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Born
23 November 1945 in Fraserburgh, Scotland -
Grandfathers death
At age 6 Nilsen saw his grandfathers dead body at his funeral. Nilsen describes the event as traumatizing and the reason for his psychopathy -
Enlisted in the army
At age 16 Nilsen enlisted in the army, he became a cook and served as a butcher in the army catering corps, learning the skills that served him so well in his five-year killing spree. -
Leaving the army
Nilsen left the army in 1972 and began police training, where he became fascinated with morgue visits and autopsied bodies. Despite the obvious advantages police work gave to his grim tastes, Nilsen resigned and went on to become a recruitment interviewer. -
First incident with the police
David Painter, a young man whom Nilsen had met through his work, claimed that Nilsen had taken pictures of him while he was asleep. Painter was so angry that he required hospitalisation as a result of their confrontation. Nilsen was brought in for questioning about the incident, but was subsequently released without charge. -
Ended relationship with David Gallichan
After living with Gallichan for 2 years they ended they're releationship, Nilsen went on a downward spiral which led to his first murder 18 months later -
First Murder - Stephen Holmes
Nilsen met his first in a pub and invited him to his house. The next morning he didn't want his guest to leave. To stop him leaving he first strangled him with a tie then drowned him in a bucket. He then unsuccessfully attempted to have sex with the corpse then slept with it that night. Finally he hid the body under his floorboards for seven months before burning the body in his garden. Stephen was 14 years old. -
Second Murder- Kenneth Ockendon
Nilsen met the Canadian in London and they got on very well. They ended up at Nilsen's flat. Again Nilsen didn't want his companion to leave so strangled him with an electrical cable. He, like the first time, attempted to have sex with the corpse and hid it in the floor boards. He often removed the body from below his floor to watch TV and engage in conversation with the body. -
Murder of Martyn Duffey
Many of Nilsen's victims were disturbingly young. Duffey was just 16 and a runaway who had recently found himself homeless. After luring the victim in with the promise of a meal and a place to sleep for the night, he strangled Duffey in his sleep and again drowned him. He first placed the body in a cupboard before noticing bloating and decay so placed the corpse 'straight under the floorboards'. In 1980 alone Nilsen would go on to kill a further 5 victims. -
Murder of Billy Sutherland
Sutherland was a male prostitute. Nilsen didn't want to take him home, but Sutherland followed him home after they went bar hopping. Nilsen barely recalls strangling him and finding his body in the morning. -
Unidentified murders
Between November 1980 and may 1981 Nilsen killed seven men who were never identified. -
Arrested
Nilsen was arrested after human remains where found in a blocked drain at his home. -
Trial
Held at the Central Criminal Court Nilsen was accused of six murders and two attempted murders. -
Convicted
Nilsen was convicted of 6 counts of murder and 2 of attempted murder at the Old Bailey. Nilsen was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 25 years. -
Psycopathy
From the way in which Nilsen describes his actions, it's clear his psychopathic tendencies were disturbing. He said: ‘I have felt that since my teenage days that I am a creative psychopath. Since I have committed 15 killings and 8 attempted killings I feel able to go further on this self assessment.
‘In times of acute emotional pressure and under the triggering influence of alcohol, usually dormant mental forces have been released which have me made mine the actions of a destructive psychopath.’ -
Imprisonment
After his conviction Nilsen was transferred to Wormword Scrubs. He didn't lodge an appeal, accepting the courts decision.
