Mary Vincent // 412
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Thank you.

What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host, Heath. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello, everybody. Today's case was recommended by Olivia and Lauren. So thank you guys so much. It's a little bit of a different story in a way that I think you guys will be very happy with. But seriously, buckle up for what's in store. Yeah, I mean, hearing the details while researching this story was absolutely shocking. And I think it's a little bit of a different story

It's the story of one man's path of destruction and a woman's brave and unreal fight for survival. Truly unreal. Some of you guys have probably heard this story, but if you have not, get ready. Yeah, I know we have gotten more recommendations for survival stories, so keep that in mind as you're hearing this.

just the unbelievable things that are going to unravel today because wow. So let's do it. All right, guys, this is episode 412 of Going West. So let's get into it. ♪♪♪

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In September of 1978, a 15-year-old girl was hitchhiking from the Bay Area to Los Angeles to see her grandfather when an older man offered her a ride. Little did she know that this man was a predator who would assault her repeatedly and leave her for dead after throwing her off the side of the road. But miraculously, she lived to tell the tale. ♪

This is the story of Mary Vincent.

Mary Bell Vincent, who sometimes went by Maria, but we're going to call her Mary today, was born in 1963 to parents Herbert or Vince and Lucy Vincent, but we're not quite sure where she was born because her family moved around a lot. Her parents met in the Philippines in 1958 while her mother was living on a farm just outside of Manila.

Her father was serving in the Air Force at this time and happened to stumble into a restaurant owned by Lucy's family friends. Lucy said, quote, I was scared of Americans and wouldn't talk to him when he said hello. But Herbert was in love and eventually they began a relationship. Then a few years later, they married and relocated to El Centro, California, which is located in the very southeastern part of the state near the border of Mexico.

There in California, Herbert and Lucy were raising four children before Herbert was shipped off and stationed in Germany. And about this, Lucy said, quote,

So obviously, this put a lot of stress on Mary's mother who was doing everything in her power to provide for her children while Herbert was gone in a different country, which I'm sure a lot of you mamas out there do as well. But eventually, Herbert was discharged and returned to California before moving the family up to Santa Cruz, then to Ohio, then to Reno, Nevada, and then finally landed in Las Vegas in 1970.

The family moved into a modest home and Herbert began working as a slot machine mechanic, while Lucy started working as a baccarat and a blackjack dealer at a Las Vegas casino. Because at this point, the Vincents had seven children to care for and to raise, with Mary being the middle child. So there in Las Vegas, Mary shared an 1,800 square foot home with her six siblings and her parents.

In 1978, Mary was 15 years old and described as withdrawn and very artistic. She loved to dance, later stating, quote, And she actually remembers a time when she was 13 years old and opened up the Miss Universe pageant that was being held in Las Vegas with a solo routine. She also loved to do the hair and makeup of her fellow dancers as a kid.

Anything creative, Mary absolutely loved to do. But at the age of 15, again in 1978, Mary's parents were going through a pretty messy divorce, and she just kind of felt like she was caught in the crossfire. I mean, Mary was a teenage girl who, like a lot of kids that age, began to rebel as she was coming into her own. She felt like she really wasn't getting enough attention that she needed from her parents at the time, and this was a large point of contention for her.

So at the time, Mary sought the help of counseling and revealed that she no longer wanted to live with her parents and felt like she would be better off living in Los Angeles, California with her grandfather, which her parents actually agreed to. But things apparently didn't go all that smooth there either. So she returned to her parents in Las Vegas in April of 1978.

A few weeks later, on April 25th, Mary was reported as a runaway, but was returned to her parents on May 8th after spending some time in a runaway shelter, according to her caseworker. But, you know, every time Mary was escorted back to her parents' home, she would find a way to leave, which she did for the final time in July of 1978.

Her runaway case was closed in July when, quote, it was believed that, again, she was a runaway in California. So basically they're like, well, she's doing this so often that we can't really keep up with her. So they just decided to dismiss this runaway case and just let her go. Yeah, like her running away again in July. They didn't even really look into it because that's just what they thought, that, again, she had run away, which she did at first.

Now, before we get into Mary's journey through California, I want to talk a little bit about why she chose to leave to kind of put things into perspective a little bit more. So Mary's mother stated in an interview, quote, My husband blames himself for Mary running away. He says he was too strict on her.

