Mark Rowntree

Mark Andrew Rowntree (born 1956) is a British spree killer who murdered four people in random knife attacks over a period of eight days in West Yorkshire, England, in 1975 and 1976.

Rowntree's victims were typically chosen at random. All were stabbed to death within a ten-mile radius of his adopted parents' home in Guiseley, West Yorkshire. His murders were motivated by a delusional belief that all women despised him, sourcing from a single instance of a woman rejecting his advances, in addition to a desire to surpass the total victim count of the then-recently arrested Black Panther.

Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, Rowntree pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility in June 1976. He was committed indefinitely to detention within Broadmoor Hospital, and is currently an inmate within Rampton Secure Hospital.

Due to the timing and location of Rowntree's crimes, two of his victims were initially—albeit briefly—assumed to have been murdered by an unknown offender soon to be known as the Yorkshire Ripper, which briefly distracted contemporary police enquiries.