Dennis Nilsen death: Serial killer stowed bodies under floorboards

Dennis Nilsen, who has died in jail aged 72, was one of Britain's most infamous serial killers.

He is thought to have killed up to 15 young men in north London between 1978 and 1983 who were mostly homeless homosexuals.

The victims killed between 1978 and 1981 were murdered at his Cricklewood home and their remains were burned on a bonfire.

The final three victims were killed in 1982 and 1983 at his Muswell Hill home and the flesh and small bones were flushed down the toilet.

Nilsen was convicted and jailed in 1983 and died in prison on Saturday.

The killer usually met the victims in pubs and bars and lured them to their deaths, strangling them and sometimes drowning them.

He washed and dressed the bodies, sat with them for days or weeks before dismembering them, and carried out sexual acts with the corpses.

After removing their internal organs that were dumped nearby, he got rid of the remains.

He was caught by accident when a drain outside his home became blocked by the remains he tried to flush away.

Here is a list of his victims, some of whom remain unidentified:

:: Stephen Dean Holmes, aged 14. Murdered: 29 December 1978.

Nilsen met the teenager in a pub and invited him home. At the property, he was worried the teenager would try to leave and so he got a tie and tightened it around his neck.

Stephen was unconscious but not dead so Nilsen drowned him in a bucket of water. He kept the corpse under floorboards for nearly eight months and then burned the remains on a bonfire.

:: Kenneth Ockenden, aged 23. Murdered: 3 December 1979

Nilsen and Canadian Mr Ockenden drank together in a pub and ended up in Nilsen's flat. He strangled him with an electrical cord from headphones as Mr Ockenden listened to music and kept his body under the floorboards.

He took the corpse back out several times so they could sit together and watch TV.

:: Martyn Duffey, aged 16. Murdered: 17 May 1980

Nilsen strangled homeless man Martyn Duffey in bed. He was still alive so Nilsen took him to the kitchen and drown him in a sink full of water.

The body was placed in a cupboard for two days before being put under floorboards.

:: William Sutherland, aged 26. Murdered: August 1980

Nilsen barely recalls strangling him and finding a body in his home the next morning.

:: Unidentified male. September 1980

The victim was an Irish labourer whom he met in a pub. Nilsen later claimed to have fabricated this victim.

:: Unidentified male. October 1980

Nilsen described him as a slender male prostitute of either Filipino or Mexican heritage whom he met in a pub.

:: Unidentified male. November 1980

The victim was described by Nilsen as being an English homeless man who was sleeping in a doorway when they met. Nilsen strangled him at his home.

:: Unidentified male. November-December 1980

The victim an English "long-haired hippy" he had met in the West End. His body was kept beneath the floorboards until Nilsen removed the corpse, cut it into three pieces, then replaced the remains beneath the floorboards.

He burned the corpse one year later. Nilsen was to later claim to have fabricated this victim.

:: Unidentified male. January 1981

He was described as an "18-year-old, blue-eyed Scot" who wore a green tracksuit top and trainers and they had met in a pub in Soho. Nilsen dissected his body.

:: Unidentified male. February 1981

He was originally from Belfast and was slim. He was strangled with a tie.

:: Unidentified male. April 1981

Nilsen met the English skinhead at a food stall in Leceister Square. Nilsen hung this victim's naked torso in his bedroom for 24 hours, before placing the body beneath the floorboards.

Nilsen later claimed to have fabricated this victim.

:: Malcolm Barlow, aged 23. Murdered: 17 September 1981

Nilsen found Barlow, who had mental problems, loitering outside his home and invited him in where they drank together.

Nilsen then strangled him. He stowed the body under the kitchen sink as he had no more room under floorboards.

:: John Howlett, aged 23. Murdered: March 1982

The final three victims were killed in Muswell Hill. Howlett went to Nilsen's place to drink. Nilsen tried to get him to leave but he refused to go so Nilsen used an upholstery strap to strangle him.

Nilsen did not die so he dragged him into the bathroom and drowned him.

:: Graham Allen, aged 27. Murdered: September 1982

Allen was strangled with a ligature as he sat eating an omelette Nilsen had cooked for him

His body was kept in a bath for three days before Nilsen dissected his body on the kitchen floor.

:: Steve Sinclair, aged 20. Murdered: 26 January, 1983

At his home, Nilsen used a string-and-tie ligature to strangle Sinclair. He was the killer's last victim.