Anatoly Huseinovich Nagiyev was born on January 26, 1958, in Angarsk, a city in the Irkutsk Oblast of Russia. His family comes from Dagestan, but some sources suggest they might be Ingush or Kazakh. Nagiyev was one of three children in his family. When he was young, the family moved to the Kursk Oblast and settled in the city of Sudzha.

As a child, Nagiyev participated in sports, especially athletic gymnastics. However, he showed aggressive behavior from an early age. He struggled with his relationships with girls, likely influenced by his short stature of 1.57 meters. Some girls reportedly ignored him, which may have contributed to his difficulties in social situations.

In May and June of 1975, Nagiyev was involved in three rapes. As a result, he was sentenced to six years in prison. He served his sentence at a facility in the Komi ASSR, which is now part of Russia. Due to his good behavior, he was released on parole in 1979. After his release, he began working in the village of Chikshino in the Pechora region of the Komi ASSR.

Following his release, Nagiyev secured employment in the village of Chikshino, located in the Pechora region of the Komi ASSR. On January 30, 1979, in Pechora, he raped and murdered Olga Demyanenko in her apartment. Later that year, on May 28, he assaulted and killed Daria Kravchenko, a train passenger en route to Pechora, concealing her body in the luggage compartment. Some accounts suggest Kravchenko was targeted due to her resemblance to Soviet singer Alla Pugacheva.​

Nagiyev then returned to Kursk, working as a projectionist for a mobile cinema, which allowed him significant travel. On July 4, 1980, aboard a "Moscow-Kharkiv" train, he raped and murdered four women—two conductors, Derevyanko and Zizyulina, and two passengers, Maria Lopatkina and Tatiana Kolesnikova—disposing of their bodies by throwing them out of the train in the Oryol area. Between November 1979 and September 1980, he committed over 30 rapes across various Soviet locales.​

Authorities apprehended Nagiyev on September 12, 1980, in Dnipro. Initially detained in Oryol, he attempted an escape but was recaptured and transferred to a more secure facility in Kursk. During his incarceration, Nagiyev confessed to multiple crimes and revealed intentions to kill Alla Pugacheva, having traveled to Moscow several times in pursuit.​

The Kursk Regional Court sentenced Nagiyev to death on July 2, 1981. Transferred to Novocherkassk prison for execution, he escaped on August 19, 1981, but was recaptured on September 29 after a confrontation resulting in gunshot wounds. Following medical treatment, Anatoly Nagiyev was executed by firing squad on October 28, 1981, in Novocherkassk prison.