, sometime on or after June 15, 1971, and stored her body in the cellar at their previous home at 25 Midland Road, Gloucester, while Fred West was near the end of a six-and-a-half month prison sentence for the theft of car tires and a vehicle tax disc. Rosemary became overwhelmed with the responsibly of taking care of 2 kids and a newborn that she couldn't handle anymore of Charmaine's bad behavior. It is said that after Charmaine's death, her neighborhood friend appeared at the Cromwell door asking for her friend to play with her. Rose responded by stating that Charmaine moved away with her birth mother, "and bloody good riddance!" (Shortly after Fred's release on June 24, he buried the body.) This event then leads to the murder of Rena Costello, Charmaine's birth mother. It is said that when she tried to come and get her daughter, Fred West, who was now out of prison, murdered Costello.

One day, while Rosemary was absent from the household, Fred was said to have raped his daughter, Mae, and when Mae confided in her mother, Rosemary replied with, "You were probably asking for it." Another murder that Rosemary committed was that of Shirley Robinson. Fred confided to his appropriate adult, Janet Leach, that Rose murdered Robinson without his assistance. He also claimed Rose assisted in her dismemberment and personally removed Robinson's fetus from the womb in the process.

Another body found at 25 Cromwell Street was that of their daughter, Heather, who was murdered in June of 1987 at the age of 16, after being abused by her parents all her life. Her dismembered body was placed under their families patio. It is said that Heather began to tell her friends about the abuse occurring in her home. Barry, her younger brother, would later describe watching his mother kick Heather repeatedly in the head until she was no longer moving. The Wests told friends and concerned parties that Heather had left home to work at a Devonshire holiday village and on one occasion, fabricated a phone call, supposedly from Heather, to allay her siblings' suspicions regarding their sister's disappearance. Fred and Rosemary continuously changed their stories about Heather's whereabouts. Fred would even taunt his children when they misbehaved by jokingly stating, "If you don't behave, you'll end up under the patio like Heather." This was the last known murder that the pair committed.

In August 1992, Fred West was arrested after being accused of raping his 13-year-old daughter three times, and Rosemary West was arrested for child cruelty. This case against them collapsed in June 1993 when their daughter refused to testify in court. All of the Wests' younger children were removed from their custody to foster homes. This case brought to light the disappearance of Heather West, who had not been seen since 1987, and triggered the major investigation that followed.

Post Conviction
Almost immediately after being found guilty, Rosemary West lodged an appeal against her 10 murder convictions with the High Court, claiming that her husband (who had confessed to police during questioning that he had murdered up to 30 people) had committed the murders single-handedly. West also claims that she had even tried to prevent one of the sexual assaults her husband committed and she too felt like a victim. On March 18, 1996, however, the Court of Appeal refused to consider her application for an appeal to be heard.

In the autumn of 2001, Rosemary West announced her intention not to appeal against her convictions, while maintaining her innocence. The house at Cromwell Street (along with the adjoining property) was demolished in 1996. The site is now occupied by a public walkway.

Peer Review Response from Sam Benson
I think you have a very strong draft here and don’t have much you need to fix. I would suggest “hipper linking” names and places to other Wikipedia articles, within your article. The bottom to do so is next to the button labeled “Cite”. Doing this will help you and your reader use Wikipedia to its full ability. Most of the things I saw were overused words and little grammar misstates. I have separated my corrections by your sections:

Conviction-

Ø  Paragraph One- Watch overused words... Instead of “obvious” again try “apparent”

Ø  Paragraph Two- Little grammar mistakes-  “activities, but” just need to add the comma.

Ø  Paragraph Three- Punctuation- “Mr.” Just need to add the period.

Ø  Paragraph Four- Overused words… Instead of “a whole” again try “an entire” maybe.

Early Life-

Ø  Paragraph One- Look back at this paragraph and watch for small grammar mistakes. Mostly commons.

Victims-

Ø  Paragraph One- No change is needed from what I can see.

Post-Conviction-

Ø  Paragraph One- I think that this paragraph is fine. However, in most cases, if a number is under 100, then you are usually asked to spell the number out. i.e.- “10” to become “ten”. Again, there is a strong chance that no change is needed.