She started cutting classes and she'd get scolded. She wanted to go to dances and we said only if her older brother went along. Mary didn't like that. She wanted to wear makeup and her father said no. He was right. She didn't need makeup. She had such pretty skin. But she ran away. I don't really understand. She stopped going to school.

So just before Mary ran away for the last time, she was attending Von Tobel Junior High, which was located just a few blocks from where she lived. She could actually see the school grounds from her front yard. Her counselor said, quote, school was a problem for Mary. I wasn't surprised when I heard that Mary had run away. She had done that before. We had talked about school before, but I don't know if we talked about her running away. I know she ended up in a group that was negative towards school.

I think her friends helped cause some of her problems by turning her against school and authority. She was a nice, quiet girl. She appeared to be shy. I think she did some of the things she did, like skipping school, to gain attention and acceptance from her peers. The only problem she had as far as school was being there. She wasn't malicious or mean as far as I knew. She didn't give her teachers a hard time.

So in the summer of 1978, Mary decided to leave, but this time for good. Now, as a lot of us know, in the 70s, hitchhiking was a pretty normal practice. Also in the 60s, as we've discussed in many previous episodes, before people really understood the dangers of it.

Many young people at the time wanted freedom and opportunity from their suburban lives, and those who didn't have vehicles or modes of transportation achieved their goal by, you know, sticking their thumb out on the highway, just hoping for a ride to a better life. And Mary, who again, like Heath said, is very artistic, felt like if she could just make it to San Francisco, she would be able to meet like-minded artists and live the life she always wanted. So that's what she did.

Mary made it to the Bay Area that summer, but the trip wasn't everything that she thought it would be. She spent most nights sleeping in unlocked cars or out on the street before she met a guy who would become her boyfriend. But even that didn't work out because this new summer fling of hers was arrested for the rape of another underage teenager. Yeah, so now she basically doesn't have a companion anymore.

Right, so she went on to stay with an uncle just outside of Santa Cruz, which is in the Bay Area, for a short period of time. But eventually, Mary just got tired of jumping from one spot to another. Now, she briefly considered heading back home to Las Vegas, but she knew that if she did that, she would lose this newfound sense of independence.

But her grandfather was still living in the Los Angeles area, specifically Corona, California. So with really nowhere else to go, that would be Mary's next destination. On September 29th, 1978, 15-year-old Mary Vincent was beginning to miss a family connection in her life, and she was feeling a little bit homesick. Fall was starting to set in, and she kind of wanted to find a place to settle in for some time to kind of figure out her next move.

She had spent the last few months homeless in the Bay Area before deciding to head south for her grandfather's home in Corona, California, which is 55 minutes east of Los Angeles and about a 400-mile trip from where she was currently.

So, Mary set out on another journey, finding herself on the side of the road near Berkeley, California, headed to her grandfather's house in Los Angeles, with two other hitchhikers beside her heading in the same direction. Obviously, they weren't headed to her grandfather's house, but they were headed to the Los Angeles area. After standing there with her thumb out for a while, a light blue utility van pulled over next to her and the other hitchhikers and waved her over.

Mary later described this man looking like, quote, "a grandfather-type figure," and that made her feel safe and secure.

This man was 51-year-old Lawrence, or Larry Singleton. Now, Larry grew up in Florida and worked as a merchant seaman who owned homes in San Francisco, California and Sparks, Nevada at the time.

Mary told Lawrence that she was trying to make her way to Corona, California, and he explained that he was heading in that direction as well. You don't say. Yeah, pretty convenient here. So she looked inside of his van and noticed that the back was almost completely empty, which to Mary seemed like a pretty good thing because then it could accommodate not only herself, but her fellow travelers as well.

But when Mary brought up the idea to include her new friends, Lawrence was adamant that he could only take Mary with him. So definitely not a good sign at all, because there's clearly enough room for all of them. Well, these two other hitchhikers tried to warn Mary that it was not a good idea to join this unknown man, because Lawrence actually never gave Mary or the others his name. And he seemed eager to kind of isolate Mary from the rest of the group.

Yeah, and it's great that even in those times they noticed this. I'm sure people did know that you could get into the car with a person with ill intentions. Of course, it's just not like it is now with the knowledge we have from stories like this one. But, you know, it's great that they did notice

Yeah, I was going to mention that I don't know how long she had been traveling with these other two hitchhikers. I'm assuming probably not very long, but it did seem...

