Nikolai Dzhumagaliev (born November 15, 1952) is a convicted Soviet necrophiliac cannibal serial killer. Hailing from Uzynagash, Kazakh SSR (modern day Kazakhstan), Dzhumagaliev slaughtered and feasted upon 10 people that police know of between 1979 – 1980, though authorities believe he may be responsible for up to 100 murders total. During his youth his teeth were smashed out in a fight and he had a set of distinctive sharpened metal chompers custom created, earning him the nickname Metal Fang.

[[inline “metal-fang-nikolai-dzhumagaliev-3.jpg” “Metal Fang”]]

Metal Fang is not your stereotypical serial killer. He never tortured animals as a kid. He didn’t piss his bed. He wasn’t whacking off in Mama’s panties. There was no late night sneaky uncle. In fact he lived with his parents and three sisters in a happy family environment. He is charming, well-spoken, intelligent and handsome. He is more of a Hannibal Lecter type serial killer. After leaving school he worked for a time at a railway in Atyrau, before being conscripted into the Soviet Army to work on chemical weapons. When his service ended he travelled for a while before returning home and taking on a job as a fire-fighter.

Metal Fang planned his first kill meticulously, which he later remembered fondly after his eventual apprehension:

“I always loved to hunt, often went hunting, but this was my first time hunting a woman. When I went out on the Uzun-agach-Maibulak track, I saw some young peasant woman. She was alone. I felt my heart pound within me and I ran after her. Hearing my footsteps, she turned around, but I caught up with her and put my arm around her neck, dragged her to the side of the landfill. She resisted, and then I cut her throat with a knife. Then I drank her blood. At this point, from the village appeared Bus Factory. I laid down on the ground and crouched next to the murder. While I was lying in my cold hands. When the bus drove, I warmed my hands on the woman’s body and stripped her naked. I cut the corpse’s breast into strips, removed the ovaries, separated the pelvis and hips; I then folded these pieces into a backpack and carried them home. I melted the fat to fry with, and some parts I pickled. Once I put the parts through a meat grinder and made dumplings. I saved the meat for myself; I never served it to anyone else. Twice I grilled the heart and the kidneys. Grilled meat, too. But it was tough, and cook it for a long time had its own fat. The meat of this woman took me a month to eat. The first time I ate human flesh through the power, and then used.”

Throughout 1979, Metal Fang is known to have killed at least 6 more people. He dined on their flesh and organs. He even threw macabre dinner parties at home, inviting friends over for a sumptuous banquet where they would unknowingly eat the murder victims. Metal Fang always kept the choicest cuts for himself, believing that dining on the ‘long pig’ (cannibalistic euphemism for human flesh) gave him special powers. On August 21 of that year, he got stinking drunk and accidentally shot a friend. He was arrested and diagnosed as schizophrenic, but he was out in under a year, at which point he immediately resumed hunting and killing people, committing at least 3 more cannibal murders.

Chief of the Moscow Criminal Police and Minister of the Interior Yuri Dubyagin holding sketches of Metal Fang.

Metal Fang’s next dinner party would be the undoing of his initial reign of terror. As usual several guests were present. He lured one woman to a back room under the pretence of needing assistance. While he was out of the room one of his guests screamed as he opened the fridge to help himself to a drink, only to be greeted with the sight of the severed head of Metal Fang’s latest victim. The leftovers were staring back at him from the icebox with cold, dead eyes, the mouth twisted and frozen in a silent scream of horror. Meanwhile, another scream came from the back room. The guests rushed to investigate. They found Metal Fang bent over the corpse of the unfortunate guest he had lured away, dismembering her with a hatchet. They fled into the night and raised the alarm. Police arrived to find Metal Fang kneeling over the body, naked and smeared with blood. They were so shocked that Metal Fang was able to escape into the nearby mountains, still nude and armed with his hatchet. He didn’t get far – he was captured the next day, 19 December 1980.

At trial, Metal Fang was found not guilty by reason of insanity, being remanded to a loony bin in Tashkent, Uzbekistan to undergo psychiatric treatment. In a scene straight out of a horror film, Metal Fang escaped in 1989 whilst being moved to another facility. He hid in the Kyrgyzstan mountains where he likely carried on his killing spree. Nearly 2 years later he was recaptured in April of ’91 in Fergana, Uzbekistan. Importantly, authorities at the time did not make his escape known to the public for fear of causing a panic.

It is believed that Metal Fang has escaped custody once again, breaking out from the mental hospital where he was being held on December 23, 2015. Several terrified witnesses have reported sightings of the cannibal around Almaty, Kazakhstan since the escape and he is believed to have abducted and killed 22-year-old Saida Akzhanova, who has been missing since New Year’s Eve 2015.

Authorities have refused to comment on the accusation, fuelling speculation that they are remaining tight-lipped like they did the last time Metal Fang escaped due to concerns over inciting widespread public panic.