In 1991, Nilsen was transferred to a vulnerable-prisoner unit at HMP Full Sutton upon concerns for his safety. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. While en route to the police station, Nilsen was asked whether the remains in his flat belonged to one person or two. The defence counsel, Ivan Lawrence QC, argued that Nilsen suffered from diminished responsibility, rendering him incapable of forming the intention to commit murder, and should therefore be convicted only of manslaughter.[142][138]. But it was a hidden story about the murder of Canadian tourist Kenneth Ockenden that first exposed the part that prejudice may have played in missed opportunities to arrest Nilsen sooner. Nilsen's victims - Stephen Holmes, Kenneth Ockenden,. Noting conflicting details in accounts given by both men, police had dismissed the incident as a lovers' quarrel. Gallichan later informed police that he was sexually "uninterested" in Nilsen. Kenneth Hagans Obituary. They slept in separate beds, and both began to bring home casual sexual partners. [39] He began to drink alone in the evenings. The second bag contained a human skull almost completely devoid of flesh, a severed head, and a torso with arms attached, but hands missing. After briefly succeeding in raising his head above the water, Stottor gasped the words, "No more, please! To counteract this argument, Green added: "The Crown says that even if there was mental abnormality, that was not sufficient to diminish substantially his responsibility for these killings". Family tree. [49], The Melrose Avenue flat was supposed to be furnished, but upon moving in the pair found it to be largely threadbare. When Stottor regained consciousness, Nilsen embraced him; he then explained to Stottor he had almost strangled himself on the zip of the sleeping bag, and that he had resuscitated him. Nilsen asked why the police were interested in his drains and also whether or not the two officers present with Jay were health inspectors. [43] Nilsen was initially posted to a Jobcentre in Denmark Street, where his primary role was to find employment for unskilled labourers. Olav Jr. and Sylvia occasionally accompanied Dennis and his grandfather on these walks. Throughout this committal hearing, he was represented by a solicitor named Ronald Moss, whom he had previously dismissed as his legal representative on 21 April,[137] before Moss was reappointed to the role after Nilsen had complained to magistrates he had been afforded no facilities with which he could mount his own defence. View Source Suggest Edits Memorial Photos Flowers Created by: Jen Added: 20 Aug 2021 Find a Grave Memorial ID: 231005313 Source citation We previously explained who Dennis Nilsen's biographer is and where he is now. In response to prosecution contention that, in attributing an unspecified disorder to Nilsen, MacKeith was undecided in his conclusions,[152] MacKeith contended that this unspecified personality disorder was severe enough to substantially reduce Nilsen's responsibility.[153]. But it was in Nilsens home where Ockenden was strangled with the cord of Nilsens headphones as he listened to music. After they'd go to sleep in his . Meanwhile, David Wilson, who was a prison governor while the serial killer, has recently discussed details of his encounters with Nilsen. Prior to leaving the property, Nilsen and fellow tenant Jim Allcock convened with Cattran to discuss the source of the substance. MacKeith testified as to how, through a lack of emotional development,[150] Nilsen experienced difficulty expressing any emotion other than anger,[151] and his tendency to treat other human beings as components of his fantasies. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. He then locked the man in the boot of the taxi. [69][n 4], On 11 October 1979, Nilsen attempted to murder a student from Hong Kong named Andrew Ho, whom he had met in a St Martin's Lane pub and lured to his flat on the promise of sex. [24] He relished the travel opportunities afforded him in his training, and recalled as a highlight his regiment taking part in a ceremonial parade attended by both the Queen and Field Marshal Lord Montgomery of Alamein. Once the victim had been killed, he typically bathed the victim's body, shaved any hair from the torso to conform it to his physical ideal,[128] then applied makeup to any obvious blemishes upon the skin. Contrary to the prosecution claims, the defence counsel asserted that Nobbs' testimony reflected Nilsen's rational self being unable to control his impulses. [51] Gallichan later insisted Nilsen had never been violent towards him, but that he did engage in verbal abuse, and the pair had begun arguing with increasing frequency by early 1976. [46] Nilsen engaged Stottor in conversation, discovering he was depressed following a failed relationship. This afforded him the privacy to masturbate without discovery. Gallwey further added that someone suffering from these episodic breakdowns is most likely to disintegrate under circumstances of social isolation. Nilsen suggested that Barlow should be in hospital and, supporting him, walked him into his residence before phoning for an ambulance. The newlyweds moved into her parents' house.