Agonising last gasp of merciless serial killer: Notorious British murderer Dennis Nilsen who slayed 15 victims and hid their bodies died in hospital from burst artery after surgery to remove blood clot
- Serial killer Dennis Nilsen died in hospital from a burst artery, inquest told
- The 72-year-old, who murdered 15 men was pronounced dead on May 12
- Two days earlier he woke in his cell and complained of stomach pains
Serial killer Dennis Nilsen died in hospital from a burst artery after surgery to remove a blood clot, an inquest heard.
The 72-year-old, who murdered 15 men and hid their bodies, was pronounced dead on May 12 two days after waking and complaining of stomach pains.
Nilsen, who was an inmate at Full Sutton Prison in East Yorkshire, was taken to York District Hospital on Thursday, May 10 an inquest at Hull Coroners Court heard on Friday.
Coroner’s officer Gary Lynch said he was found to have a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm which was repaired but he then suffered an blood clot as a complication of the surgery.
Mr Lynch said Nilsen died two days later after his condition deteriorated.
Denis Nilsen, 72, died on May 12 two days after waking and complaining of stomach pains. He is believed to have killed as many as 15 men, most of them homeless homosexuals, at his north London home in Muswell Hill (right)
He said that a subsequent post-mortem examination showed that the mass murderer’s immediate cause of death was pulmonary embolism and retroperitoneal haemorrhage.
He said the underlying causes of this were deep vein thrombosis and “abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture repair”.
The coroner’s officer confirmed there were no objections to the authorisation of Nilsen’s body for release.
Professor Marks said: ‘I am happy to sign the paperwork for the body of Dennis Nilsen to be returned to his next of kin for funeral arrangements to be made.’
Nilsen was jailed for life with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 25 years in 1983, on six counts of murder and two of attempted murder
Nilsen, who was an inmate at Full Sutton Prison in East Yorkshire, became known as the Muswell Hill murderer after he carried out a murderous spree of near-unparalleled savagery in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Scottish murderer is believed to have killed as many as 15 men, most of them homeless homosexuals, at his north London home.
After luring his victims to their death, Nilsen would often sit with their corpses for days before dismembering them.
His warped crimes were only detected by chance – when a drain outside his home on Cranley Gardens, Muswell Hill, became blocked by the human remains he had tried to flush away.
Nilsen, seen here being driven to the Old Bailey, was only caught when a drain outside his home on Cranley Gardens, Muswell Hill, became blocked by the human remains he had tried to flush away
He was jailed for life with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 25 years in 1983, on six counts of murder and two of attempted murder.
This was later upgraded to a whole-life tariff.
Nilsen’s house of horrors in Muswell Hill has been on the market several times since and is still occupied today, with flowers visible in the attic window.
A spokesman for the Prison Service said earlier this week that, as with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
Prof Marks adjourned the five-minute long hearing saying a date for the full inquest had yet to be fixed.
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