West's undergarments are set to be showcased at the True Crime Museum, situated along the Hastings seafront. The curator of the museum, Joel Griggs, reportedly invested £2,500 to acquire these items. The undergarments previously belonged to Rose West, who, alongside her husband Fred West, was convicted of torturing, raping, and murdering an unknown number of women between 1967 and 1987. The majority of these heinous acts occurred at their residence in Cromwell Street, Gloucester, with some victims' remains discovered in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, the home territory of Fred West.
In comments to the Mirror, Mr Griggs recounted that a prison worker originally received the undergarments after they were laundered and subsequently attempted to sell them to the museum for a "ridiculous amount of money", a proposal they initially declined. However, as the museum celebrated its tenth anniversary, Mr Griggs revisited the opportunity and negotiated the purchase of the garments, stating, "When our 10th anniversary came around, I thought it would be worth contacting the worker again and that resulted in us buying them for £2,500."
The undergarments were located at HMP Bronzefield, where Rose West served time until her release in 2008. Interestingly, the same prison currently houses Lucy Letby, a nurse convicted of murdering infants at a hospital in Chester. This connection to significant criminal cases has drawn attention to the museum's exhibits, which also include macabre artefacts such as the bath used by Bruce Childs for dismembering his victims and the skull of triple murderer Louis Lefevre. Further historical crime items associated with notorious figures like the Kray twins are also part of the museum's collection.
Mr Griggs commented on the nature of such exhibits, suggesting that while they may seem "banal at first", they often lead to a greater understanding of the dark connections involved in these cases.
This news coincides with the upcoming release of a new Netflix documentary titled "Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story." The series is expected to feature previously unseen police videos and audio, providing insight into how Gloucestershire police uncovered the Wests' crimes and the distress experienced by the families of the victims. Directed by Dan Dewsbury and executive produced by Dan Chambers, David Herman, and Fiona Stourton, the documentary aims to delve deeper into this tragic chapter of British criminal history.
Source: Noah Wire Services