He said the last in a line of children riding to school, a girl about 12 years old, said she saw a black figure shaking a sapling and making grunting sounds.

"She got the fright of her life," Mr Manley said. "For days after that I sat in the bush watching the children ride to school, but he made no appearance."

Mrs Carr was then brutally attacked overnight on February 6, 1975. She was left for dead after having her skull smashed open and spent 10 days in a coma, but eventually recovered.

Mr Manley said the crime scene was again spattered with mud.

He took mud samples from about eight dams in the area and had them tested.

Seventeen months after the attack on Mrs Carr, a Warrnambool teacher travelling to Timboon twice saw someone covered in mud on the side of the road in June 1976.

"I put a bonnet on and crouched down in the car for a couple of days, but we came up with nothing. I was on sick leave at the time and the boss told me to stop pursuing the case," Mr Manley said.

"I reckoned the Mud Man was hot at the time. Tourists came in and said they saw a naked man on the road.

"I arranged for a detective and my replacement from Colac to hide with a camera in the bush, while I hid with a walkie-talkie down the road."

Mr Manley said the other detectives were less than enthused by the task.

"They were really getting the shits by the third morning. I was sitting in my car and they waved to me," he said.

"I came over and here was this bloke in the back of the police car. He was covered in mud and didn't have a stitch on. He said 'I must be mad, Jack'. It was hard to disagree."

Detective Sergeant Sid Shepherd, who apprehended the Mud Man, later told the Supreme Court that when hiding in bush he saw a naked man covered in wet mud running towards him along a track.

When challenged the Mud Mad turned and ran. Police officers caught him when he fell while running through a swamp.

"The man struggled and asked to be let go because he had cows to milk," Detective Sergeant Shepherd said.

Mr Manley said the Mud Man admitted assaulting Mrs Carr and said Alan Carr would shoot him.

In a record of interview that Mr Manley read to a Supreme Court Warrnambool sitting, the Mud Man said: "More than anything it was to give Mrs Carr a fright. I had not intended to attack her physically or sexually.

"I cannot give any logical reason for assaulting her."

Mr Manley said the Mud Man showed the detectives a puddle he had made in the bush where he rolled in the mud.

He said he was married with a new baby at the time.

After being released from prison, the Mud Man was also found guilty of two counts of offensive behaviour in 1991 after an incident at Killarney.

He received a suspended jail sentence, but since then has not been in trouble with the law.

The Standard has decided not to publish his name to protect the identity of innocent parties.

When contacted by The Standard for this story, the Mud Man's response was short but clear: "If there is one mention in any paper there will be serious legal repercussion for you, my man, thank you."

During his trial in November 1976, Melbourne psychiatrist David Barnes was far more forthcoming.

The doctor told a Supreme Court sitting in Warrnambool that the Mud Man told him other members of his family had suffered mental health issues and that his brother had taken his own life after it was revealed he had sexual problems involving youths.

Dr Barnes said that sparked the onset of severe depression that went well beyond the bounds of normal grief.

Asked about the man coating himself with mud, Dr Barnes said it was a regressive form of behaviour in which the man went back to more primitive state.

He said the Mud Man would not be able to control such urges.

During the court case, the jury of seven woman and five men deliberated for fours hours.

Justice Anderson said the Mud Man may be guilty of the acts but not necessarily guilty of the offences in the eyes of the law.

Married with a baby daughter when he was charged with attempted murder, the Mud Man's former wife agreed to speak to The Standard on the condition of anonymity.

She said she had not been married long when her husband was charged.

"It was a terrible time," she said.

"I was quite shocked - stunned."

The woman said the marriage lasted another five years before she decided enough was enough.

"Before he was charged he was all right at home," she said.

"We didn't have any major domestic trouble. I've no idea why it happened. It was just a mystery."

The woman said it was a terrible position to be in.

"We've moved on with our life. It's not something I like remembering." Mr Manley moved on, too.

"It took the best part of four years to finish up the case. There was a lot of time and effort that went into it," he said.