[3]. [176] Several items confiscated from Nilsen's Cranley Gardens addresssome of which had been introduced as evidence at Nilsen's trialare on display at New Scotland Yard's Crime Museum. Case 144 of, This page was last edited on 27 April 2023, at 11:53. His earliest memories were of family picnics in the Scottish countryside with his mother and siblings, of his grandparents' pious lifestyle (which he later described as "cold and dour"),[6] and of being taken on long countryside walks carried on the shoulders of his maternal grandfather, to whom he was particularly close. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Within weeks, Nilsen began to excel in his army duties; he later described his three years of training at Aldershot as "the happiest of my life". The minimum term of 25 years imprisonment to which Nilsen was sentenced in 1983 was replaced by a whole-life tariff by Home Secretary Michael Howard in December 1994. The majority of Nilsen's victims were homeless or gay men; others were heterosexual people he typically met in bars, on public transport oron one occasionoutside his own home. This is achieved by taking increased amounts of alcohol and plugging into stereo music which mentally removes me to a high plane of ecstasy, joy and tears. He described himself and his colleagues as a "hard-working, boozy lot"; his colleagues recalled he often drank to excess in order to ease his shyness. The prosecuting counsel, Allan Green QC, argued that Nilsen was sane, in full control of his actions, and had killed with premeditation. I want to get it off my chest. [n 1], Following a brief period with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Inverness, Nilsen was selected to cook for the Queen's Royal Guard before, in January 1971, being reassigned to serve as a cook for a different regiment in the Shetland Islands, where he ended his 11-year military career at the rank of corporal in October 1972. Daily Star. At 23 Cranley Gardens, Nilsen had no access to a garden, and as he resided in an attic flat, he was unable to stow any bodies beneath his floorboards. Serial killer Dennis Nilsen was 'sexually attracted to childhood bully's dead body' David Tennant, who starred in ITV's Des, said it was "right and proper" that the show was broadcast after he died. [14] Nilsen initially believed that his fondling of his sister may have been evidence that he was bisexual. [180][181][182], On 10 May 2018, Nilsen was taken from HMP Full Sutton to York Hospital after complaining of severe stomach pains. Kenneth Ockenden 23-year-old Canadian student Kenneth Ockenden was killed on December 3, 1979. On approximately four occasions over the following fortnight, Nilsen disinterred Ockenden's body from beneath his floorboards and seated the body upon his armchair alongside him as he himself watched television and drank alcohol. On 31 October 1951, while fishing in the North Sea, he died of a heart attack at the age of 62. They had met at a West End pub on December 3, and Nilsen offered to show Ockenden around London, before visiting his flat for food and more drinks. Kenneth Ockenden was a Canadian student Nilsen invited for a meal Credit: Collect WITH a taste for blood, Nilson didn't leave it long before targeting his next victim, a Canadian tourist called Kenneth Ockenden who he met in a pub on December 3, 1979. If the victim had been strangled into unconsciousness, Nilsen then drowned him in his bathtub, his sink or a bucket of water before observing a ritual in which he bathed, clothed and retained the bodies inside his residences for several weeks or, occasionally, months before he dismembered them. [110] As had been the case with both Howlett and Allen, Sinclair's body was subsequently dissected, with various dismembered parts wrapped in plastic bags and stored in either a wardrobe, a tea chest or within a drawer located beneath the bathtub. [93] The day before he vacated the property, Nilsen burned the dissected bodies of the last five victims he had killed at this address upon a third and final bonfire he constructed in the garden behind his flat. Nilsen was. In a practice which he had conducted upon several victims killed at Melrose Avenue, he also boiled the heads, hands and feet to remove the flesh off these sections of the victims' bodies. Upon learning from fellow tenants that the top floor flat from where the human remains had been flushed belonged to Nilsen, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay and two colleagues opted to wait outside the house until Nilsen returned home from work. Nonetheless, immediately prior to his dissecting the victims' bodies, Nilsen masturbated as he knelt or sat alongside the corpse. A subsequent post-mortem examination revealed that the immediate cause of Nilsen's death was pulmonary embolism and retroperitoneal haemorrhage. After meeting at a pub, the pair went to a few big tourist spots together . (The evidence provided by Stottor was not included as part of the indictment against Nilsen as his whereabouts were not known until after the indictment had been completed. Several days later, the pair viewed a vacant ground floor flat at 195 Melrose Avenue, also in Cricklewood, and they decided to move into the property. [99] Following a ferocious struggle (in which Howlett himself attempted to strangle his attacker), Nilsen strangled Howlett into unconsciousness with an upholstery strap before returning to his living room, shaking from