Family of Dennis Nilsen’s victims furious at decision to publish gruesome memoirs
FURIOUS relatives of Dennis Nilsen’s victims have blasted a decision to publish his grisly memoirs. The psychopath killed at least 12 men between 1978 and 1983, most of them rough sleepers or others he met in pubs. He chopped up their bodies, burying them or stuffing the bits down the drain. Nilsen’s bid to get […]
FURIOUS relatives of Dennis Nilsen’s victims have blasted a decision to publish his grisly memoirs.
The psychopath killed at least 12 men between 1978 and 1983, most of them rough sleepers or others he met in pubs.
He chopped up their bodies, burying them or stuffing the bits down the drain.
Nilsen’s bid to get his autobiography published in the 1990s was blocked by the Government.
But the new book, History of a Drowning Boy, has been put together from thousands of pages of notes he made in jail before his death aged 72 in 2018.
In it, he confesses to the murder and sexual abuse of two previously unknown men.
He denies being a cannibal but admits he considered eating a victim or feeding “a small chunk” to his dog.
Nilsen also reveals he was a suspect in the murder of a cabbie in Germany by fellow soldier Leslie Grantham, the EastEnders actor.
The book suggests he was a paedophile from an early age, detailing sex with a “boy servant” while in the Army.
Nilsen also writes that he wishes he had died as a child after being molested by his grandfather at age five.
Julie Bentley, whose brother, Carl Stottor, survived a murder attempt by Nilsen, called the book “morally wrong”.
She said her brother, who died in 2013 after battling booze and depression, “fought all his life” to stop the memoirs’ publication.
Of Nilsen, he said: “When that evil man died, I thought it was over. Why should he have his say?”
A friend of another bereaved relative said: “It’s as if he’s still laughing at us from beyond the grave.”
Former Tory prisons minister Ann Widdecombe said there was “no good reason” to block publication given the time since the crimes, so long as no one cashes in.
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After his death, Nilsen’s notes were passed to graphic designer Mark Austin who had been his jail “pen-pal”.
Mr Austin, 54, edited the papers and has found a publisher.
He says royalties will go to charity.
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