When No One Connected the Dots: 12 Lives Lost to Dennis Nilsen

Born in Scotland in 1945, Nilsen's path to becoming one of Britain's most prolific murderers began with childhood trauma. Forced to view his beloved grandfather's corpse at just six years old, he grew increasingly isolated as his mother remarried and started a new family. His military service as an army cook and brief police training provided the perfect storm of skills that would later facilitate his crimes. Between 1978 and 1983, Nilsen murdered at least 12 men, primarily  targeting vulnerable individuals—homeless youth, sex workers, and unemployed men looking for companionship.

The most chilling aspect of Nilsen's case wasn't just the murders themselves, but how close authorities came to stopping him multiple times. Several victims escaped his strangulation attempts and reported the incidents, yet no connections were made between these reports. Neighbors complained about the smell from his apartment, but accepted his excuses about structural problems. When drains became blocked with human remains in February 1983, Nilsen calmly confessed when confronted, even directing police to body parts stored around his home. His emotionless cooperation during the investigation and trial revealed a disturbed mind that the judge described as "evil without being abnormal." Sentenced to life imprisonment, Nilsen died in prison in 2018, leaving behind crucial lessons about protecting vulnerable populations and connecting the dots between seemingly isolated incidents. What systems failed these victims, and how can we ensure history doesn't repeat itself? Share your thoughts on this disturbing case that reminds us why vigilance and compassion must always accompany reason.

Chapters

• 0:00 Warning and Introduction
• 0:44 The British Jeffrey Dahmer
• 1:50 Nilsen's Troubled Childhood
• 3:50 First Murders and Victims
• 6:57 Disposal Methods and Capture
• 9:51 Trial, Conviction and Legacy

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

These are real crimes, real people and real consequences. The details ahead are graphic and unsettling. Listener discretion is strongly advised. This is the end of reason.

Speaker 1: 0:18

I was on Reddit today and came across a part title that I found interesting. Now, it was interesting because they are comparing someone to Jeffrey Dahmer, calling him the British Jeffrey Dahmer. The person being compared is Dennis Nilsen. Now, up to this point I had no idea this was a case or who Dennis Nilsen was, but the comparison to Dahmer interested me enough to look into it. So I did, and this is what I found. Scotland, 1978.

Speaker 1: 0:54

A man named Dennis Nilsen takes his first life. Over the next five years he will lure young men into his home and they will never leave. By the time police catch him in 1983, nilsen has confessed to 12 murders, each followed by dismemberment, but for something I didn't expect. Several victims had escaped before, but their stories were never connected, and that mistake allowed one of Britain's most prolific killers to keep going. Now, this was the late 70s to early 80s, and police investigation techniques were not as advanced as they are now, and the technology at their disposal was not the best. I get that, but the fact that these cases did not get connected for five years is crazy to me, like nobody thought to look into the similarities between multiple different reports to find if anything matches or see if anything points to a certain direction that you can follow. I don't know, but let's look at the details of the case.

Speaker 1: 1:51

November 23rd 1945. Dennis Nilsen was born in the quiet fishing town of Fraserburgh, scotland. His early life was marked by tension. His parents' troubled marriage led him, his mother and siblings to live with his maternal grandfather, a man he adored. But when Dennis was just six years old, that fragile world was shattered. His beloved grandfather died suddenly. At the funeral, dennis was forced to confront the lifeless body of the man he loved most. That haunting moment, etched deep into his memory, would become the dark seed from which his later troubled behaviour would grow. His mother remarried and had four more children, leaving Nilsen feeling increasingly withdrawn and isolated. Although he was aware of his homosexual attractions, he claimed to have no sexual experiences during his adolescence. At 16, he enlisted in the army and trained as a cook in the army catering corps. It was there that he learned butchering skills which would later play a big role in his crimes.

Speaker 1: 3:02

After leaving the army in 1972, nilsen began police training. During this time he developed a disturbing fascination with morgues and autopsies. Despite the advantages his police career could have given him to explore these morbid interests, he resigned and became a recruitment interviewer. In 1973, Nilsen had his first official encounter with the police. In 1973, nilsson had his first official encounter with the police. David Painter, a young man he had met through work, accused Nilsson of secretly taking photographs of him while he was asleep. The confrontation left Painter so shaken he required hospitalisation. Nilsson was questioned but ultimately released without any charges. In 1975, he took up cohabitation with David Gallachan in a garden apartment situated at 195 Melrose Avenue in North London, although Gallachan denied that they had a homosexual relationship. This lasted two years, and when Gallachan left, nilsen's life began a downward spiral into alcohol and loneliness, which culminated in his first murder 18 months later.

Speaker 1: 4:07

Now there is a lot here to look at. First, being forced to look at someone you love in a casket as a child is fucked up. A child shouldn't be put into a position like that. You have to help them understand. This is a part of life a sad, dramatic, fucked part, but a part of it all the same. Second, isolation and loneliness as a child is no joke. That sticks with you in adulthood. I'm not sure how the mother didn't notice, or if she did notice, you didn't care, and that's the case. That's fucked parenting. And third okay, now we are getting to some of the darker shit. Using the skills he learned from the army and police academy to hurt other people is expected, but wrong. Don't use something you were taught to help people to hurt them. And by wrong I mean it feels like a dirty move or low blow, if you know what I mean. As for the run-in with the police, it seems like a lazy investigation to get off without charges. Now, this opinion is being informed with the knowledge of what happens later. But even with setting that aside for now, if someone's in the hospital, I think you can give a little more of a thorough look when investigating. But now let's look at the first victims.

Speaker 1: 5:20

Dennis Nilsen's dark urges grew more disturbing with each encounter. After a series of lonely and unfulfilling sexual encounters, he met his first victim on December 29, 1978, at a pub, inviting the young man home as he had before. Nielsen's fear of abandonment overwhelmed him. The next morning he strangled the man with a tie, drowned him in a bucket of water and then carried the body to his bathroom to wash it. He placed the corpse back in bed later, describing it as beautiful. He even attempted to have sex with the body failing, before spending the night beside it. For seven months the body stayed hidden beneath his floorboards before he burned the remains in his garden floorboards. Before he burned the remains in his garden In October 1979, nilsen had a close call when a young student accused him of trying to strangle him during a bondage session, but no charges were pressed. His second victim, canadian tourist Kenneth Ockenden, was met at a pub in December 1979. After a day out, nilsen again strangled him, cleaned the body, shared his bed overnight, took photos and spoke to the corpse as if it were alive before hiding it under the floorboards.

Speaker 1: 6:39

Nilsen continued killing over the next few years, including a homeless teenager, a prostitute and an orphan with learning disabilities. By 1981, he had killed 12 men, only four of whom could be identified, most of them vulnerable, homeless or unemployed. He described entering a killing trance, but claimed to have freed seven men instead of killing them. Still, most of his victims did not survive. As bodies accumulated in his apartment, nilsen was forced to hide them under the kitchen sink and spray his rooms twice daily to combat the smell and flies. When neighbours complained, he blamed structural problems in the building. To dispose of the bodies, nilsen dismembered them on his kitchen floor, sometimes boiling skulls to remove flesh and flushing small remains down the toilet. He buried limbs in his garden and shed and burned many remains in bonfires, going so far as to keep fires burning all day without arousing suspicion.

Speaker 1: 7:41

In 1982, hoping to stop his urges, nilsen moved to a top-floor apartment with no garden or floorboards Yet he killed three more men there. Facing new challenges disposing of the bodies, he resorted to boiling and flushing remains down the toilet and bagging parts for disposal. In early 1983, a drain blockage led a technician to discover human remains in the apartment's pipes. Police were called and on February 9th Detective Chief Inspector Jay confronted Nilsen. Faced with the evidence and foul odour, nilsen calmly confessed, revealing bags of body parts stored around his home. He admitted to killing 15 young men and attempting to murder seven others. Nilsen showed no remorse, willingly guiding police to disposal sites, including his previous residence.

Speaker 1: 8:35

Held at Brixton Prison pending trial, nilsen wrote over 50 notebooks recounting his memories and even sketched disturbing illustrations of his crimes. He appeared ambivalent about his fate, firing and rehiring his legal counsel multiple times. His trial began in October 1983, charged with six counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Nielsen pleaded not guilty, claiming diminished responsibility due to mental illness. The prosecution relied heavily on his confessions and the testimony of three survivors who escaped strangulation attempts. Despite attempts to discredit the survivors, their accounts seriously damaged. The defence Physical evidence included gruesome photos, the chopping board used for dissection and the cooking pot used to boil body parts now displayed at Scotland Yard's Black Museum. The defence presented psychiatrists who described Nilsen's troubled childhood and mental disorders, but their complex arguments failed to convince the jury. The prosecution's psychiatrist countered that Nilsen was manipulative and fully aware of his actions. In summing up, the judge told the jury that a mind could be evil without being abnormal. The jury found Nilsen guilty on all counts, sentencing him to life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years before parole eligibility.

Speaker 1: 10:02

Dennis Nilsen died in prison in 2018, leaving behind one of Britain's most chilling criminal legacies. Dennis Nielsen's story is a chilling reminder of how darkness can hide behind the most ordinary faces. His crimes shocked a nation, but they also exposed tragic failures in society, in the systems meant to protect the vulnerable and in recognising warning signs before it was too late. Though Nielsen died in prison in 2018, the echoes of his victims' lives and the pain they endured remain with us. Their stories demand that we listen, remember and strive to protect those most at risk. If there's one thing to take away from this grim tale, it's this Behind every statistic, every headline, there are real people, each deserving of dignity, safety and justice. It's up to us to learn to watch and to act so history does not repeat itself. Thank you for listening to the End of Reason. Stay vigilant, stay compassionate and never let go of reason.