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Dennis Andrew Nielsen
(November 23, 1945 - living) Scotland

Dennis Nielsen

Serial killer

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Dennis Nielsen was born in Fraserburgh, Scotland, the only child of Betty and Olav Nilsen. In 1961, he enlisted in the army and became a cook in the Army Catering Corps, which is how he learned butchery.

In 1972, he trained to become a policeman. One of the experiences he recalled was seeing autopsied bodies in a morgue. He found himself fascinated. Nevertheless, this job was not for him and after a year, he resigned. He got employment as a job interviewer and remained with that until his arrest.

In 1975, he moved into 195 Melrose Place in north London-a ground floor flat with a garden - with a man named David Gallichan, who denied that their friendship was homosexual. They bought a puppy, which they named Bleep, and then added a cat.

Two years later, with their diverse personalities causing considerable distress to both, Nilsen ordered Gallichan to leave. Afterward, however, he felt very afraid that he would end up alone. "Loneliness is a long unbearable pain", he wrote. He threw himself into his work, became increasingly more political, drank more, and watched a lot of television.

The killings began a year and a half after Gallichan left. Working as a civil servant he became the U.K.'s most prolific serial killer; he picked up young men from gay pubs in London, brought them in his home, made love to them, then strangled them in their sleep.

He kept the bodies of his mutilated lovers in his apartment before disposing of them in his garden. He reportedly killed at least fifteen times. On October of 1983, after being found guilty on all counts, Dennis Nielsen was sentenced to life in prison.

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