MR John West "should have waited" for the jury verdict at Bristol Crown Court before following in the steps of his serial killer brother, Fred, and hanging himself to avoid justice, their brother, Doug, said last night.
"He should have waited to see what the verdict was. It should have been up to the 12 members of the jury," he said.
But few doubted that the former dustman had taken what his nephew called "the easy way out" on the eve of the verdict in his five day trial for rape at Bristol Crown Court.
Fred West's son, Stephen, said his uncle knew he would be closely watched in prison.
Mr John West (54) used a white nylon rope, tied to a beam in the garage of his terraced home in Gloucester, for his final act. Its simplicity contrasted with the painstaking handstitching with which his brother secretly turned strips of prison sheets into his own "hangman's knot in Winson Green prison, as he awaited trial for the murder of 12 women and girls.
His niece, Ms Anne Marie Davies, who had accused him of raping her around 300 times, wept at the latest death in a family hit by many. "I never wanted this to happen," she said. "I have lost my family, lost my mum and dad."
Of the shock felt by her uncle's family at his suicide, she said: "I can honestly say I know how they feel. I know what they are going through and I am sorry."
The two were speaking after the brief details of the hanging were given to an inquest in Gloucester, which was adjourned until January 31st - leaving it until next year before some elements of mystery in the case may be cleared up. The coroner, Mr David Gibbons, gave the cause of death as hanging.
Earlier in the day - the 43rd birthday of Rosemary West, jailed a year ago for 10 murders - Mr Stephen West said he believed his uncle took his life because he knew it would be difficult to do so in prison. "I believe he knew that the odds were stacked against him and there was no way he would get out of this one.
"It is just a way of taking your life and it is a quick way. They have escaped justice by taking their lives. My father was guilty and I certainly believe my uncle was," he said.
Meanwhile the rape proceedings against Mr John West were formally ended before the Bristol Crown Court jury yesterday.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Cresswell directed that the file be used unless and until there was a further court order. He formally discharged the jury from returning verdicts.