New podcast series unearths chilling tapes on Britain's most notorious serial killers
This article is at least a year old
When the dismembered remains of teenager Heather West were found under a garden patio in the English city of Gloucester, it triggered the discovery of one of the grisliest murder scenes of the twentieth century.
What came to be known as ‘The House of Horrors’, the otherwise unremarkable semi at 25 Cromwell Street belonged to a middle aged couple, a local handyman and a stay-at-home mother, Fred and Rose West. Twenty-five years later, theirs remains one of the most unusual and disturbing partnerships in British criminal history.
In 1994, Howard Sounes was working as a national newspaper reporter when he received a tip-off call. That call pulled him into a case far larger than he could have ever imagined, becoming the first to break major stories about Fred and Rose West.
As the murder investigation unravelled, it was discovered that the Wests had killed at least twelve women and girls, burying the remains of nine victims under the family home where they continued to stay undetected for two decades.
Working on the story, Howard recorded his investigations, interviews and reflections on analogue cassette tape. Now, in this 12 part podcast series, he takes us step-by-step through these never-heard-before recordings, painstakingly restored and digitally enhanced for the first time.
The recordings include interviews with close family members of Fred and Rose West, friends and lodgers at 25 Cromwell Street, those who knew their victims, and those who only just managed to escape.
Howard’s tapes also give unprecedented insight into how a writer investigated and wrote the definitive account of one of the biggest crime stories of the twentieth century, the cold calls, the door-knocks, the breakthroughs and setbacks, and the moral dilemmas of getting an exclusive.
From Somethin’ Else, the UK’s leading podcast provider, Unheard: The Fred and Rose Tapes is a story of one family’s secrets, the victims whose stories are too often overlooked, and our own fascination with the darkest depths of humanity.
This is a press release which we link to from Podnews, our daily newsletter about podcasting and on-demand. We may make small edits for editorial reasons.