He felt the need to kill again, but for some reason he had to return to Sydney to do it. Returning to Sydney, he met former workmate John McCarthy, who said, "I believed you had died," at which MacDonald replied, "Leave me alone," and ran away, travelling to Melbourne soon after.
MacDonald felt driven to commit another killing, but for some inexplicable reason, he had to go back to Sydney to do it. Upon returning to Sydney, he ran into former coworker John McCarthy, who exclaimed, "I thought you were dead," prompting MacDonald to tell him to leave him alone and make a quick escape, eventually heading to Melbourne.