Dennis Nilsen

**Dennis Andrew Nilsen** (23 November 1945 – 12 May 2018) was a British serial killer and necrophile. He murdered at least 15 young men in a series of killings committed between 1978 and 1983 in London, England. He was convicted of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder at the Old Bailey, Nilsen was sentenced to life imprisonment on 4 November 1983, with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 25 years. He was born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.

In his later years, he was incarcerated at HM Prison maximum security prison in Full Sutton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. He died there on 12 May 2018 at the age of 72.

## Victims

1978
- 30 Dec Stephen Dean Holmes
1979
- 3 Dec Kenneth Ockendon
1980
- 17 MAy Martyn Brandon Duffy
- 20 Aug William DAvid Sutherland
- September: Unidentified. All that Nilsen could remember about his fifth victim was that he was a tall Irish labourer with rough hands who wore an old suit, jacket and shoes. Nilsen estimated his height to be between 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) and his age to be between 27 and 30. He had met this victim in the Cricklewood Arms in late 1980. Nilsen later claimed to have fabricated this victim.
- October: Unidentified. Nilsen's sixth victim was described by his murderer as a slender male prostitute, approximately 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) in height, who was aged between 20 and 30, and of either Filipino or Mexican descent. To Nilsen, this victim had gypsy-like features. Nilsen met this victim in the Salisbury Arms in October 1980.
- November: Unidentified. This victim was described by Nilsen as being an English vagrant in his 20s, whom he encountered sleeping in a doorway at the top of Charing Cross Road. He was emaciated, with a pale complexion and had several missing teeth. Nilsen and the youth took a taxi to Melrose Avenue; that evening, the victim was strangled to death as he slept, with his legs moving in a cycling motion as he was strangled. Nilsen later stated he believed this victim's life had been "one of long suffering",[195] and that the act of killing this victim had been "as easy as taking candy from a baby".
- November–December: Unidentified. The last victim to be killed by Nilsen in 1980 was an English "long-haired hippy", aged between 25 and 30, whom he had met in the West End after the pubs had closed in November or December 1980. This victim's body was retained beneath the floorboards of the flat until Nilsen removed the corpse, cut it into three pieces, then replaced the dissected remains beneath the floorboards. He burned the corpse one year later. Nilsen later claimed to have fabricated this victim
1981
- c. 4 January: Unidentified. The ninth victim was described by Nilsen as an "18-year-old, blue-eyed Scot" with blond hair and who wore a green tracksuit top and trainers. Nilsen met this victim in the Golden Lion pub in Soho in early January 1981. Killed after partaking in a drinking contest with Nilsen at Melrose Avenue, the body of this victim was dissected on 12 January.
- February: Unidentified. Murdered sometime in February 1981. Nilsen recalled little about this victim, other than the fact he was originally from Belfast; was slim, dark haired, aged in his early 20s, and approximately 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) tall. He had encountered this victim somewhere in the West End after the pubs had closed. He was strangled with a necktie and his body subsequently placed beneath the floorboards.
- April: Unidentified. Nilsen encountered his eleventh victim, a muscular young English skinhead aged approximately 20, at a food stall in Leicester Square in April 1981. He was lured to Nilsen's home with the promise of a meal and alcohol. Nilsen recalled this victim wore a black leather jacket and had a tattoo around his neck, simply reading "cut here", and that he had boasted about how tough he was and how he liked to fight. Nilsen hung this victim's naked torso in his bedroom for 24 hours, before placing the body beneath the floorboards. Nilsen later claimed to have fabricated this victim.
- 18 Sep Malcolm Stanley Barlow
1982
- MAr John Peter Howlett
- Sep Graham Archibald Allen
1983
- 26 Jan Stephen Neil Sinclair

## Other websites

- _Sunday Times_ article relating to Nilsen's autobiography , _History of a Drowning Boy_
- Extracts from Dennis Nilsen's unpublished autobiography
- Transcript of Nilsen's 2004 appeal to the Royal Courts of Justice, seeking to overturn a 2003 ruling his autobiography cannot be returned to him, and must remain unpublished