Mark Jackson

"You should be honored that I chose your stories. I did everything that you described down to the smallest detail."

Mark Jackson was a misogynistic serial killer and stalker who appeared in The Gathering.

History
Mark was physically abused by his stepfather while he was a child, but when he managed to tell someone of what was happening and Social Services arrived, his mother changed the story to protect her husband. This instilled severely misogynistic feelings in Mark, who came to believe that all women were liars. On February 27, 2011, he snapped and murdered Maria Bothwell in Tampa, Florida, cutting out her tongue to symbolize his belief that women were liars. He then killed two more women across the East Coast during the following year, also cutting out their tongues. He eventually settled down temporarily in St. Paul, Minnesota, and started a group that indulged in writing therapy. Later, he would use his group members' stories as guidelines for his later murders. Among the members of this writing group was Peter Harper, whose stories were of a particular interest to him; he would use one of his stories as the basis for the murder of Patricia Moore.

In "The Gathering", Mark is first seen rescuing Nicole Francis from her drunken boyfriend, John Butler. When she thanks him, he refers to her by her name and then abducts her. Later killing her, he immediately goes after Laurel Tyson. Entering her house through an open window, he is surprised by Laurel's brother Daryl, whom he quickly kills as Laurel watches while hiding in a closet. Laurel then gets out of the closet and tries to escape, but he catches up to her and murders her. After waiting for a while, he ambushes Kayla Jefferson at a public laundry room, strangles her to death, and removes her tongue. The following night, Mark meets up with his group and reads their stories. Peter submits his late, and while reading it to the group, Mark stops midway, shocked by the content. After the meeting's conclusion, Peter confronts Mark about the murders, and he taunts him, saying that he should be grateful that he chose his stories as guidelines. Peter then tells him that the tongue removal wasn't part of his stories, closes the doors, and beats him to death.

Modus Operandi
How Mark managed to find his victims that were killed prior to the episode is unclear, but it can be assumed that they had a strong online presence that was a factor. In "The Gathering", he found his victims through Peter's stories, attacked them, removed their tongues while they were still alive, and killed them by stabbing. An aspect of the latter murders would be identical to details given in the victims' blogs:


 * Patricia Moore wanted to lie under a tree, and her body was left under a tree
 * Nicole Francis wanted to be rescued from her drunken boyfriend, and Mark saved her from him during one of his drunken outbursts before abducting her and then killing her
 * Laurel Tyson wanted a man to find her through an open window, and he managed to enter her house through an open window, plus she was bound around the wrists and ankles as a reference to her enjoying S&M
 * Kayla Jefferson wanted a man to figuratively take her breath away, and Mark killed her by strangulation instead of stabbing; as a result, her tongue was removed post-mortem instead of ante-mortem

Profile
The unsub is a fit, aggressive white male aged in his mid- to late-30s, who is practicing what is called vicarious fantasy assimilation, a term that refers to the cathartic release that comes when he turns someone else's thoughts or fantasies into reality. He strolls around the Internet and is selecting women with a strong online presence, all of whom frequently post their fantasies with descriptive detail. There are two levels to his M.O., the first being the enjoyment he gets from taking one of his victim's fantasies and turning it into a nightmare. Once he establishes his dominance by subverting that fantasy, he moves on to the second level, which is removing the tongue. His M.O. is polymorphic, as it has taken on different forms while his ritual never changes. It is likely he has already targeted other women.

Known Victims

 * February 27, 2011, Tampa, Florida: Maria Bothwell
 * 2012:
 * July 15, Atlanta, Georgia: Emily Hilton
 * August 23, Charlotte, North Carolina: April Carver
 * 2013, St. Paul, Minnesota:
 * March 18: Patricia Moore
 * March 19: John Butler
 * March 19-20:
 * Nicole Francis
 * The attack at Laurel Tyson's house:
 * Daryl Tyson
 * Laurel Tyson
 * March 20: Kayla Jefferson

Appearances

 * Season Eight
 * The Gathering