Why Was Dennis Nilsen Called Des?

"He was somebody who was a champion of the downtrodden. He was somebody who was nice to people. But 'Des' was a construct that Dennis Nilsen had made in order to get people back to his flat and to kill them."

Is Des short for Dennis?

Des is NOT usually a nickname for some called Dennis. It is of course the shortened version of the name Desmond.

Is Des Based on Dennis Nilsen?

Here's the chilling true story behind David Tennant's Des and real-life British serial killer Dennis Nilsen. ... Des, on the other hand, is a more unflinching look behind Nilsen's depraved acts, thanks to its closer basis on Brian Masters' terrifying, seminal biography "Killing for Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen".