"Katherine Ramsland - dennis_nilsen_the_dangerous_stranger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ramsland Katherine)

Nilsen's Mistake



The last body Nilsen dissected-that of Stephen Sinclair--got the same treatment as the two preceding it. He boiled the head, hands, and feet, and placed the rest in plastic bags. He put one part in a cubbyhole in the bathroom and others went into the tea chest. Some of the flesh and organs were flushed down the toilet.



Nilsen may also have dumped some large pieces, because a man found a bag ripped apart near his garden, some distance away from NilsenТs, which contained what looked like a rib cage and a spinal column. He did not report it and it disappeared within a few days. It was never tied to Nilsen.

There were five other tenants at 23 Cranley Gardens, but none of them knew Nilsen very well. During the first week of February, one of them noticed that the downstairs toilet was not flushing properly. He tried to clear the blockage with acid, to no avail. Other toilets seemed to be functioning as poorly, but Nilsen denied that he was having any problems. A plumber arrived to investigate, but his tools did not work. He called in a specialist.

Nilsen feared that his own activities might be at the heart of the problems downstairs, so he stuffed the rest of SinclairТs body into plastic bags, along with the partially boiled head. He locked the remains into the closet. He stopped flushing the toilet.

Two days later, in the evening, a company called Dyno-Rod arrived to examine the blockage. Deciding it was underground, the technician, Michael Cattran, went into a manhole by the side of the house.


He noticed a peculiar smell. Cattran was convinced it was from something dead. He spotted sludge about eight inches thick on the floor of the sewer and found that it was composed of thirty to forty pieces of flesh. It had come from the pipe leading from the house. He reported his find to his superiors. The tenants gathered around him as he phoned, including Nilsen, and he mentioned that they might have to call the police. First, however, his company would do a better analysis by daylight. He then took Nilsen and one of the other tenants back outside with him to see the pile of rotting flesh.

Nilsen returned at midnight to remove the particles of flesh and dumped them over the fence. He thought about replacing them with pieces of chicken from the store, and then pondered suicide. Instead he sat alone in his flat and drank, surrounded by the body parts of three men.

However, the downstairs tenants had noticed his movements. When Cattran returned and found the sewer cleaned out, the tenants told him their suspicions. From deep inside the sewer, he pulled out one piece of foul-smelling meat and called the police.

At work on the day of February 9, 1983, Nilsen told a co-worker, УIf IТm not in tomorrow, IТll either be ill, dead, or in jail.Ф They both laughed.

But Nilsen sensed something coming. When he stepped into the dark hallway to go to his flat, he saw three men waiting for him.

Detective Chief Inspector Jay told him they had come about his drains. He told Nilsen that human remains blocked them.

Nilsen exclaimed in dismay, and then asked, УWhere did it come from?Ф

They pointed out that it could only have come from his own flat, and asked about the rest of the body.

Nilsen gave up and said he would come to the station. He knew his rights and admitted that he wanted to talk, and talk he did, as he unburdened himself in sickening detail. The more he talked, the more the police realized that they had been given clues over the past four years and had they acted differently, might have stopped the killing spree much sooner.

A search of NilsenТs closet uncovered several bags of male remains in various stages of decomposition.



These were taken to a mortuary for examination. Nilsen told them to look in the tea chest and under a drawer in the bathroom. He also pointed them toward his former apartment where he had killed Уtwelve or thirteenФ men. He admitted that there were seven others whom he had tried to kill and had failed.

In the police station, Nilsen said, УThe victim is the dirty platter after the feast and the washing up is an ordinary clinical task.Ф


Nilsen's Confession




Nilsen began to spill out the details of his murders at once, despite being cautioned. His formal questioning began on February 11th. It lasted over thirty hours, spread throughout the week. Nilsen talked about his techniques and helped the police to identify parts of the victims. He did not really require much prompting. The information flooded out, as if to purge his conscience and get rid of every possible memory. He made no digressions and did not plead for compassion. He also exhibited no remorse. He claimed later that his professional training allowed him to feign calmness so the officials could take down the information. He told them what they would need for conviction, but nothing personal. Privately, he was afraid and deeply disturbed by what he had done.