Compare And Contrast Rosemary Lett And Karla Homolka

What would you be willing to do for the person you love? The answer varies for everyone but for two women the answer was the same, they would be willing to kill. Although Frederick West,Rosemary Letts,Paul Bernardo, and Karla Homolka were all born and raised in different places and by different people they all have one thing in common, they choose to kill. In this paper i will analyze and compare how two different couples could both abduct and kill together. Frederick West was born in the town of Much Markle in Herefordshire England on September 29, 1941. He was the second child out of six. His parents were Walter Stephen West and Daisy Hannah Hill. Sexual abuse of many kinds were occurring in his home growing up. He claimed his father had sexual

relationships with his sisters and also taught him bestialiy. Fred's mother has been suspected of starting to sexually abuse him when he was twelve years old, although he never admitted to it happening. It has never been confirmed, like the stories about his father. At the age of 17 he was involved in a motorcycle accident that ended up putting him in a coma for a week. This led to him having to have a metal plate put into his head and breaking one of his legs so badly it was permanently shorter than the other. After the accident he began to develop a bad temper and often had violent bursts of anger. Two years after the accident Fred hurt his head again when he stuck his hand up a girl's skirt and she pushed him down from a fire escape. When he was 19 he was convicted of molesting a 13-year-old girl. He ended up not serving any time because his doctor said he suffered from epileptic fits. But this did cause him to be basically disowned by his family so he was sent to live with his sister. When Fred was 21 his family let him back into their lives so he then moved back to his hometown. After moving back home he met up with an old ex of his. Him and his ex girlfriend and future wife Catherine Costello then adopted a child, a few months later they had one of their own. Her name was Anne Marie she was born in july of 1964. During their marriage Fred worked as an ice-cream truck driver. Fred accidentally ran over a four year old boy with his truck. Even though it was an accident Fred moved his family as well as Isa McNeill, and Anna McFall to Gloucestershire. After a while their marriage finally broke apart. Catherine went back to Scotland by herself. She eventually came back but only to discover that Fred had started a relationship with her friend Anna.

In 1967 Anna got pregnant with Fred's child she eventually tried to get him to get a divorce. Because of that he then killed dismembered and buried her body. After the death of his mother Fred started committing a lot of crimes and changed jobs a lot. It was during a crime that he met his future wife and partner in crime Rosemary Letts. Rosemary Letts was born in Devon England in 1953. Her father Bill Letts was a schizophrenic who constantly disciplined her, her siblings and her mother. While Daisy her mother had been pregnant with Rose she had received electroconvulsive therapy as treatment for her severe depression. Growing up she was sexually abused by her father. Because she wasn't very smart and kinda fat she was often made fun of. When she was a teenager she became more sexually active. She eventually was caught in bed with one of her younger brothers, sexually fondling him. She often pursued relationships with older men. One of them took advantage of her and raped her. When Rose was 15 her mother finally had enough of her husband's abuse, took Rosemary and moved in with one of her adult daughters and her

husband. Rosemary started spending even more time with male companions. Later the same year Rose moved back in with her father. Not long afterwards she met her future husband Fred West. Rosemary's father didn't approve of her seeing Fred and even threatened him. While Fred did time in jail, Rose became pregnant with his child a girl named Heather, and took care of his children on her own. In the summer of 1971 Rose snapped and killed Fred’s adopted daughter from his first marriage. In 1972 Fred and Rose hired a nanny by the name of Caroline Owens. One night after they both tried to seduce her she tried to leave but was then held captive overnight. When Fred threatened to let some of his friends "have" her and that he would then kill her she gave in. The next day they let her go. She tried to press charges but Fred conceived the judge that the sex was consensual and they were only fined $50 dollars. Over the next six years, they killed at least eight young women who made their way to 25 Cromwell Street as guest or employees. From 1974 to 1979, five more women, Therese Siegenthaler, Shirley Hubbard, Juanita Marion Mott, Shirley Anne Robinson, and Alison Chambers. While committing murders Fred sexually abused his daughter from his relationship with Costello. When she left home he started abusing Heather West who was conceived by Rosemary and possibly her own father, and one of his own daughters Mae West. Fred disposed of the victims by burying them under the garage of the house or in the garden. To cover up the frequent burials he pretended to be doing regular home improvement. The couple came close to being exposed in 1986 when Heather told her friends about the abuse she suffered. In June of the next year, Fred and Rosemary strangled her to death to silence her. She was then dismembered and buried in the garden. The Wests were finally exposed in May 1992, when Fred videotaped himself raping one of his daughters. When she told her friends, one of them reported the Wests to the police.. When another girl raped by Fred came forward, the police obtained a search warrant. In August, they searched the house for evidence of child abuse. Fred was arrested for rape and sodomy of a minor and Rose was arrested as an accomplice. When human bones started popping up Fred confessed to having committed the murders alone in order to protect Rosemary. He would not admit to raping any of his victims he said they had wanted to have sex with him. On December 13, 1994, he was charged with a total 12 murders. On New Year's Day he hanged himself in his cell at Winson Green Prison. His body was cremated and his funeral unattended except for five of his children. Rose was found guilty of 10 murders and sentenced to life in prison. She will be never released. Though she maintains her innocence, she announced in 2001 that she will not try to appeal her conviction.
Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo met in 1987 when he was 23 and she was 17. They got married in 1991 six months after they raped and killed Karla’s sister Tammy. Just two weeks after abducting, raping and killing 14- year-old Leslie Mahaffy. The next year in April of 1992, 15-year-old Kristen French was the next to be assaulted by the hands of Paul Bernardo. When Paul first took an “interest” in her 15-year-old sister instead of trying to protect her and keep him away from her. Karla's plan was to get some Halothane a type of anesthetic used in animal surgery and sedatives from the vet clinic where she worked at. The plan was to knock her baby sister out and “give her” to Paul Bernardo as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve, 1990 that's exactly what she did. When Paul and Karla made their movie of her sister’s rape, suddenly Tammy “turned blue” and vomited. It was caused by a noxious combination of alcohol, food, sedatives, and Halothane which then caused the vomit to be acidic.. The acidity of the vomit coming in contact with skin is often cited as the most likely source of the burn. This lead to the death of Karla's sister Tammy. In the Canadian criminal justice system it is standard procedure to release inmates at their earliest possible parole date. Technically Paul and Karla were equally guilty of first-degree murder but her plea bargain arrangement was untouchable. Only Paul was facing the full weight of all the charges and the result that could be hoped for was a guilty verdict on second-degree murder instead of first. Homolka says she was present when Bernardo strangled the girls with an electrical cord; Bernardo’s story is, it was always his intention to let the girls go. With Leslie and with Kristen, Paul Bernardo states he left the house to get take-out food and to rent movies, and each time when he returned, the girls were dead. These two couples are very similar. Both of the women the relationships went along with what their husband wanted to do. Rosemary did as her husband said and helped him rape, torture, and kidnap women. Karla did the same thing she even went fare enough to give her sister up to please her husband. These two couples are also similar because both of the men started with the idea to kidnap and abuse girls.