Dennis Nilsen’s London lair to become £1.48M family home: Flat where serial killer murdered and buried 12 victims is being converted into six-bed house
- Serial killer Dennis Nilsen killed 12 or 13 young men in the North London property
- Council granted its owners permission to turn it into a six-bedroom family home
- He boiled and dissected his victims and stored their bodies under floorboards
The house where serial killer Dennis Nilsen boiled his victims and stored their bodies under the floorboards is set to be turned into a family home.
Nilsen – who died aged 72 five years ago yesterday – killed 12 or 13 men in the North London property after luring them back to his flat.
Known as the Muswell Hill Murderer, his murder spree at 195 Melrose Avenue continued from 1978 to 1981, when he moved. The Scot even had sex with the rotting corpses he stored in his grisly house.
But now the property in the leafy suburb of Cricklewood is set for a new lease of life – as the council grant its owners permission to turn it from two self-contained flats into a six-bedroom family home.
Brent Council, who approved the application, said: ‘The de conversion would create a well-proportioned and well lit family home.’
Known as the Muswell Hill Murderer, Dennis Nilsen’s murder spree at 195 Melrose Avenue (pictured) continued from 1978 to 1981, when he moved
He killed 12 or 13 men in the North London property after luring them back to his flat (pictured in 1983)
Sick Nilsen (pictured) – who died aged 72 five years ago yesterday – boiled his victims and stored their bodies under the floorboards
The local authority have welcomed the move – particularly as it is expected to reduce parking stresses on the suburban street.
There are no external alterations planned and the exterior of the house will remain just as Nilsen left it.
The property is being renovated by a professional couple who bought the two-bed flat in 2016 for £493,000.
NHS manager Bruno, who moved to London from Portugal 17 years ago, and partner Mathilde were not put off by its grisly past when they spotted the bargain price.
They admitted they did not know about the flat’s past when they viewed it, but the estate agent had advised them to Google the address.
Other flats along the road have recently sold for as much as £1,075,000.
The latest full property on the street sold for £1,480,000.
They have even planted fruit and vegetables in the garden the serial killer once used to burn his victims, raking their bones into the soil.
By 2018 they had transformed it into their dream home, and told the Sun of their plans to start a family there.
The property is being renovated by a professional couple who bought the two-bed flat in 2016 for £493,000. Pictured: Proposed layout plans
The council said that the property’s layout was noted to be ‘not typical of a single dwellinghouse’ – saying that the second living room could ‘comfortably accomodate’ a seventh bedroom. Pictured: Existing layout plans
Nilsen would usually strangle his victims – often with neckties – before chopping them up and burning them in his garden
Bruno said: ‘We know a lot of people would not live here. But from the moment people see what the place looks like, it puts that to rest.
READ MORE: Smirking serial killer Dennis Nilsen poses in briefs and a vest in never-before-seen prison cell photos
Serial killer Dennis Nilsen smiles arrogantly into the camera in his stark prison cell
‘We fell in love with it because we could see the opportunity to make a great home.’
Mathilde, who was born in France, added: ‘It’s a long time ago and maybe because we are foreigners — you quickly forget about it.’
The couple spruced up the property, with the floorboards that once hid dismembered corpses now replaced with waterproofed insulating concrete and modern timber flooring.
Nilsen would usually strangle his victims – often with neckties – before chopping them up and burning them in his garden.
He first moved to the Cricklewood flat in 1975 with his then-boyfriend, who left him shortly after.
The Job Centre worker and former police constable was finally arrested in 1983 after blocking drains with parts of his victims he had flushed down the toilet.
Seemingly oblivious to risk, Nilsen audaciously complained to a waste company about the blockage and asked for it to be resolved because he and other residents were suffering as a result.
A Dyno-Rod plumber called police after finding their remains being eaten by rats – although Nilsen told him it looked like KFC chicken.
The couple spruced up the property, with the floorboards that once hid dismembered corpses now replaced with waterproofed insulating concrete and modern timber flooring
In 2018, a couple revealed how they transformed the Cricklewood flat (pictured) into their dream home – insisting that they were not put off by its gory history and are proud of how they turned the ‘house of horrors’ into a comfortable abode
The house was bought by a NHS manager from Portugal and his French-born partner for £493,000 in 2016. Pictured, the Cricklewood flat after renovations
The couple admitted they did not know about the flat’s past when they viewed it, but the estate agent had advised them to Google the address. Pictured, the kitchen in the Cricklewood home after renovations
READ MORE: Dennis Nilsen’s prison guards recall how the serial killer who murdered 15 men and dismembered their bodies went from ‘arrogant’ to a ‘shell of a man’ behind bars
Serial killer Nilsen stayed at HMP Full Sutton from 2001 until his death in 2018
The following day, after inspecting another section of pipe, he and his supervisor discovered what they thought were bones of a human hand.
Dubbed the Muswell Hill Murderer, Nilsen immediately confessed to as many as 15 murders – he couldn’t be quite sure – after being questioned by police in 1983.
During his killing spree, Nilsen would befriend his vulnerable subjects in pubs and bars in London before luring them into his flat with the promise of alchohol and shelter, first in Melrose Avenue, Cricklewood, and later in Cranley Gardens.
Most of his victims were homosexual or homeless men who he would pick up in bars across London or on the street.
More than 1,000 teeth and bone fragments were found by police in the property’s garden and a field behind the house.
He would murder them and sit with their corpses before dismembering them – earning the nickname ‘the Kindly Killer’ because he believed his methods were humane.
He would give some baths and sleep next to them in bed.
Once arrested he told police how he boiled the heads of his victims in a large cooking pot to dispose of their brains.
In 2020, David Tennant starred as the serial killer in ITV drama Des – following the life of the notorious murderer.
The new development of his former home will include six bedrooms spread across three floors, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms a kitchen and a living area on the ground floor.
Dubbed the Muswell Hill Murderer, Nilsen immediately confessed to as many as 15 murders – he couldn’t be quite sure – after being questioned by police in 1983
During his killing spree, Nilsen would befriend his vulnerable subjects in pubs and bars in London before luring them into his flat with the promise of alchohol and shelter, first in Melrose Avenue, Cricklewood, and later in Cranley Gardens. Pictured: Equiptment used by Dennis Nilsen to deal with his victims’ bodies
Most of his victims were homosexual or homeless men who he would pick up in bars across London or on the street. Pictured: Police in the garden of 195 Melrose Avenue in 1983 prior to digging
Pictured: Police digging up squared off sections of the garden of 195 Melrose Avenue
More than 1,000 teeth and bone fragments were found by police in the property’s garden and a field behind the house. Pictured: Sieves are taken into the back garden of 195 Melrose Avenue in 1983 as police searched for remains
In the area where the serial killer carved up bodies on stone slabs there is now a study, while directly above and next door are bedrooms.
On the second floor there will be three bedrooms, a bathroom and another living space.
The council said that the property’s layout was noted to be ‘not typical of a single dwellinghouse’ – saying that the second living room could ‘comfortably accomodate’ a seventh bedroom.
But on the third floor, there is another bedroom and the house’s fourth bathroom.
Source: Read Full Article