the "stress of the struggle" in which he had believed he would be overpowered. Nilsen was questioned in relation to the incident, but Ho decided not to press charges. Prior to moving into Melrose Avenue, Nilsen negotiated a deal with the landlord whereby he and Gallichan had exclusive use of the garden at the rear of the property. Often, he vomited as he dissected the bodies,[85] before wrapping the dismembered limbs inside plastic bags and carrying the remains to the bonfires. An investigation into the disappearance of one of his earliest victims, Canadian backpacker Kenneth Ockenden, was stymied by a reluctance among police to acknowledge that Ockenden was a gay. His father did not view married life with any seriousness, being preoccupied with his duties with the Free Norwegian Forces and making little attempt to spend much time with or find a new home for his wife. I'll tell you everything. [19] On one occasion, he also caressed and fondled the body of his older brother as he slept. His first victim was 14-year-old Stephen Holmes in 1978, who would become the blueprint for Nilsen's murders when he was killed in 1978. [103], In his subsequent testimony at Nilsen's trial, Stottor stated he initially believed Nilsen was trying to free him from the zip of the sleeping bag, before he returned to a state of unconsciousness. He was loved and cherished by many people including : his spouse . I could oscillate between the two with instant ease." [16] Shortly after this incident, Nilsen's mother moved out of his grandparents' home and into a flat with her three children. Almost exactly a year after the first murder, this 23-year-old Canadian student was killed on December 3, 1979. . Upon hearing Cattran exclaim how similar the substance was in appearance to human flesh, Nilsen replied: "It looks to me like someone has been flushing down their Kentucky Fried Chicken."[113]. View our online Press Pack. Former Doctor Who star David Tennant is due to play one of Britain's. He was then arrested and cautioned on suspicion of murder before being taken to Hornsey police station. [n 7]. A further search for additional remains at Cranley Gardens on 10 February revealed the lower section of a torso and two legs stowed in a bag in the bathroom, and a skull, a section of a torso, and various bones in the tea chest. The officers did not open the cupboard, but asked Nilsen whether there were any other body parts to be found, to which Nilsen replied: "It's a long story; it goes back a long time. Two psychiatrists testified on behalf of the defence. He initially panicked, flailing his arms and shouting. Months later, the regiment was transferred to West Berlin, where, the same year, Nilsen had his first sexual experience with a female: a prostitute whose services he solicited. [158] As a Category A prisoner, he was assigned his own cell and could mix freely with other inmates. Nilsen strangled him with a headphone cord. On 1 August, Nilsen threw the contents of his chamber pot out of his cell, hitting several prison officers. His victims would be lured to these addresses through deception and killed by strangulation, sometimes accompanied by drowning. Among his victims were Stephen Holmes, Kenneth Ockenden, Martyn Duffey, William Sutherland and Malcolm Barlow. He respected his parents' efforts to provide and care for their children, but began to resent the fact that his family was poorer than most of his peers, with his mother and stepfather making no effort to better their lifestyles; thus, Nilsen seldom invited his friends to the family home. Among his victims were Stephen Holmes, Kenneth Ockenden, Martyn Duffey, William Sutherland and Malcolm Barlow. Early 1980: Martyn Duffey is murdered The homeless. All of Nilsen's murders were committed at the two North London addresses where he lived between 1978 and 1983. Nilsen then advised the youth to see a doctor. [72] Nilsen was adamant he could not recall the precise moment he strangled Ockenden, but recalled that he strangled the young man with the cord of his (Nilsen's) headphones as Ockenden listened to music. Next he killed Kenneth Ockenden on December 3, 1979, a 23-year-old Canadian student. [162] Afterward, he was briefly transferred to HMP Parkhurst, before being transferred to HMP Wakefield, where he remained until 1990. [178][179], In January 2021, a former confidant of Nilsen's named Mark Austin revealed that an edited version of The History of a Drowning Boy was to be posthumously published by RedDoor Press. But the real revelation comes when Ogden uncovers an untold story about the murder of Canadian tourist, Kenneth Ockenden, who disappeared in December 1979. This act of attempted murder was committed while Nobbs was asleep in a drunken stupor. As had been the case with several previous victims, Nilsen stated he could not recall the precise moment he had strangled Allen, but recalled approaching him as he sat eating an omelette with the full intention of murdering him. He met Nilsen at a pub in the West End of London on December 3, 1979. [5] All three of the couple's childrenOlav Jr., Dennis and Sylviahad been conceived on their father's brief visits to their mother's household. [25], In mid-1964, Nilsen passed his initial catering exam and was officially assigned to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers in Osnabrck, West