THE serial killer Fred West wrote poignant love letters to his wife before be hanged himself, and said he wanted to be buried with members of his family he had murdered, an inquest heard yesterday.
"As in life, as in death, our love will not die. Rose and II will live forever in heaven. I will wait for you darling so please come to me," West wrote in one of several letters found in his prison cell.
They were read out on the second day of the inquest into West's death being held in Birmingham. The jury of six women and three men decided by an 8-1 margin that he committed suicide.
West (53) died on New Year's Day 1995 while awaiting trial for killing 12 women and girls, including his first wife Rena, his daughter Heather and step daughter Charmaine.
Rosemary West was sentenced to life imprisonment last November for her part in 10 of the murders, most of which followed vicious sexual assaults.
The Wests' eldest son Stephen told the inquest on Thursday that his father had planned suicide, believing Rosemary would be freed if he was dead.
His evidence contradicted statements he made earlier to the police and a senior policeman yesterday denied Stephen's assertion that he had cautioned his father was planning to kill himself.
The court was left in no doubt of West's devotion to Rosemary, 12 years his junior.
"The most wonderful thing in my life was when 1 met you ... All I have is my life and 1 will give it for you my darling. When you are ready come to me, I will be waiting for you," he wrote in a letter that was never posted.
Rosemary had snubbed him when they met at a court hearing a few months earlier.
In another letter, West said he wanted to be buried beside members of his family, including Rena, Charmaine and Heather.
Prison officers and staff told the inquest they had been given no indication that West was suicidal. They said he had seemed cheerful and positive about his future.
The builder, from Gloucester in western England, was found hanging from a rope neatly sewn from a piece of prison blanket and attached to a ventilation grille.