The Death of the Perm Cannibal: How a Convicted Killer Lived Free After Prison

Mikhail Malyshev, known as the “Perm cannibal,” has died at the age of 65. Convicted of murder and acts that shocked even veteran investigators, Malyshev served a full 23-year sentence — and was released in 2022.For three years, he lived freely in Perm, in the same apartment linked to his crimes. Neighbors feared him, authorities monitored him loosely, and Malyshev himself denied much of what had been proven in court.This episode retraces the criminal case that haunted Perm for decades, the failures of the system that allowed a convicted killer to return to everyday life, and the uneasy relief felt by a city after his death.From Russia with Fear — stories where punishment ends, but fear does not.