up to trap him was dubbed “Operation Shadow.”

Modus Operandi

The mere outline of his modus operandi may still send a shiver of fear through any woman who lives alone in a ground-floor flat. Especially a flat in a block which, like many in Narong Road, backed on to a laneway. Having observed his target’s home to ascertain the lack of a male resident, the man would break in while the woman was out and burgle the premises. He would then prepare for her return by searching her bedroom for clothing he could use to gag, blindfold and tie her up. He would lie in wait, chain-smoking cigarettes, flushing the butts down the toilet, and arming himself with a kitchen knife or razorblade he had found on the premises. Whenhis victim returned, he would grab her from behind, tie her hands and legs, blindfold and gag her, and rape her. He forced his victims to perform oral sex on him, sometimes washing himself and the victim afterwards. He sometimes also raped his victims vaginally, although he had trouble getting an erection. He would always demand money and insist that his terrified victims then give him time to escape.

Back in 1982 when the rapes first started, Stephen Fontana was a 25-year-old detective senior constable based at Elsternwick, a suburb less than two miles from Narong Road. Accordingly, he was part of a special operation set up after police noted the similarities in the assailant’s mode of attack and concluded that a serial rapist was operating. Most nights, plainclothes