Mark Hoffman

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Mark Hoffman
Biographical Information
Status	Alive
Profession	Homicide Detective
Role	Minor Character
Relationships	Allison Kerry (colleague) Angelina Acomb (sister)† David Tapp (former colleague)† Henry Jacobs (supervisor)† Jennings Foster (colleague) Joseph Poltzer (colleague)† Seth Baxter (enemy and victim)† Steven Sing (colleague)†

“	This guy is pretty quiet, sort of an introvert. Good for unpaid overtime hours, willing to do the busywork. May want to keep him out of the field, though; he's a straight arrow and won't be willing to bend the rules.	”
	— David Tapp's assessment of Hoffman

Detective Mark Hoffman is a fictional character from the Saw franchise. He is one of the unseen characters in the series.

Biography

Angelina Acomb's Death

Mark Hoffman was a homicide detective who worked for the Metropolitan Police Department. He was the brother of Angelina Acomb, who was the person he cared about the most, as she was his only family. However, his life changed dramatically when Angelina was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Seth Baxter, during a domestic dispute. Seth was eventually apprehended and sentenced to life in prison. (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

Cecil Adams' Death

At some point in his career, Hoffman investigated a serial killer case. The first victim was a drug addict named Cecil Adams, who died of blood loss after falling into a cage filled with razor wire. He had eight parallel cuts on his face, and a jigsaw piece had been cut from his shoulder, leading to the killer being nicknamed Jigsaw by Chief Henry Jacobs. (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

Mitsuka Ito's and Ronnie Navarro's Deaths

Soon afterward, the remains of two other victims were found - Mitsuka Ito, a member of the local Yakuza, and Ronnie Navarro, a drug dealer and member of the Blood Eye Gang. The two of them were put in a trap, which consisted of a pulley system and several large barrels filled with sulfuric acid. Those were propped up above the victims, whose hands were strapped to ropes attached to the pulley system. The pulley would have given them enough slack to reach the exit door if they had pulled simultaneously. However, Detective David Tapp assumed that something prevented them from working together. Eventually, both of them died when their bodies were spilled with acid. While the acid had not left much of their corpses, the jigsaw pieces cut from their bodies suggested that the murder was another crime committed by Jigsaw. Assuming the killings would continue, Chief Jacobs assigned Hoffman to a task force alongside Detective David Tapp, Detective Steven Sing, Detective Allison Kerry, and crime scene investigator Jennings Foster. (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

Paul Leahy's Death

The next victim that was found was a drug addict named Paul Leahy. Jigsaw had chosen him to participate in one of his gruesome games because Paul had sliced his wrists earlier, not because of depression but to attract attention. Therefore, Jigsaw had taken him to a cellar. The back part of the basement where Paul was trapped was fenced-in and turned into a cage filled with razor wire. Upon examining the crime scene, the investigators found an audiotape that the killer had left for Paul. According to the tape, Paul was supposed to crawl through the razor wire to reach the exit door and save his life. However, the wounds he received while doing so were so severe that he ultimately died of blood loss. As the circumstances of Paul's demise reminded him of Cecil Adams' death, Tapp told Detective Hoffman to check what kind of razor wire had been used for Paul's cage and the one in which Cecil had died. (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

Mark Wilson's Death

Shortly afterward, the detectives were called to another crime scene. The victim, a man named Mark Wilson, had been trapped inside a dark room with the only light source being a single candle. Furthermore, he was injected with a slow-acting poison and was informed by an audiotape that the only antidote was inside a safe. To open it, Mark had to find the correct combination among hundreds of numbers written all over the walls. Due to the darkness, he had to take the candle and walk to the walls to see the numbers. However, the killer had slathered his naked body with self-made napalm. When walking around the room with the candle, Mark accidentally ignited the napalm, causing him to suffer a heart attack due to the thermal shock. While investigating the crime scene, the detectives found a penlight and immediately sent it to the forensic lab. (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

Amanda Young's Survival

Soon after Mark's body had been found, Amanda Young, a drug addict, came to the police station after escaping one of Jigsaw's games. After a doctor examined her wounds, she was interrogated by Detective Tapp. Amanda told him she had woken up at an unknown location and found herself strapped to a chair. While Amanda was unconscious, Jigsaw had put a mechanical device on her head and hooked it into Amanda's upper and lower jaws. Amanda had received her instructions from a mechanical ventriloquist puppet named Billy, which spoke to her via a video recording. The doll described the device on her head as a "reverse bear trap," which would rip her mouth open if she did not free herself within 60 seconds. Therefore, she had to cut the key to the device from the stomach of her supposedly dead cellmate, Donald Greco. When the tape ended, Amanda successfully freed herself from the chair and ultimately obtained the key by disemboweling her fellow prisoner, who was, in fact, still alive at that point. Upon securing the crime scene, the police found the trap, whereas Donald Greco's body was missing. However, they positively identified him by investigating the blood evidence. (Saw: The Video Game, Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

Seth Baxter's Death

Shortly afterward, Hoffman's life took another unexpected turn when Seth Baxter was acquitted on a technicality and released from prison after five years despite his life sentence. This injustice filled Hoffman with frustration and anger, and eventually, he decided to take revenge on the murderer of his sister. To avoid suspicion, Hoffman planned to make the murder look like another crime committed by Jigsaw. Therefore, he designed a deadly trap, but unlike Jigsaw, he did not intend to give Seth any chance to survive. After setting it up, he abducted Seth and strapped him to a metal table underneath a giant pendulum-shaped blade. Eventually, Seth died when the pendulum was lowered and cut him in half. Following his death, Hoffman cut a jigsaw piece from Seth's skin before leaving the scene. Sometime later, Seth was found in his trap. Because of Hoffman's connection to Seth, he asked Tapp for permission to avoid the crime scene. (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

First Suspect

Shortly afterward, the forensic lab results came in, and the fingerprints on the penlight found at the scene of Mark Wilson's death were identified as those of Dr. Lawrence Gordon, a renowned oncologist. Tapp and Sing immediately went to the hospital where Gordon was working and took him to the police station for further interrogation. Eventually, he told the officers that he had assisted one of his medical trainees, Carla Song, in inserting IVs at the hospital as part of her education. Even though Carla confirmed his alibi, Detective Sing asked him to stay a little longer and listen to the interrogation of Amanda Young, whom they requested to repeat her testimony in Gordon's presence as they wanted to see his reaction. The doctor agreed and was visibly shocked as Amanda described her traumatic experience. After the interrogation, Gordon was allowed to leave. (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

Observation of Amanda Young

Tapp sent Detective Hoffman after Amanda Young when she left the station. Hoffman followed her to the International District, where he saw her talking to a woman named Sarah Blalok. As he reported back to Tapp, they quickly learned that Sarah was a police informant. When asked about Amanda, she told the detectives that the latter came to her to ask her about Cecil's whereabouts, assuming that she was talking about Cecil Adams. Therefore, the police went to his apartment. However, the landlord of Cecil's flat had not seen him in a while. (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)

Appearances and References

Films
Saw	Saw II	Saw III	Saw IV	Saw V	Saw VI	Saw 3D	Jigsaw	Spiral	Saw X
Absent	Absent	Appears	Appears	Appears	Appears	Appears	Absent	Absent	Appears