Son of Fred and Rose West found dead in hostel in Maidstone
06:30, 01 November 2020
updated: 06:32, 01 November 2020
The youngest son of serial killers Fred and Rose West has been found dead at a hostel in Kent.
Barry West, 40, died from a suspected drugs overdose, the Mail on Sunday reported.
He died at the hostel in Maidstone within the past few weeks, a family source said. An inquest will be held next year.
Fred and Rose abducted, raped and murdered young women before burying them at their home in Cromwell Street, Gloucester.
One victim was their daughter Heather. Barry was just seven when he saw his evil parents beat his sister to death.
In 2002 he gave a horrifying account of the night in 1987 when 16-year-old Heather came home late and was beaten to death by his parents.
"It was about 3am when I heard Heather coming in,' he said. 'I heard my dad shouting, 'Where have you been? We've been waiting for you.'
"I heard my mum slap her, then I looked through the crack and saw my dad walk round behind her and put his leg out. Then he grabbed her neck and tripped her over.
"She went on to the floor. I could see her just a few feet away. Then my mum just booted her.
"She was kicking and kicking her and calling her a slag. My dad still had her by the throat."
He told how he was forced to help his father describe Heather's grave in the garden after the killing, adding: "When Dad said do something you did it, you never stopped to ask him why."
He later branded his mother a "psychopath" and said: "I was happy when my dad committed suicide and now I think they should put my mum in a room with all the parents of the people she helped murder so they could tear her to pieces."
Fred committed suicide while awaiting trial in 1995.
His mother Rose was jailed for life for her part in ten murders.
Barry is believed to have suffered psychiatric problems and developed a drug dependency. He initially remained living in Gloucester before moving away to try to start a new life.
The family source said of Barry: "He never found peace, never escaped the ghosts of Cromwell Street."