Germany, where he served as a private. Despite only being five years old, Nilsen vividly recalled these walks as being "very long along the harbour, across the wide stretch of beach, up to the sand-dunes, which rise thirty feet behind the beach and on to Inverallochy". A new documentary recounts his vicious crimes. Gallwey conceded that Nilsen was intellectually aware of his actions, but stressed that, due to his personality disorder, Nilsen did not appreciate the criminal nature of what he had done. Early History of the Ockenden family. ", Nilsen's written recollections of the ritual he observed after the murder of his first victim. Nilsen recalled that the putrefaction of these victims' bodies made this task exceedingly vile; he recalled having to fortify his nerves with whisky and having to grab handfuls of salt with which to brush aside maggots from the remains. "[116], That evening, Detective Superintendent Chambers accompanied DCI Jay and Bowen to Cranley Gardens, where the plastic bags were removed from the wardrobe and taken to Hornsey mortuary. In these instances, whenever he and his colleagues drank to excess, Nilsen would pretend he was inebriated in the hope one of his colleagues would make sexual use of his supposedly unconscious body. [101], In May 1982, Nilsen encountered Carl Stottor, a 21-year-old gay man, as the young man drank at the Black Cap pub in Camden. Death July 2007 - Capel surrey. He then laid Ockenden's corpse spreadeagled above him on his bed as he watched television for several hours before wrapping the body in plastic bags and stowing the corpse beneath the floorboards. [163], In 2003, Nilsen was again transferred to HMP Full Sutton, where he remained incarcerated as a Category A prisoner. Nilsen envied Olav Jr.'s popularity. To both Cattran and Wheeler, the bones looked as if they originated from a human hand. (n.d.). On one of his solo excursions to the beach at Inverallochy, in 1954 or 1955, Nilsen became submerged beneath the water and was almost dragged out to sea. [144] Upon cross-examination, the defence counsel sought to undermine Stewart's credibility, pointing to minor inconsistencies in the testimony, the fact he had consumed much alcohol on the night in question, and suggesting his memory had been selectively magnified as he had previously sold his story to the press. First look at Britain's biggest EVER stage for King Charles' coronation concert, Souness fights back tears as he announces emotional retirement on Sky Sports, Sky Sports' Martin Tyler slammed for 'racist' comment about Spurs star Son, Iconic high street favourite to return after 4 years as shoppers 'can't wait', News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. He also stated that, beginning in December 1978, he had killed "twelve or thirteen" men at his former address, 195 Melrose Avenue. An epileptic orphan, he had spent most of his life in care homes.. Nilsen then fell asleep alongside the body. Her parents, Andrew and Lily (ne Duthie) Whytewho had never approved of their daughter's choice of husbandwere supportive of their daughter following her divorce and considerate of their grandchildren. [22] He displayed a flair for history and art, but shunned sports. [85] When the bonfire had been reduced to ashes and cinders, Nilsen used a rake to search the debris for any recognisable bones. There was an interesting segment where when investigating the disappearance of one of his victims, Kenneth Ockenden, they deliberately ignored the possibility that Ken might be gay because he came from a so-called respectable middle class family which apparently meant he had to be straight. Tragic story of Kenneth Ockenden and how he fell into Dennis Nilsen's depraved clutches. [140] He was tried at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Croom-Johnson[141] and pleaded not guilty on all charges. One of Nilsen's stalking grounds was Camden, North London. [70], Two months after the attempted murder of Ho, on 3 December 1979, Nilsen encountered a 23-year-old Canadian student named Kenneth Ockenden,[71] who had been on a tour of England visiting relatives. Dennis Nilsen murdered 12 boys and men in North London between 1978 to 1983 BBC2's The Nilsen Files, explores whether killer could have been caught sooner Tells untold story of Canadian tourist. She later married a builder named Andrew Scott, with whom she had four more children in as many years. The primary dispute between the prosecuting and defence counsel was not whether Nilsen had killed the victims, but his state of mind before and during the killings. Initially, Nilsen intended to plead guilty to each charge of murder at his upcoming trial. Nilsen never showered in the company of his fellow soldiers for fear of developing an erection in their presence; instead opting to bathe alone in the bathroom, which also afforded him the privacy to masturbate without discovery. He then vaguely recalled hearing "water running" before realising he was immersed in the water and that Nilsen was attempting to drown him. [157], Following his conviction, Nilsen was transferred to HMP Wormwood Scrubs to begin his sentence. Nilsen manually strangled Barlow as he slept, before stowing his body beneath his kitchen sink the following morning.