'Chilling' Dennis Nilsen survivor interview resurfaces as Des hits Netflix chart: 'I thought he was trying to help me'
Carl Stotter was targeted by Dennis Nilsen when he was 21
Dennis Nilsen, the serial killer played by David Tennant in Des on Netflix, had more than a dozen victims – including his survivors.
Nilsen murdered at least 12 young boys and men between 1978 and 1983. However, some of his victims lived to tell the tale of their encounters with the killer – including Carl Stotter.
Stotter (portrayed by Laurie Kynaston in the TV series) testified against his attacker, helping to secure Nilsen’s conviction. While standing in court, he famously said: “That’s what I don’t understand. Is he my murderer or my saviour?”
While Stotter died in 2013, there has been renewed interest in his story since Des aired on ITV in 2020. For those who’ve watched the true crime drama on Netflix, YouTube has a rare video interview with Stotter, and he describes his experience with Nilsen.
Dennis Nilsen survivor explains how serial killer tried to murder him
Originally airing on ITV in 2003 as part of the Real Crime docu-series, the video features Stotter recounting exactly what happened when he met Nilsen.
“I was 21 when he tried to kill me,” he recalls.
“He invited me back to his place. We got into a cab and went to Cranley Gardens. We had a couple of drinks and we were listening to some music; I think it was Laurie Anderson’s O Superman.”
When Stotter walked into the house, he noticed there was a slight smell. He attributed it to Nilsen’s age and the fact that he had a dog, and didn’t think much else of it.
“Obviously, what I didn’t realise was that there were decaying bodies in the house,” he says in the video.
They went to bed together, and Nilsen told him to be careful with the sleeping bag zip, “because [he] might get caught up in it”.
“I woke up with the sleeping bag zip around my neck, and as I put my hands up to feel where the pressure was coming from, I thought Nilsen was trying to help me out,” he explains.
“The next thing I remember is being immersed in cold water, which was when he tried to drown me.”
Carl Stotter reveals why Dennis Nilsen let him live
But Stotter didn’t die. When he came to, Nilsen told him he had to put him in cold water because he was in shock.
He let Stotter leave and, when he got to the hospital, the doctor told him somebody had tried to kill him. “The thing is… if somebody’s going to try and kill you, they’re not going to let you walk out of their house,” he says in the documentary.
Three months later, Stotter started having recurring dreams about what happened. When the police spoke to him, “it dovetailed completely with what Nilsen said,” according to former detective sergeant Chris Healey.
“I was told afterwards that he had actually given me heart massage and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Nilsen claimed it was because “what passed between [them] was a thin strand of love and humanity.”
“The police said it was simply because there wasn’t enough room in the flat to have another body,” Stotter explains. “It was his intention to kill me. He went out to look for a victim, and he found one.”
You can watch the whole YouTube video with Stotter and more below.