Like they really cared about her and they cared about her well-being. But we're going to get into all of that here pretty soon. Right. But not like her good friends where it's like they're not going to the exact same place anyway. Like you said, they're not going to her grandfather's house in Corona. So her goal is to get to her grandfather's house. And if this guy is saying that he can take her and she's been, you know, standing there for a while trying to get a ride and couldn't get one. She's thinking, you know, this is probably going to be totally fine.

Absolutely, and even though these new friends of hers are trying to warn her, nothing could change Mary's mind. Lawrence appeared to be harmless and caring to Mary, so with that, she jumped into the passenger seat, headed for LA. But little did Mary know that she had just crossed paths with the devil himself, a man that would change her life forever. ♪♪♪

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Before that quick break, Heath explained that Mary Vincent had just accepted a ride from Berkeley, California to Corona, California, 400 miles south by a 51-year-old man named Lawrence Singleton. And this happened on September 29th, 1978. Now, of course, at the time, again, she did not know his name, but we will certainly learn it later on.

So Lawrence promised Mary that he would drive her to the I-5 freeway and then continue south and drop her off in L.A. For those who don't know, the 5 runs directly through California and is the easiest way to get from the Bay to Southern California. But there were a few telling signs from the beginning that indicated that Lawrence was not a good person.

First off, Lawrence filled two empty gallon milk jugs up with liquor and began to swig from them as he drove. And this is a seven hour drive. He's got a teenage girl in his passenger seat and all of this liquor to drink while he is going down California. Secondly, he made many noticeable passes at Mary, who again is just 15 years old.

mostly by trying to pull her to get closer to him so that he'll sit right next to her. And this didn't really work, obviously, because she was not into this, but she still didn't fully understand that this grown adult was trying to take advantage of her.

Because there were kind of little things that made it seem like he cared about her. So, for example, at one point in the ride, she sneezed and he put his hand against her neck to check her temperature. And Mary's kind of thinking, you know, this is a nice but simple gesture that made her feel like Lawrence cared about her well-being. But in Lawrence's mind, it was just another way to manipulate the situation and take advantage and also to, you know, put his hands on her.

So a little while after that, Mary fell asleep in the passenger seat of the van, remember it's a pretty long drive, believing that she was headed to her grandfather's house. Well, a few hours passed and Mary woke up and noticed that it was now dark outside. But that wasn't the only thing she noticed, because she soon discovered that the vehicle she was traveling in was now headed in the completely wrong direction.

Instead of going south to LA, Lawrence began driving east towards Nevada. Remember, he has a home in Sparks, Nevada, just outside of Reno, so it kind of feels like that's probably where he was headed.

So at this point, Mary kind of panicked, and she knew that she was in danger, telling Lawrence that he was going the wrong way, and that he knew he was going the wrong way. So she's onto it, that he's up to something. Exactly. So Mary found a stick with a sharp point that was squished between the seat, and she pulled it out, holding it towards Lawrence, yelling, quote, "'Turn around right now.'"

So Lawrence played dumb, acting like he had gotten his directions mixed up, but he obliged and he turned the van around and he headed back to the course. But after a few minutes, Lawrence explained that he needed to pull over to urinate, so he stopped the van in a very dark part of a desolate highway.

So he exited the van, and Mary thought, you know, "I'm younger, I'm quicker than this guy, I could definitely outrun him." But while she was sitting in the passenger seat and she looked down at her shoes, she noticed that one of her shoes was untied. So she was like, "If I'm gonna outrun this guy, I need to tie my shoe." So she exited the vehicle on the passenger side, and while she was leaning down to tie her shoe, Lawrence snuck around the back of the van and approached Mary from behind.

He then crept up to her and bashed her in the head with a sledgehammer. Mary was now unconscious on the ground bleeding, so Lawrence undressed her, tied her up, and placed her in the back of his van.

It's so scary to know that he had this kind of plan that whole time when he pulled over. He's saying, oh, I got to pee. She just gets out to tie her shoe. And here he comes creeping up behind her with a sledgehammer. Like, probably wasn't peeing at all. Probably was going back to get the sledgehammer. And...

and knock her out. Yeah, I definitely don't think that he, you know, was trying to urinate at all. And to be honest, Mary did kind of have an inkling that he was trying to do something nefarious because obviously she put two and two together.

