Mark Barton

"I hope this doesn't ruin your trading day."

Mark Orrin Barton was a spree killer who killed his family, then went a killing spree that ended with his own death.

Background
Barton was born on April 2, 1955 in Stockbridge, Georgia to an air force family and was raised in South Carolina. Barton attended Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, where he earned a degree in chemistry despite his ongoing drug habit. Back in Atlanta, Georgia, he married Debra Spivey, and had two children, Matthew and Mychelle.

The family moved to Arkansas due to Barton's job. He became paranoid and started distrusting his wife. He lost his job when his performance started to slack. In retaliation, he sabotaged company data. He served a small time in jail for it.

Back in Georgia, Barton got a new job and a secret girlfriend, Leigh Ann Vandiver, whom his wife knew. In 1993, Debra Spivey and her mother Eloise were bludgeoned to death. Barton was the prime suspect, but was not charged due to lack of evidence.

He married Leigh Ann in 1995. After a while, he started acting strange again, devolving into deep depressions and paranoid delusions.

He lost a large settlement from his wife's death through day trading. He ended up owing money instead of receiving it. After losing $105,000 in a single month, Barton decided that he couldn't go on living.

Killing Spree
On July 27, 1999, Barton woke up early in the morning and bludgeoned Leigh Ann to death as she slept. The next night, he also beat Matthew and Mychelle to death. He covered them with blankets and left notes on their bodies.

On July 29, he went to the offices of the company he worked for, the All-Tech Investment Group. He chatted with coworkers for a while before pulling out two pistols and started shooting. He shot and killed four people in the building, then calmly walked to another and killed another five people. Then he left and vanished.

Manhunt
The police searched his house and found the bodies of his family. They found the notes he left, in which he denied responsibility of the deaths of his wife and mother-in-law.

An intensive manhunt ensued. After five hours, Barton threatened a young girl. She called the police after running away from him, and the police were on his trail. After being spotted in his van, the police followed him into a gas station in Acworth, Georgia. Surrounded with no way to escape, Barton ducked behind his van and shot himself, ending his killing spree with a total of 13 victims.

Known Victims

 * July 27: Leigh Ann Vandiver Barton, 27,
 * July 28:
 * Matthew David Barton, 11,
 * Mychelle Elizabeth Barton, 8,
 * July 29 shooting spree:
 * All-Tech Investment Group building:
 * Allen Charles Tenenbaum, 48
 * Dean Delawalla, 52
 * Joseph J. Dessert, 60
 * Jamshid Havash, 45
 * Vadewattee Muralidhara, 44
 * Momentum Securities building:
 * Edward Quinn, 58
 * Kevin Dial, 38
 * Russell J. Brown, 42
 * Scott A. Webb, 30

On Criminal Minds
Barton was mentioned in Children of the Dark