- Three young women die, and investigations lead the Homicide detectives into the field of psychiatry, and to a mentally deranged man who has become a criminal through misfortune, and whom they fear will kill again.
- In one week, there have been three brutal murders committed in Melbourne. A note with the words "For pity's sake, STOP ME!" is left on each of the three bodies. The police have been pulling out all of the stops in an attempt to catch the nut-case, but all of their paths seem to lead to dead ends. They put out warnings on radio and television that advise women to be on their guard. A report of a prowler soon comes in, and Senior Detective David Mackay (Leonard Teale) and Detective Sergeant Frank Bronson (Terry McDermott) are then dispatched to look into it.
When Mackay and Bronson meet the woman who reported the prowler, Jan Whelan (Anne Charleston), she also wants to let them know that her husband John (Alister Smart) has been missing for three days. Jan has some marks on her that appear to suggest to the detectives that she has been the victim of domestic violence, but she tells them that lately John has been going through a rough patch. The detectives add John Whelan to their list of suspects.
John, who is the triple murderer, and has a few screws loose in his head, pays a visit to Doctor Hill (Joe James), a doctor of psychiatry in an attempt to find out about his blackouts and other issues. When he gets nothing that is of help to him, he heads back out into the streets. Hill realises that John is becoming mentally deranged, and calls the police.
Now that they know exactly who they are looking for, the police cast a wider net in an attempt to catch John before he can strike again. They find a fly in the ointment when they discover that John has taken up with Anna (Lynette Curran), a runaway teenager. This discovery causes them concern because they fear that Anna will be John's next victim. Mackay and Bronson are quick to turn up a place that is a possible hideout for John, and promptly raid it, where they arrest John and rescue Anna before any harm can come to her.
John Whelan is charged with the three murders, but because of his mental impairment, he is spared a prison term and sent to a mental hospital instead.
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