In the next few minutes I am going to introduce you to a very lonely man. A man who could not come to grip with his sexuality, instead using his loneliness and fascination to brutally kill 15 young men. This man is Dennis Andrew Nilsen.
Dennis Nilsen was born November 23, 1945 in Scotland. His father who was Norwegian was absent most of the time and preferred alcohol and long business trips instead of family life. By the time Dennis was 4 years old, his parents had divorced, yet his mother remarried soon after. Loneliness set in at a very early age.
Dennis joined the Army in 1961 and remained for 11 years after that. Once out of the Army, Dennis moved to London and became a policeman, then moved up to other government jobs. Dennis through out this time was considered a closet homo-sexual .
Unlike some other serial killers who killed for sex, Dennis did not. His motivation for killing was sheer loneliness, and a fascination for death. Dennis would keep the remains of his victims for months at a time. His biographer Brian Masters stated that Dennis was basically “killing for company”.
During 1976 and 1977, Dennis’ loneliness was put on hold. A roommate 10 years younger than him subsided this feeling. Though the two were never romantically involved, Dennis and this young man shared housework, as well as cooking for one another and vegging out in front of the television watching movies and other programs. When the young man left unexpectedly, the loneliness and feelings of rejection came on full force.
December 30, 1978 the killing’s begin.
Stephen Dean Holmes who was only 14 at the time of his death was abducted while on his way home from a rock concert. He was strangled with a necktie until he was unconscious and the later on drowned in a bucket of water. Nilsen had also masturbated over the young boys body and stored his body beneath the floorboards until August of 1979, when Nilsen decided to burn the body in a bonfire.
In between the 1st and 2nd murders Nilsen attempted to kill a student from Hong Kong. Nilsen was questioned and let go after the student decided not to press charges.
Kenneth Ockendon was Nilsen’s 2nd victim. On December 03, 1979 Nilsen and Ockendon were engaging in sexual intercourse when he was strangled with an electric cord. Nilsen then dissected his body and flushed some of his body parts down the toilet, storing the rest underneath the floorboards.
May 1980, Martyn Duffey age 16 who was a homeless boy from Birkenhead was invited over to Nilsen’s home and happily accepted the offer was strangled and then drowned in the kitchen sink. His body was put with Kenneth Ockendon’s underneath the floorboards.
Billy Sutherland was Nilsen’s next victim, he was a male prostitute from Scotland. That is all that is known. Nilsen could not remember how he murdered this young man, however it was later revealed that he was strangled with his bare hands and put with the other corpses.
His 5th victim has never been identified to this day. There is no memories of how he died, all that is known is that he was from the Philippines or Thailand.
As we learn about the next few victims, not much is known of them. Nilsen could not recall what he had done to them. Murders number 6 & 7 were only identified by Nilsen by some physical trait that was stuck in Nilsen’s mind. A young Irishman and a transient were both strangled in Nilsen’s apartment. The 8th victim was cut into small pieces and buried underneath the floor. Just a few days later the remains were burned in his garden in another bonfire. The 9th & 10th victims were Scottish men who were both picked up in a pub. No other information is available.
The next victim would be a young skinhead who he picked up at Piccadilly Circus. He had a tattoo around his neck that said “Cut Here”. Nilsen did just that, and hung him in his bedroom for over 24 hours, he later then discarded his body underneath the floor.
In September of 1981, epileptic Malcolm Barlow was slumped against Nilsen’s garden wall. Nilsen called the paramedics for him. The very next day, Barlow returned to Nilsen’s home, a fatal mistake. Nilsen offered Barlow dinner and drinks. That night Barlow was murdered.
October 1981, Nilsen decided he needed a new place, so he moved into a new house in Muswell Hill. Before moving Nilsen had one last bonfire, destroying all the evidence of his murders in the last 3 years, but it didn’t stop there.
Nilsen attempted to strangle Paul Nobbs with a necktie, but survived the attack. It was later known that Nobbs did not go to the police in fear that his sexual orientation would be known.
John Howlett would fight bitterly for his life. He would be the first victim in Nilsen’s new home and the one who would try and strangle to Nilsen back. Unfortunately he lost his struggle and Nilsen eventually drowned Howlett. His remains were then hacked up, boiled in a kettle and flushed down the drain.
A homeless man named Graham Allen met Nilsen on Shaftesbury Avenue, little did the man know this would be his last night. Nilsen once again drowned the man leaving his body in the bathtub until he figured out how he wanted to dispose of the body. Once again he dismembered Allen’s body and stored parts in his cupboard, while other parts were boiled and flushed down the toilet.
Nilsen’s last and final victim was a “punk” from Oxford Street names Stephen Sinclair. The young boy was hungry and Nilsen knew that would be his way to get him back to his apartment. Once agreed, Nilsen fed the young man, then strangled and dismembered him. Boiling and flushing his body down the drain.
Nilsen’s murder spree was about to end abruptly. The pipes in his complex could not take anymore. People started to complain about the back ups and a plumber was called. When the plumber was un-clogging the drains, human parts were discovered and police were called to the scene. After questioning, Nilsen freely confessed his crimes to the police officers.
Once tried, Nilsen was convicted of six murders, and 2 attempted murders and sentence to life imprisonment on November 04, 1983. At first his prison sentence was set for 25 years minimum but after a short period, the Home Secretary impose a whole life sentence so Nilsen would never or could never be released. Unfortunately the Home Secretary had his powers taken away November 2002, which means that Nilsen could be freed on life license in 2008 since his original 25 year minimum sentence.
Nilsen is currently at HMP Full Sutton a maximum security prison in East Yorkshire. Nilsen was denied permission by the high courts to publish his autobiography called The History of a Drowning Boy, he was however given permission to give a televised interview from prison.
When Dennis Nilsen was asked what his motive was for killing all the young men his statement was clear, “Well enjoying it is as good as a reason as any.”.