[92]. [n 9], Cattran contacted the Daily Mirror on 10 February,[122] informing the newspaper of the ongoing search for human remains at Cranley Gardens, leading the newspaper to break the story and spark intense national media interest. [75] Duffey, Nilsen recollected, was both exhausted and hungry, and happily accepted Nilsen's offer of a meal and a bed for the evening. In this deployment, Nilsen began to increase his intake of alcohol. [108] Nilsen attempted to dispose of the flesh, internal organs and smaller bones of all three victims killed at Cranley Gardens by flushing their dissected remains down his toilet. [169], Nilsen repeatedly sought legal avenues to challenge real and perceived abuses of prison rules by prison officersregularly petitioning the Home Office and, later, the European Court of Human Rights with complaints. A university student, Nobbs testified that he accompanied Nilsen to Cranley Gardens for alcohol and sex and woke in the early hours of the morning with "a terrible headache". [83], In late 1980, Nilsen removed and dissected the bodies of each victim killed since December 1979 and burned them upon a communal bonfire he had constructed on waste ground behind his flat. He viewed these encounters as "soul-destroying" liaisons in which he "would only lend" his partner his body in a "vain search for inner peace"[40] as he sought a lasting relationship. As Nilsen gazed upon the body, his mother told him his grandfather was sleeping,[12] adding that he had "gone to a better place". On 26 January 1993 Judge William Aldous ruled in Central's favour, and the same day, three appeal court judges, Sir Thomas Bingham, Master of the Rolls; Lord Justice McCowan; and Lord Justice Hirst upheld his decision. [n 10]. He moved into an attic flat at 23D Cranley Gardens[94] in the Muswell Hill district of North London on 5 October 1981. [7] He later described this stage of his childhood as one of contentment,[8] and his grandfather being his "great hero and protector", adding that whenever his grandfather (who was a fisherman) was at sea, "Life would be empty [for me] until he returned. Kenneth and Irene Ockenden were the classic high school sweethearts. Moss was to remain Nilsen's legal representative until July 1983, when Nilsenagain expressing his intention to defend himselfdischarged him, until 5 August when Nilsen once again reappointed Moss. [61], Nilsen killed his third victim, 16-year-old Martyn Duffey, on 17 May 1980. Nilsen's identified victims were: Stephen Dean. While stationed at Aldershot, Nilsen's latent feelings began to stir, but he kept his sexual orientation well hidden from his colleagues. Born in Fraserburgh, he was dubbed the Muswell Hill Murderer after the North London suburb where he strangled and drowned his victims at two homes. [89] The following month, Nilsen removed the internal organs of several victims stowed beneath his floorboards. Noting a skull was still intact, he smashed it to pieces with his rake. In an interview conducted on 10 February, Nilsen confessed there were further human remains stowed in a tea chest in his living room, with other remains inside an upturned drawer in his bathroom. I had no other thrill or happiness". The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. [88] By April, Nilsen had killed two further unidentified victims: one of whom he described as an English skinhead whom he had met in Leicester Square; the other he described as "Belfast boy"; a man in his early 20s, approximately 5ft 9in (1.75m) height, whom he had murdered sometime in February. Nilsen was initially resistant to the proposal, but accepted an offer of 1,000 from the landlord to vacate the residence. Several hours later, he turned Stephen's head towards him, before kissing the youth's body on the forehead and saying, "Goodnight, Stephen". His second victim, killed in late 1979, was Canadian student Kenneth Ockenden, who was visiting relatives in the capital. [64] Reaching for a necktie, Nilsen straddled Holmes as he strangled him into unconsciousness, before drowning the teenager in a bucket filled with water. [163] In October 2001, Nilsen brought a judicial review against the prison service, citing that the gay softcore pornography magazines Vulcan and Him, to which he subscribed regularly, had some images and articles of a more explicit nature removed before the magazine reached him. Several jurors were visibly shaken throughout this testimony; others looked at Nilsen with incredulous expressions on their faces[149] as Nilsen listened to the testimony with apparent indifference. There was practically no discoloration and his skin was pale white. Who was Kenneth Ockenden? The 23-year-old was touring England while visiting relatives before he fell into Nilsen's depraved clutches. Inevitably, the accumulated bodies beneath Nilsen's floorboards attracted insects and created a foul odourparticularly throughout summer months. One victim he could not name;[118] another he knew only as "John the Guardsman",[119] and the third he identified as Stephen Sinclair. Nilsen formed brief relationships with several other young men over the following eighteen months; none of these relationships lasted more than a few weeks, and none of the men expressed any intention of living with him on a permanent basis. The bags used to seal Sinclair's remains were sealed with the same crepe bandages Nilsen had found upon Sinclair's wrists.