S14 Ep12: The Dennis Nilsen Story Pt 1
Blood Ties Podcast
Peter Shevlin
4.4 • 668 Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Blood Ties with Geoffrey and Molly Wansell confronts one of Britain’s most chilling killers: Dennis Nilsen. Calm, calculated, and hiding in plain sight, he murdered at least twelve young men between 1978 and 1983. Luring victims back to his North London flats, he strangled them, then carried out grotesque rituals, keeping bodies for days, even weeks, before dismembering and disposing of them. It is a story that still shocks.
Dubbed the Muswell Hill Murderer, Nilsen was finally caught and convicted at the Old Bailey, sentenced to life, later a whole life term. But the question remains: how did he get away with it for so long?
Geoffrey and Molly Wansell dig into the detail, the failures, and the psychology behind the headlines, asking what made Nilsen who he was, and why nobody stopped him sooner.
CREDITS:
Presenters: Geoffrey and Molly Wansell
Producer: Peter Shevlin https://pod60.com/
Artwork: George Leigh
Music: Dan Wansell
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This week on Blood Ties. |
| 0:13.0 | By the end of 1978, you have this, a job centre clerk |
| 0:22.1 | mostly looking for work for unskilled labourers |
| 0:25.3 | Impossibly lonely |
| 0:34.7 | a complete fantasy life of his own |
| 0:37.4 | around this concept of sex with a lifeless body. |
| 0:50.3 | And so you have this breeding ground for what was to become a relentless trail of murder. |
| 1:18.6 | Music Hi, I'm Molly Wonsall. And I'm Geoffrey Wonsall. |
| 1:20.6 | We're a father and daughter, as those of you who listened to Blood Ties in the past will remember, |
| 1:24.6 | and we meet every week and often our conversation has turned to murder, |
| 1:29.0 | which is why we originally launched Blood Ties and why we've now decided to bring it back in its new, |
| 1:35.3 | fresher form. |
| 1:36.2 | We're really excited to be back, and we would love it if you could also check out our Patreon. |
| 1:41.2 | Just search Blood Ties on Patreon. |
| 1:43.2 | Thanks so much. |
| 1:44.0 | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 1:48.5 | Hi everyone. Welcome back to the Blood Ties podcast. I'm Molly Wansall and I'm here with my |
| 1:54.4 | father, Jeffrey Wansall. Hello everyone. Welcome back to Blood Ties 2.0. This is an archive episode. |
| 2:03.0 | In fact, there are two archive episodes about a man called Dennis Nielsen, who was sometimes known as the Muswell Hill murderer. |
| 2:09.0 | Nielsen was an extraordinary man, born in Fraserborough in Northern Scotland. And I've |
| 2:16.5 | always been fascinated by him, and I helped to make a documentary Netflix |
| 2:20.7 | did about him using his tapes of his voice. But one of the things I found interesting, and it's |
... |
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