Episode 204: Mark Safarik - Spree Killers, Behavioral Analysis

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Retired agent Mark Safarik served in the FBI for 23 years. He spent the last half of his career as a member of the elite Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) where he established himself as an internationally recognized expert in the analysis and interpretation of violent criminal behavior.

In this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Mark Safarik discusses his analytical work on spree killers and the differences between spree, serial, and mass killings, his time as a profiler in the BAU, and the popularity of true crime books, TV shows and podcasts.

Mark Safarik began his FBI career working violent crimes on the Wind River Indian Reservation out of the Riverton RA, Denver Division. He transferred to the New York Division, where he worked undercover assignments and was a National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) coordinator. He then transferred to the Sacramento Division, Stockton, RA, where he worked violent crimes and was the NCAVC coordinator before promoting to the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) at Quantico, where he stayed until retirement.

Mark Safarik has conducted internationally renowned research on the sexual assault and homicide of elder females. He is a member of the highly respected Vidocq Society.

He is well-published in international journals, including the Journal of Forensic Sciences, International Journal of Homicide Studies, and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. He has authored numerous book chapters on homicide, including in the newest text on sexual homicide, the Routledge International Handbook of Sexual Homicide Studies. His new book, with co-author Katherine Ramsland, Spree Killers: Practical Classifications for Law Enforcement and Criminology, has been hailed as the definitive textbook on this type of multicide.

Spree killers are responsible for killing at least three persons at two or more locations due to a precipitating incident that fuels the urge to kill.

He has appeared on Dateline, Court TV, Forensic Files, New Detectives, A&E, Oxygen, Discovery ID, and many news networks to discuss his cases. His television series, Killer Instinct, premiered in 2011. He was a longtime consultant for the popular television series CSI: Las Vegas, Bones, and The Blacklist. He has two seasons of Cold Case Homicide television shows in both Sweden and Denmark. You can learn more about Mark Safarik on his website, FBSinternational.com.

To listen to more FBI Retired Case File Review case reviews with former BAU profilers here. To listen to case reviews about serial murder here.

Special Agent

Mark Safarik

4/1984 – 4/2007

“If you were to look at these three different categories of multicide, there are many more victims of spree killers than in mass murders and serial murders.”–Retired Agent Mark Safarik