Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
Maultaschen are a speciality of Swabian cuisine. These small pasta pockets, traditionally filled with minced meat, are considered the quintessential Swabian national dish and are now known far beyond the borders of Swabia. A true lover of these dumplings was Nikolai Schumaghalijew, better known as Kolja the Man-Eater and Metal Fangs, as his dentures were made of white gold. He loved making Maultaschen himself and then serving them to his guests, who devoured Nikolai’s Maultaschen with relish. They had no idea that the main ingredient in Nikolai’s Maultaschen was human flesh. For Nikolai was a self-confessed cannibal and serial killer who had taken over 100 lives, mostly women whom he hated with a passion. Nikolai Jespoluly Schumaghalijew was born on 15 November 1952 in Usunagatsch, Kazakhstan. He committed his first murder in 1980 at his parents’ home in Almaty. There, he beheaded a woman, chopped off her limbs and then drank her blood. For this crime, he was admitted to a psychiatric institution in 1980, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This allowed him to escape the death penalty. Nikolai managed to escape from there in the same year. He initially went into hiding in Russia’s capital, Moscow. Eleven years passed before he was arrested in Uzbekistan in 1991 and taken to a secure institution. After three years, he was released from there into the care of his family, as Nikolai’s sister had bribed the doctor. From then on, Nikolai hid in the mountains not far from his hometown until the doctor’s corruption came to light. From then on, a manhunt was launched for Nikolai, who was caught and arrested by soldiers in 1995 whilst attempting to climb over the fence of a government building. Only eight murders could be proven against Nikolai, as he was extremely careful in disposing of the bodies. He not only ate their flesh, but also burned their bones and ground their teeth to powder. All the victims had been raped, killed and mutilated before Nikolai ate them. Nikolai was admitted to a psychiatric institution. Rumours circulated that he had escaped from there.