She knows that they're not supposed to be headed east towards Nevada. So she's like, how could you get confused in that way? Yeah, and then for him to say, oh, you're right, I'll just turn around. Yeah, like I-5 is north to south. Like, it's not very hard to... I mean, you know...

it's very hard to get lost on that freeway. She knows that he didn't get lost. She knows that he has something up his sleeve. Right. So when Mary eventually came to, she begged Lawrence to let her go, telling him that she wouldn't say anything to anybody if he did.

At this point, they are still in the van pulled over on the side of the highway. So while in the van, Lawrence ignores her wishes and begins to sexually assault her for hours. Lawrence even took naps in his van in between these evil assaults while Mary just laid there tied up, completely unable to free herself from her restraints.

Lawrence would wake up, he would drink from his liquor-filled milk jugs, and then force Mary to drink the liquor as well.

After hours of terrifying torture, the sun started to break over the horizon and Lawrence knew that he didn't have much time before, you know, more traffic would start passing by. So he drove Mary to Del Puerto Canyon, which is just off the I-5, two hours east of the city of San Jose and very close to Modesto, California. So he drove her back up to Northern California or towards Northern California instead of like, so he drove her

south, east, and then northwest. Right, exactly. Now, Lawrence had one last devious act in mind.

Right there off the side of Highway 130, he removed Mary from his van and cut her loose. But of course, Mary was very weak at this point from her vicious attack, and she didn't have the strength to run because other than what he had done to her, you know, all night, he hit her in the head with a sledgehammer. Yeah, I mean, she endured so much abuse, and it wasn't just sexual abuse, but

He also physically abused her throughout the night as well. Yeah, so she is extremely weak. So she stood there in front of Lawrence before he disgustingly said, quote, you want to be free? I'll set you free. And with that, Lawrence grabbed a hatchet from his van and began to violently slash at Mary's arms as she grabbed him to fight back.

A few quick blows were enough to sever both of Mary's arms just below her elbows. Mary later said that she fell to the pavement and was again losing consciousness. So while Mary lay there bleeding out, she looked up towards Lawrence and noticed that her right arm was still attached to his because she had squeezed his arm so hard that it had locked in like a death grip even after being removed.

Yeah, basically, you know, as he's like trying to chop at her arms, she's like squeezing his arms so tight. And when she was looking up and like noticed that he was kind of like flinging his arms around, she's like, what is he doing? And then she noticed that it was her arm that was flinging around attached to his arm. And she has to see this and she's just laying there watching this happen. I mean, it's just honestly so horrifying. Yeah.

So Lawrence approached Mary again, believing that he had killed her, so he lifted her up off the ground and

and threw her over the side of a 30-foot cliff to dispose of her body. But Lawrence determined that Mary's body was not hidden enough. Like, he basically thought that other cars were gonna come driving by, and that they could see her from the road. So this monster actually climbed down the cliff and stashed her body in a concrete drainage culvert before climbing back up the hill and driving away from the scene. But here's the kicker:

Mary was not dead. Although she was on the verge of death and severely injured, she knew that she had to survive to be able to put her attacker behind bars. With four broken ribs from the 30-foot drop, two missing limbs, and severe head trauma, Mary thought to herself, quote, "'I can't go to sleep. He's going to do this to somebody else. I can't let that happen.'"

So with everything in her, Mary crawled from the culvert, stuck the stubs of her arms in the dirt, which actually helped stop the bleeding to some degree, and began to climb up that hill back towards the road. By the time she actually made it to the top, it was now dark again. Like, this poor girl had been climbing all day just to make it back to the road.

Still completely naked and bleeding profusely, she began to walk down the road for three miles in the dark, headed towards the lights and the sounds that she could hear. That's when she was finally spotted by a 23-year-old man named Dennis Bohr. He said, quote, "I thought she was wearing a bikini. Then I saw she wasn't wearing any clothes. And then the shock of seeing that she had no hands. I didn't know what to do."

So Dennis stopped his truck and placed Mary in the front seat so that he could drive to a phone and call for help. He said, "She wasn't crying. She was just moaning. I asked her what had happened to her, and she answered right away." Mary was immediately rushed to the Scenic General Hospital where she was treated for her injuries.

Mary spent weeks in the hospital recovering from her injuries and she was fitted with prosthetic arms with hooks on the end there. And the nurse who was taking care of Mary actually said, quote, she's doing very well. She's up and walking around and trying very hard to will herself to do things that are very difficult. I mean, Mary was an absolute genius.

