Nikolai Espolovich Dzhumagaliev was born on November 15, 1952, in Uzynagash, which is in the Kazakh SSR of the Soviet Union. He was the third of four children in his family and the only son. His father was Kazakh, and his mother was Belarusian.

Dzhumagaliev completed the ninth grade in school before enrolling in a railway school. After his graduation, he began working in Atyrau. In 1970, when he turned 18, he was drafted into the Soviet Army and served in chemical defense in Samarkand, located in the Uzbek SSR.

Once he finished his military service, he attempted to become a driver and also aimed to enter university. However, he was unable to achieve either of these goals. Instead, he chose to travel around the Soviet Union, exploring various places such as the Ural Mountains, Siberia, and Murmansk. During his travels, he tried out many jobs, including sailor, forwarder, electrician, and bulldozer operator.

In 1977, Dzhumagaliev returned to Uzynagash. There, he found work as a firefighter. In that same year, he contracted both syphilis and trichomoniasis, which are sexually transmitted infections.

Nikolai Espolovich Dzhumagaliev committed his first murder in January 1979. He carefully planned the attack and targeted a woman walking along a rural path near Uzynagash. Her body was found on January 25, 1979, but the police were unable to identify the killer. Dzhumagaliev went on to kill five more people that same year.

On August 21, 1979, he accidentally shot a fellow fireman while intoxicated and was arrested. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at a mental health facility. Miraculously, he was released less than a year later and returned home, where he continued his killing spree and murdered three additional victims.

Dzhumagaliev's capture happened after he invited friends and their girlfriends to his home. During the gathering, he killed one of the guests and started dismembering the body. Other guests discovered the horrifying scene and ran to report him to the police. When the police arrived, they found Dzhumagaliev covered in blood. Although they were shocked, he managed to escape into the mountains. He was recaptured the next day on December 19, 1980.

In 1981, he went to trial. Because of his mental health diagnosis, he was deemed insane and committed to a psychiatric facility for eight years. While he was in the news, a different killer, Alexander Skrynnik, was also active but was eventually apprehended.

On August 29, 1989, Dzhumagaliev escaped during a transfer to another hospital. He traveled across the USSR and allegedly committed more murders in Moscow and Kazakhstan. For several years, he was reported to be sighted in various locations but evaded capture. He spent much of his time hiding in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Eventually, Dzhumagaliev decided to turn himself in. In April 1991, he staged a minor theft and was arrested for stealing sheep. While in custody, he was recognized as the escaped cannibal and was sent back to a psychiatric hospital in Kazakhstan.

Dzhumagaliev remained in isolation from society where he worked on equipment repairs. He expressed hope for a future release despite his criminal past. In 2014, he faced charges for another murder committed in 1990. In January 2016, rumors circulated about a potential escape, but they were proven false when authorities tracked down the source.