Fred and Rose West seemed like any other couple. The disturbing truth was buried under the house.

For years, neighbours walked past the unassuming semi-detached house at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester without a second glance. Behind its ordinary facade, however, lay secrets so dark that they would eventually shake Britain to its core. Strange sounds sometimes echoed from within. Young women came and went. Children played in the garden where unspeakable horrors lay buried just beneath their feet.

It wasn't until 1994 that the police would finally uncover what had been hidden there — a house of methodical terror where at least 12 women and girls had met their deaths. The discoveries would reveal Fred and Rose West to be two of Britain's most sadistic serial killers, whose reign of brutality spanned over two decades.

Netflix's upcoming documentary, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, explores this infamous case, promising to provide fresh insights into one of Britain's most notorious criminal partnerships. The documentary will feature interviews with investigators, surviving family members, and experts in criminal psychology to examine not only the crimes themselves, but the societal factors that allowed them to remain undetected for so long.

Watch the trailer for Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story. Article continues after video.

Frederick West was born in 1941 in Herefordshire to a farming family. His early life was marked by head injuries and alleged familial sexual abuse that some experts believe contributed to his disturbed psychology.

Rosemary Pauline "Rose" Letts was born in 1953. She had a troubled childhood and met Fred in 1969 when she was just 15, and he was 27. Despite their age gap — and Fred already having two children from a previous relationship — they began a relationship and later married in 1972.

The couple lived at various addresses before settling at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester in 1972 — a property that would later become known as the "House of Horrors."

Between 1967 and 1987, the couple murdered several young women and girls, burying most of them under the house and garden. The victims were often vulnerable young women who they abducted, sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered.

Their victims included Fred's stepdaughter Charmaine, killed by Rose in 1971; Fred's first wife, Catherine "Rena" Costello, also murdered in 1971; their daughter Heather West, killed in 1987 and buried under the patio; Fred's pregnant lover Anna McFall, murdered in 1967; and young women Lynda Gough, Carol Ann Cooper, Lucy Partington, Therese Siegenthaler, Shirley Hubbard, Juanita Mott, Shirley Robinson, and Alison Chambers, all of whom met horrific ends at the hands of the couple.

The Wests' crimes came to light in 1992 when Fred was accused of sexually assaulting his 13-year-old daughter. During the investigation, police became suspicious about the disappearance of Heather West, who had not been seen since 1987.

In February 1994, police obtained a warrant to excavate the garden at 25 Cromwell Street, where they discovered human remains. As the investigation continued, more bodies were found beneath the house and garden.

Image: Netflix

Fred West was charged with 12 murders but died by suicide in his prison cell on January 1, 1995, before facing trial. Rose West was convicted of 10 murders in November 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that she never be released. Now in her 70s, she remains in prison.

The Wests' case continues to horrify decades later, not only because of the brutality of their crimes but because they presented themselves as an ordinary family while committing unthinkable acts.

The house at 25 Cromwell Street was demolished in 1996 to prevent it from becoming a macabre tourist attraction, with a pathway now in its place.

Feature Image: Netflix.