Just all the trauma that she endured, the fact that she was actually bleeding out, probably on the verge of death and somehow found the will as a 15-year-old girl to climb up that hill. And walk up for miles. And walk for miles. It's just insane to think about

the will she had to live. And everybody was absolutely blown away by this story because when the news broke of what happened to her, over 200 phone calls, letters, and cards were received to the hospital to let her know that everybody was thinking about her. Like even students from her junior high held a bake sale to help her pay for her medical expenses.

So everybody was really coming through and showing her the love. And Mary's parents did also make the trip to Modesto, where the hospital is located, to visit Mary after her attack. And this is what her mom said in an interview, quote, "'The only thing that hurts me bad is when she kept saying, "'Mommy, I hurt you, I hurt you, I hurt you.' "'I said, why?' And she said, "'Because I disappointed you. "'If I had not gone away, this wouldn't have happened.'"

But Mary's spirits were really high. I think a lot higher than a lot of people's would be in this kind of situation because when she was in the hospital, she told her mom, quote, "'Mommy, when I'm done with this, I'll be like the bionic man. I'll be a living bionic woman.'"

And she would just be laughing and joking with the hospital staff and even pinch their noses with her new hook hand. Yeah, it's really just kind of an endearing thing that, you know, she has these really high spirits. She's so positive. Like, I don't know how a person could be that positive. But I do think it's really funny that she's just going around like,

pinching the nurse's noses with her hook hand. Yeah, that like it speaks such volumes and you guys will see in photos of her as well that we'll post on our socials. Every picture of her, she is smiling even when she's in the hospital. Every single picture, she has a smile on her face. Yeah, she just seemed like a very, very happy person. And still is. Yeah, and now there was only one thing left to do. Catch that piece of shit who did this.

So Mary worked with investigators to come up with a composite sketch that resembled Lawrence Singleton. And because they were distributed in the newspaper, miraculously, a neighbor of his quickly identified Lawrence as the culprit within 10 days. Yeah, she said it had been agonizing her for multiple days at that point when she reported him because seeing the composite, she knew that it had to be her former neighbor.

Yeah, and this is what she said. She said, Yeah, basically, you know, she had been neighbors with him previously and had known him as her neighbor for about 10 years. So it wasn't an easy decision because she wasn't sure if...

She wasn't positive that he was responsible. Yeah, she sees this guy and says that that would make sense and it looks like him, but she's like, am I about to submit a false tip and get the police on an innocent man? Exactly. And she also added, quote, I suffered all day Monday for it. I suffered. I cried. I was hysterical. I wasn't sure if I had done the right thing. When he's sober, he's the nicest guy in the world. He would give you the shirt off of his back.

But when he's drinking, he's totally different. He's a Jekyll and Hyde. So in October of 1978, Lawrence was arrested, and his home was searched where detectives found cigarettes of Mary's that were left in his van, and also Mary's clothing that included a blue jumpsuit, three bikini panties, and two bras, which Lawrence tried to burn, but they didn't burn all the way, apparently.

He also removed the carpet from his van and cleaned the inside of his van to try and remove evidence. A few days after Lawrence believed that he had killed Mary, he found out on the news that she survived, so he tried to take his own life with sleeping pills, but that didn't work either. He was arrested at his home in Nevada, but of course, Lawrence proclaimed his innocence and even fabricated this bullshit story.

He told police that after picking up Mary, he also picked up two other hitchhiker men named Larry, convenient, and Pedro. He said that he and the men stopped at a bar, they got drunk, and then they bought some weed and smoked it. He then said that he paid $60 for sex with Mary.

After that, Lawrence said that he passed out drunk, and when he woke up, Larry the hitchhiker was driving his van towards San Francisco, but Mary was nowhere to be found. He told detectives that he left Larry and Pedro in San Francisco before making his way back home to Sparks, Nevada. What a crazy story to concoct, like to take blame off of him as if, oh, I got drunk and I don't know what happened, but...

It's like also taking away that he picked Mary up as a hitchhiker and saying that he paid her for sex. I mean, this idiot couldn't even come up with a different name, a better name for these guys. Like he literally said that one of the hitchhiker's names was Larry, which a lot of people knew him by. It's like, what? Like, dude, you're so dumb. Yeah, well, obviously nobody believed his story because the person that Lawrence tortured, Mary, lived to tell the tale.

