From 1979 to 1981, Nikolai Dzhumagaliev (nicknamed Metal Fang by the press) brutally murdered at least seven young women in his home country of Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union, the nation that is known today as Kazakhstan. Unlike Alexander Pichushkin, who killed mostly men, Dzhumagaliev targeted women to rape, kill, and even cannibalize. Over the course of just two years, Dzhumagaliev took the lives of several victims, making him one of the world's most notorious Soviet serial killers.
While his manner of killing was particularly gruesome, the acts he subjected his victims to after death are what make Dzhumagaliev one of the Soviet Union's most disturbing murderers. Incredibly, this confessed Kazakh serial killer might not even be in custody today. Dzhumagaliev could actually be free at this very moment, hunting for his latest victim somewhere in Kazahkstan, Russia, or beyond. So, lock your doors before you read on to uncover some grisly facts about Dzhumagaliev and his sickening methods of murder.
Disturbing And Fascinating Facts About "Metal Fang," Soviet Serial Killer Nikolai Dzhumagaliev, crime, serial killers, other, True crime,
His Final Victim's Remains Were Discovered By Two Of His Guests
Dzhumagaliev's crimes were discovered on December 18, 1981, when he invited two men to his home in Uzynagash, Kazakhstan. Apparently, when the two went into their host's kitchen, they found the severed head of Dzhumagaliev's latest victim. Shocked and frightened by the horrifying discovery, the two men fled Dzhumagaliev's home. When the police arrived a short while later, Dzhumagaliev managed to escape the authorities, but he was arrested the following day at his cousin's home.
A Hungarian Poet And Philosopher Wrote A Story About Him
In 2011, Hungarian philosopher and poet István Cs. Bartos posted a video of himself reading a short story he'd written about Dzhumagaliev. The story is called Igaz Történet a Kazahsztáni Kannibálról, which is Hungarian for True Story of the Kazakstani Cannibal. Interestingly, Bartos has referred to himself as a "philosophical cannibal," and during his work as a performance artist, he has consumed human bodily fluids. However, unlike Dzhumagaliev, Bartos didn't consume another person's blood. Instead, the voluntarily homeless Hungarian artist is known for drinking his own urine and eating his own feces.
He Escaped From Police Custody
In 1989, Dzhumagaliev escaped from police custody while he was being moved to another facility. For two years, Dzhumagaliev remained at large. His exact whereabouts during this two-year span are unknown, although investigators believe Dzhumagaliev may have been living in the Kyrgystan mountains while he was a fugitive. However, after more than two years on the run, the cannibal serial killer was captured in Uzbekistan in April 1991.
He Raped His Victims
Dzhumagaliev raped his victims, reportedly before killing them and even after they were dead, making him a necrophiliac. According to Dzhumagaliev, he enjoyed the process of finding his victims, which he referred to as "hunting a woman." In addition to raping his victims vaginally before and after killing them, Dzhumagaliev allegedly used his penis to penetrate the stab wounds he inflicted on young women with his knife. Incredibly, raping his victims' wounds wasn't even the most disturbing act Dzhumagaliev subjected his victims to after murdering them.
He May Have Killed 50 To 100 People
While Dzhumagaliev was tried for murdering seven women from 1979 to 1981, some experts believe he may have killed 50 to 100 victims. In an interview after he was recaptured in 1989, Dzhumagaliev claimed he murdered sex workers because he wanted to "rid the world of prostitutes." However, not all of Dzhumagaliev's known victims were sex workers, making it more likely his murders were motivated by his admitted hatred of all women and not by a mission to end prostitution.
His Nickname Is Metal Fang
As a young man, Dzhumagaliev's front teeth were knocked out during a fight, requiring false teeth replacements. However, instead of receiving teeth comprised of plastic or acrylic resin, Dzhumagaliev's new front teeth were made from white metal. Consequently, when his gruesome crimes of rape, murder, dismemberment, and cannibalism came to light, the press dubbed him "Metal Fang" because of his unusual teeth. In addition to being called Metal Fang, he was known as "Kolya the Man-eater," with Kolya being the diminutive for his first name, Nikolai.
He May Have Fed His Victims' Flesh To Other People
According to some reports, Dzhumagaliev didn't keep the flesh from his victims all to himself. Allegedly, Dzhumagaliev used his victims' body parts to make ethnic dishes like "manty," a traditional type of Mongolian dumpling. Then, Dzhumagaliev served these meals to his dinner guests, watching as they unknowingly feasted on human flesh. However, after Dzhumagaliev was captured, he denied making his friends unwitting cannibals, stating: "I saved the meat for myself; I never served it to anyone else."
He Was Found Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity
Shortly after he was arrested at his cousin's home on December 19, 1981, Dzhumagaliev was tried for multiple counts of murder. However, Dzhumagaliev had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.
While schizophrenia is a very serious mental disorder that impacts how people behave, think, and feel, the majority of people with schizophrenia do not commit acts of violence. Dzhumagaliev spent eight years in a secure mental hospital in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he presumably received treatment for schizophrenia until 1989.
He Mutilated And Cannibalized His Victims
After murdering his victims by stabbing them to death with a knife or attacking them with an axe, Dzhumagaliev dismembered their corpses. According to Dzhumagaliev, he removed his first victim's ovaries and cut her breasts into strips, which he placed in his backpack and took back to his home. Dzhumagaliev also said that at the scene of his first murder, he drank the young woman's blood after slitting her throat.
The confessed serial killer told the authorities that he melted his victims' flesh to create fat that he used to fry his food and also claimed he made dumplings filled with human flesh he'd put through a meat grinder. According to Dzhumagaliev, it took him a month to eat all of the flesh he'd taken from just one of his victims' bodies.
He Murdered Several Women
Over the course of two years, Nikolai Dzhumagaliev murdered at least seven women, killing his first victim in January 1979 when he was 27 years old. He attacked his first victim while she was walking alone in an isolated area. After choking the young woman with his arm, Dzhumagaliev dragged her to a landfill and killed her by slitting her throat with a knife. He murdered many of his other victims near the riverfront in a public park after he lured them to a secluded area and hacked them to death with an axe.