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==The murders and attempted murders==
*'''Murder 1''': Nilsen's first [[murder]] took place on [[December 30]], [[1978]]. Nilsen claimed to have met his first victim in a [[gay bar]]. Nilsen [[strangle]]d him with a [[necktie]] until he was [[unconsciousness|unconscious]] and then drowned him in a bucket of [[water]]. On [[January 12]], [[2006]], it was announced that the victim had been identified as '''Stephen Dean Holmes''', who was born on [[March 22]], [[1964]] and was therefore only 14 at the time; Holmes had been on his way home from a pop concert.S
*Between the first and second murders, Nilsen attempted to murder a [[student]] from [[Hong Kong]] he had met in the [[West End of London|West End]]. Although questioned by [[police]], the student decided not to prosecute, and Nilsen was released without charge.
*'''Murder 2''': The second victim (on [[December 3]], [[1979]]) was [[Canada|Canadian]] student '''Kenneth Ockendon'''. During their [[sexual intercourse]], Nilsen strangled him. Ockendon was one of the few murder victims who was reported as a missing person.
*'''Murder 3''': '''Martyn Duffey''' was a sixteen-year-old [[homeless]] boy from [[Birkenhead]]. In May [[1980]], he accepted Nilsen's invitation to come over to his place. He was [[strangle]]d and subsequently [[drown]]ed in the [[kitchen]] sink.
*'''Murder 4''': '''Billy Sutherland''' was a male [[prostitute]] from [[Scotland]]. Nilsen could not remember how he murdered Sutherland; however, it was later revealed that the victim had been strangled by someone using his bare hands.
*'''Murder 5''': The fifth victim was another male prostitute; however, this one was never identified. All that is known is that he was probably from the [[Philippines]] or [[Thailand]].
*'''Murder 6''': Nilsen could recall very little about this and the following two victims. All that he could remember about number 6 was that he was a young [[Ireland|Irish]] labourer that he had met in a bar.
*'''Murder 7''': The seventh victim was what Nilsen described as a starving "[[hippy]]-type" he had found sleeping in a doorway in [[Charing Cross]].
*'''Murder 8''': Nilsen could recall nothing at all about his eighth victim.
*'''Murder 9''' and '''Murder 10''': Both were young [[Scotland|Scottish]] men, picked up in [[pub]]s in [[Soho]].
*'''Murder 11''': The eleventh victim was a [[skinhead]] Nilsen picked up at [[Piccadilly Circus]] who had a tattoo around his neck saying "cut here". He had boasted to Nilsen how tough he was and how he liked to fight; however, once he was drunk, he proved no match for Nilsen, who hung his naked torso in his bedroom for 24 hours before he was buried under the floorboards.
*At some point between murders 6 and 11, on [[November 10]], [[1980]], a potential victim of Nilsen's woke up while being strangled and was able to fend off his attacker. Although he called the police almost immediately after the attack, no action was taken by the officers who, it is reported, considered the incident to be a domestic disagreement between two [[homosexual]] lovers.
*'''Murder 12''': The twelfth victim (and the last before Nilsen moved home) was a man called '''Malcolm Barlow'''. He was murdered on [[September 18]] [[1981]]. Nilsen found him in a doorway not far from his own home, and took him in and called an [[ambulance]] for him. When Barlow was released the next day, he returned to Nilsen's home to thank him and was pleased to be invited in for a meal and a few drinks. He was murdered later that night.
*After moving to a new house in [[Muswell Hill]] in October [[1981]], Nilsen met a student in a bar in Soho and invited him back to his new home. The student awoke the next morning with little recollection of the previous evening's events, and later went to see his [[Physician|doctor]] because of some bruising that had appeared on his neck. The doctor revealed that it appeared as if the student had been strangled and advised him to go to the police. However, afraid of his [[sexual orientation]] being disclosed, the student decided not to.
*Following this attempted murder, Nilsen met a [[Drag (clothing)|drag queen]] in a pub in [[Camden]]. After passing out from strangulation, he came to while Nilsen was trying to drown him in a bath of cold water and managed to fight off his attacker.
*'''Murder 13''': '''John Howlett''' was the first to be murdered in Nilsen's Muswell Hill home, in December [[1981]]. Howlett was one of the few who was able to fight back; however, Nilsen had taken a disliking to him and was determined that he should die. There was a tremendous struggle, in which at one point Howlett even tried to strangle Nilsen back. Howlett was eventually drowned, however, after having his head held under water for five minutes. Howlett's was the first body to be dismembered, and the various body parts were either hidden around the house or flushed down the [[toilet]].
*'''Murder 14''': '''Graham Allen''' was another homeless man who met Nilsen in [[Shaftesbury Avenue]]. After murdering him, Nilsen left Allen's body in the bath, unsure how to dispose of it. After three days, he was dismembered like Nilsen's previous victim.
*'''Murder 15''': Nilsen's final victim was a [[drug addict]] called '''Stephen Sinclair'''. They met in [[Oxford Street]] and Sinclair managed to scrounge a [[hamburger]] off Nilsen, who then suggested that they go back to his place. After dropping into an [[alcohol]] and [[heroin]] fuelled stupor, Sinclair was strangled and his body dismembered. It was Sinclair's dismembered remains in the drain outside Nilsen's home that first alerted the police to Nilsen's murders.
==Trial and Sentence==
Nilsen was convicted of six murders and two attempted murders, and was sentenced to life in [[prison]] on 4th November 1983.
Nilsen's minimum term was set at 25 years by the trial judge, but the [[Home Secretary]] later imposed a whole life tariff, which meant he would never be released. But after the Home Secretary was stripped of his powers to set minimum terms in November 2002, Nilsen could be freed on life licence in 2008 because of his original 25-year minimum sentence. In [[1993]] he was given permission to give a televised interview from prison.
==Prison==
Nilsen is currently held at Full Sutton maximum security prison near [[Pocklington]] in [[East Yorkshire]].
During his time in prison he has proved a thorn in the side of prison authorities, bringing [[Judicial Review]] procedings over Whitemoor prison's decision not to allow him access to [[homosexual]] [[pornography]]. In 2003 he brought a further [[Judicial Review]] over a decision not to allow him to publish his [[autobiography]], titled ''The History of a Drowning Boy''. His supporters included the [[penal reform]] campaigner, [[Steve P Taylor (writer)|Steven Taylor]].
==References==
*J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, ''The New Murderer's Who's Who'', 1996, Harrap Books, London
*Brian Masters, ''Killing for Company'', 1985, London
*John Lisners, ''House of Horrors'', 1983, London
*Brian McConell and Douglas Bence, ''The Nilsen File'', 1983, London
==Trivia==
* [[Macabre (band)|Macabre]] made a song about Nilsen called "You're Dying to Be with Me". It appeared on their album ''[[Murder Metal]]'', which appeared in 2003.
==External links==
* [http://www.geocities.com/corkymcg/crime/proj004.html Biography of Dennis Nilsen and detailed information about the murders]
[[Category:1945 births|Nilsen, Dennis]]
[[Category:British serial killers|Nilsen, Dennis]]
[[Category:Living people|Nilsen, Dennis]]
[[Category:Necrophilia|Nielsen, Dennis]]
[[Category:Prisoners serving life sentences|Nilsen, Dennis]]
[[Category:Lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people|Nilsen, Dennis]]
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