So Lauren Singleton, again, who is 51 at this time, went to trial on charges for rape, kidnapping, mayhem, attempted murder, possessing child sexual abuse material, which was found in his home in Nevada, by the way, and theft. So as you can imagine, this story was making major headlines. And even before he was captured, the media had deemed him Mad Chopper. So they were calling him Mad Chopper in the papers.

During his trial, which took place in 1979, six months after Mary's attack, Lawrence tried to become the victim, stating that Mary was, quote, a drugged out call girl who wanted to, quote, hurt, hurt, hurt him and say that he raped her, which he did. And Mary was there in court to testify against Lawrence, which was the first time that she had seen him since he tried to kill her months earlier.

She bravely took the stand and raised her prosthetic arm to point to the guilty party sitting just feet away from her. Now, ultimately, Lawrence Singleton was sentenced to just 14 years in prison, which is the maximum sentence that California could offer him at the time, which is absolutely insane to me. Yeah, I mean, it's crazy to think about these charges that he's up against, right?

An attempted murder charge, kidnapping, child sexual abuse material, theft, rape, mayhem, like all these things. And this guy only gets sentenced to 14 years? Especially considering Mary did such a brave thing by testifying against him. Everybody can see her prosthetic arms. Everybody can hear the horrors of which she endured. And that's all that you can give him, meaning he will get out in his 60s.

when he is still alive and can go do this to somebody else? Yeah, I... It just feels so backward. Yeah, and which, by the way, it gets worse. So as Mary left the courtroom, she had to pass by Lawrence, who apparently whispered to her, quote, if it's the last thing I do, I will finish the job. And about all of this, the judge said, quote, if I had the power, I would send him to prison for the rest of his natural life.

But get this, Lawrence wouldn't even serve the 14-year sentence that he received. He only served eight years in prison. So basically his sentence was reduced for good behavior because he was working as a teacher's assistant in a prison classroom.

So he was ordered to pay restitution to Mary in the sum of $2.5 million from a civil suit, but Mary couldn't collect because Lawrence was broke and only had $200 to his name. And $200 to his name when he was arrested is what we mean. Yeah, like this guy was absolutely broke, didn't have any money, and he was also unemployed.

And then he gets out of prison only eight years later when Mary is only in her early 20s. It's just crazy. So Lawrence Singleton was paroled in 1987. But get this, zero towns in the Bay Area would accept him as a resident. Like, they were like, yeah, no, this guy is not living in our city.

There were so many protests where hundreds of people showed up that eventually he had to live in a trailer on the grounds of the San Quentin prison until his parole was up a year later. Because obviously when you're on parole, you're not allowed to leave the state. I have never heard that happen. Like he had to live on a trailer on the prison grounds. That's nuts. Yeah, I feel like if he lived anywhere else in the Bay Area, people were going to find him and probably kill him.

Mary, on the other hand, went on to live a very successful life. She graduated from high school and eventually attended college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. And she has become such a huge advocate for young people explaining the dangers of hitchhiking. She said, "I just want to thank everyone who's helped me. Hitchhiking is dangerous. I didn't realize that, but I do now. Running away from your problems isn't the answer.

She went on to get married and have two boys and used art as her escape from the trauma that she endured. She said the advantage of having prosthetic arms, it actually allows her to have an easy smooth stroke when she draws or when she paints. She created over 4,000 pieces of art and she has donated all but seven of those pieces. She currently lives in Washington and says quote, "I'm just happy with life. I try to help others see through my eyes."

Now, I want to give you guys a little bit more backstory on Lawrence Singleton for those who are curious because his story absolutely did not end with the attack of Mary Vincent.

So, Lawrence was born on July 28th, 1927, and he grew up in Florida before joining the military where he was stationed in Korea, before being honorably discharged. And this is likely when he became an alcoholic, which was the cause of his first marriage ending in 1971. Lawrence then became a sea merchant in Florida, fixing boats and spending time at the marina.

He went on to marry again in 1976, but was still a raging alcoholic during this time. He and his second wife had a daughter together, and when Lawrence would drink, he would physically abuse his wife and daughter. This led to yet another divorce and his daughter refusing to speak to him. His second marriage only lasted for two years before his wife left him, just before Mary was attacked in 1978.

