1 Rosemary West must stand trial for the murder of 10 people, including her daughter and stepdaughter, a judge ruled Tuesday.
2 The apparent suicide of her husband, suspected serial killer Frederick West, found hanged in his cell on New Year's Day, had raised doubts about whether his widow will be tried.
3 But Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate Peter Badge said at the end of a weeklong committal hearing that he found sufficient evidence against Mrs. West to make her stand trial at Bristol Crown Court in the autumn.
4 A committal hearing is a routine step in the British judicial process, confirming that the accused has a case to answer. Mrs. West's attorneys had argued that with the death of her husband, the case should be dropped.
5 They also contended that the huge amount of publicity surrounding the case would make it difficult to find an impartial jury.
6 Mrs. West, 41, is charged with murdering 10 of the 12 young women and girls allegedly slain by her late husband, including her 16-year-old daughter Heather, and 8-year-old stepdaughter Charmaine, between 1970 and 1987.
7 Most of the victims' bodies were found buried around the couple's house in Gloucester in western England.
8 Prosecutors dropped charges against Mrs. West of allegedly raping and indecently assaulting two young women.
9 Mrs. West is being held at Pucklechurch Prison in Bristol, western England.
10 'Mrs. West maintains her innocence and strenuously denies all the charges against her,' said defense attorney Leo Goatley.
11 The cases of Mrs. West and her late husband, a 53-year-old builder, rank among the worst serial murders in British history.
12 Newspapers ranked West with the 'Yorkshire Ripper,' truck driver Peter Sutcliffe, jailed for life in 1981 for murdering 13 women, mostly prostitutes, over five years.
13 Mrs. West's trial would be the biggest serial murder case in Britain since Dennis Nilsen, a civil servant, was jailed for life in 1983 for killing 16 young men.
14 Britain abolished capital punishment in 1967.

A committal hearing is a routine step in the British judicial process , confirming that the accused has a case to answer . Mrs . West ' s attorneys had argued that with the death of her husband , the case should be dropped .
the case should be dropped
How does the death of her husband lead to her not being able to stand?