The film begins in 1944 with John Christie (murderer) murdering an acquaintance called Muriel Eady; he lures her to his flat in 10 Rillington Place by promising to cure her bronchitis with a "special mixture", then incapacitates her with Town Gas, strangles her with a piece of rope, and has (implied) necrophilia. He buries her in his flat block's communal garden, where a dog uncovers one of his previous victims.