Now, as we discussed, he was released from prison, and nobody wanted him around, including the local Guardian Angels, which is this unarmed group of people who focused on crime prevention. The same year that he was released, again, 1987, a new law was signed called Singleton Bill that required crimes where torture was involved to get the maximum penalty of 25 years to life.

The prosecutor in Lawrence's conviction said this after his release, quote: And boy was that prosecutor right.

Once Lawrence's parole was up, he made his way back to his home state of Florida, where in 1990, he was convicted of theft and sentenced to two more years in prison. This dumbass stole a $10 disposable camera and a $3 hat and described to the judge who sentenced him that he was, quote, a confused, muddle-headed old man.

Then, seven years later, when Lawrence was 69 years old, on February 19th, 1997, Lawrence, who claimed that he was depressed, drunk, and over-medicated, decided to pick up 31-year-old sex worker and mother of three, Roxanne Hayes. He brought her back to his home in Tampa, Florida, where he paid her $20 for oral sex.

And this is according to Lawrence, who is a serial liar. He said that after the sex act, he tried to give Roxanne $10 for a cab ride home, but that she grabbed his wallet and then tried to run off with it.

After that, a 30-second struggle ensued in which a knife was being fought over for control, and Lawrence claims that Roxanne stabbed herself. Yeah, fucking right. Lawrence then went on to say that he didn't know Roxanne was injured until she was lying on his couch, dying.

He said in court, quote, Who is going to believe this after what he did to Mary? Yeah, right. Nobody is believing you, dude. So Lawrence claims that he tried to pick her up and help her walk to the front door, but that his knee gave out in the process.

By this time, he says that Roxanne Hayes was already dead. At trial, Lawrence told prosecutors that Roxanne tried to decapitate him, but his defense even stated, quote,

Even Mary Vincent herself attended this trial to make sure that he was put away for good. And I can't imagine how Mary felt during this time watching this happen, knowing firsthand what a monster this guy is. Yeah, and what he's capable of. Yeah, and having such an I told you so moment that...

If he would have just been put away for longer, this wouldn't have happened again. As I said, even the judge wanted to put him away for longer, but couldn't. But he just really shouldn't have gotten out, and we all know it. So California Governor Pete Wilson said, quote, It's a sad commentary on our criminal justice system that a person of this notoriety who has committed a crime this heinous is out on the streets. This man should never, ever,

According to a witness who called 911 when the attack on Roxanne Hayes was taking place, he said, quote,

So somebody witnessed this attack, which just makes us know even further that he is a liar and she did not stab herself. Yeah, and it's kind of sad because that witness, he was just a house painter that was nearby, saw this happen and said that he wanted to intervene, but he was also just kind of too scared to do so. Yeah. But he did call 911. I mean, at least he did that because his perspective really matters. So inside Lawrence's home,

detectives found a suicide note that read, quote, they framed me the first time, but this time I did it. Okay, so he's admitting to it. Yeah. I hope that I find peace. I would like to thank everyone who helped me. Please have me cremated and have my ashes thrown into Palm River on the outgoing tide.

On April 14th, 1998, 70-year-old Lawrence Singleton was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Roxanne Hayes, and he was sentenced to death. But no execution date was ever scheduled because on December 28th, 2001, Lawrence died in prison from cancer at the age of 74.

So across the board, he hardly served his time. Yeah, justice was not served here. Not at all. And if the new California laws that are put in place today were active during his first sentence for the attempted murder of Mary Vincent, Lawrence would not have been released until 2001, meaning he most likely would have died before ever coming into contact with Roxanne Hayes, and she might still be alive today.

But it just leaves us to wonder if this man that we know was capable of all this brutality, we know that he committed so many horrific crimes, if during his years as a free man, he could have been responsible for more heinous crimes and potentially more murders. ♪♪

Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. I'm so glad that we did this one because it is nice to hear a survivor's story.

And the fact that Mary Vincent was there at his trial for Roxanne Hayes and was able to see to it that he was put in prison, even though he just he died a few years later. And of course, talking about such a remarkable story about a young woman who is able to endure death.

something so unthinkable and then go live an amazing life and not let this control her, but make the most of it. And even, you know, like, like we had talked about, turn to painting and use that as an outlet and, and keep the positivity going. So again, we're going to post photos of her today so you guys can see. And today she is 61 years old. So thank you guys so much for tuning in and we'll see you on Tuesday. All right, guys. So for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger.

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