Incidentally, the disputes he had with both the known victims accounts and his assertion that he was after uh, their walkmans, that's the ticket, (the walkmans being a marker for easy prey) are typical disassociations of the sexually motivated attacker.)
Why does he go back to the same area? To relive the fantasy. He did it once, now he wants to do it again. This is an area scoured and scouted and he is familiar and comfortable. He knows the terrains and has selected good spots for leaping upon his prey. He can also count on the appearance of prey, and stalk them in the way he has worked out in his mind. He can pick out a target and wait till just the right moment. He has strategies worked out for striking, and what he will do when she is down.
It might not seem logical to a normal person but rapists work this way. THey go back to the same hunting grounds.
There is the thrill of getting away with it again, too. Rapists are angry, inadequate men who like to feel like they've put one over on the people who think they count.
If he hadn't let his guard down with his last victim, and managed to get caught, he would have tried again and in the same area.
At first, I thought you were talking about Condit.