Mark Andrew Rowntree was raised in a wealthy family of the English middle class. His school years passed without any problems and with his marks, he could easily get in any college. But Rowntree thought he had passed enough time in school. He figured he was ready for 'real life'. He was satisfied with a job as bus driver.
Subconsciously however, something was brewing. In his puberty, he got rejected by a girl, which had confused him so much, that he got convinced of the fact he would always be a failure to women. This inferiority complex eventually caused a misogynism, which kept on growing. December 1975, the storm burst. In hardly a week's time, Rowntree committed four murders, because 'he was in need for it'.
On New Year's Eve, he went to Grace Adamson's house. When she opened the door, he introduced himself as a police officer. Before the woman got even the time to react, he pushed her inside and pulled a knife. He stabbed it several times in the chest. The woman dropped dead and Rowntree regained his calmness. He walked outside and bought himself a beer in a pub nearby.
Three days later, it happened again. He bought another knife and went out looking for a prey. That prey was Stephen Wilson, a 16 years old scholar. The boy stood at a bus stop and saw someone coming at him, not knowing he was about to face his murderer. Rowntree suddenly pulled his knife and stabbed it into the boy who didn't get even a chance to defend himself. The deadly wounded body fell down and Rowntree made himself scarce. A bit further, he took a cab home.
Wilson was still alive when he was found at the bus stop. He was taken to the hospital, but he died a few days later. Still, he was capable to describe the person who had attacked him. The cab driver remembered his face when a well matching image of Rowntree was showed on TV. He reported it to the police and guided the investigators to Rowntree's house. They took him in custody. Later on, it appeared Rowntree had committed a double murder that day.
Via an ad, Rowntree had met a woman who wanted to be a model. He had taken her to Leeds, to plan a photo shoot. In reality, he had other plans with her. She became his third victim. Before Rowntree left her house, he had also butchered her three years old son, to get rid of a possible witness.
Rowntree didn't resist when he got arrested. He didn't show any remorse about his actions. The only thing that bothered him was that he never had got the chance to kill for the fifth time, and rival his hero, Donald Neilson aka 'The Black Panther', that way.
June '76, he was put on trial in Leeds. He didn't deny the murders, but he pleaded only to be guilty of manslaughter, because he didn't realize what he had done wrong. The plaintiff agreed to declare Rowntree insane and the judge directed him indefinitely to a severely guarded mental home.