In September of 1978, 15 year old Mary Vincent was hitchhiking the California roads to return to her home in Las Vegas. Mary had run away from her mother and father and lived on the streets for a period of time, often sleeping in unlocked cars. Eventually she went to her grandfather’s house, but became home sick and decided to return to Las Vegas. While hitchhiking back home though, she was picked up by a man who attacked and left her for dead. Miraculously, Mary survived the brutal attack and would go on to become an artist and an advocate for victims rights.
Who Is Mary Vincent
Mary Vincent was born in 1963, to Lucy and Herb in Las Vegas, Nevada. Like many locals in “Sin City,” Lucy and Herb worked in the gambling industry. Lucy was a dealer in one of the casinos while Herb was a repairman who fixed the gambling machines. Growing up, her life was fairly typical, or as typical as it can be with a household of 7 children. Mary was an avid dancer and wanted to be a professional dancer, with dreams of touring the world with a dance company. She’s been described as a fresh faced, dark haired girl who had to grow up too quickly.
When she was entering into her early teens, Mary began to rebel against her parents and their strict rules for her upbringing. She would do the typical childhood rebellious things like skipping school and wearing makeup when they forbid it. She escalated from that to running away though. When she was 15, she left the family’s home. Lucy and Herb had begun to fight and eventually decided to divorce. The divorce though was not pretty and had been described as contentious and vicious. It was messy to say the least. That’s what sparked Mary to flee from her family. She left Las Vegas with her boyfriend at the time and the pair made their way to Sausalito, CA, where they lived out of his car…. Until he was arrested and charged with raping a high school girl. After his arrest, Mary was alone and began to look out for herself. She would sleep wherever she found a spot, sometimes just finding an unlocked car and sleeping for the night until morning when she would try to get away before she was found.
At one point, she went to visit an uncle in Soquel, CA but only stayed briefly before heading to Corona, CA to visit her grandfather just outside of L.A. After staying with her grandfather for a bit though, she began to get homesick and decided to return home to Las Vegas. So she did what many other people did at the time and started to hitchhike. In today’s day and age, hitchhiking would probably be the furthest thing from many people’s mind, with other options being out there like Uber or Lyft. In the 70s though, hitchhiking was almost like a lifestyle or way of life for some people. Many people didn’t have cars at all, but they did have wanderlust, which compelled them to travel from town to town by any means necessary. It wasn’t out of the ordinary at the time, so much so that when Mary was going back to Vegas, she actually met other people who were hitching and they hung out while waiting for rides.
The Attack
On September 29th, 1978, Mary was on the side of the road in Modesto, California along with two other people who were hitching that day. Those two other people were heading in the same general direction as Mary, so they figured they might get lucky and all get picked up by one person. After waiting for a bit, a man pulled up in a van. They noticed that it was empty, with nothing in the back, but the man said that he only had room for one person. He also said that he would only give a ride to a female. That’s when the other two people told Mary that she shouldn’t get into the van, it was just a rolling red flag on wheels. Mary said that looking back, at the time, she wasn’t thinking about anything bad that could happen, she was desperate to get home. She said that she just couldn’t live another day out alone.
She said that as they were driving, she didn’t give any real thought to the situation, she saw the man as a grandfather type, since she had recently visited her grandfather. And she was TIRED, from all of the traveling she had been doing in the weeks and months before. Mary pulled out a cigarette and as she smoked, the smoke made her sneeze. The man reached over and put his hand on the back of her neck and said “Let’s see if you’re sick,” and tried to pull her towards him. She pulled away and moved closer to the door so he couldn’t reach her. As they were driving, the exhaustion began to set in and she managed to fall asleep for a little while. When she woke back up though, she noticed that all the signs were different and they were heading in the opposite direction of where they should be.
That’s when she confronted the man and told him that she knew that he was going the wrong way and told him to essentially cut the shit and start going back the right way. He said that it was just an honest mistake and he wasn’t going to hurt her. After that the man pulled the car over.. In the absolute middle of nowhere. That’s when it hit Mary that she was in trouble. She looked down at her feet and noticed that one of her shoes was untied. She said that her thinking was that she was a young, healthy person and he was an old out of shape guy, so “if I’m gonna outrun this guy, I better tie my shoe.” The car was stopped, so she opened up the door and got out to tie her shoe. At the same time, the man had gotten out and walked around the car. When Mary leaned down to tie her shoe, she felt a crushing blow as the man hit her with a sledgehammer, and she blacked out.
When she regained consciousness, Mary was in the back of the man’s van tied up. When he saw that she was conscious again, the man began to rape Mary. She tried to fight back and ask why he was doing this, but he never gave her a response. He repeatedly raped her in the van, she estimated five or six times, before he fell asleep. She struggled to free herself but wasn’t able to. She said that laying there, tied up as the man slept, she just wanted to die. It was all she could think about.
The man woke up and continued raping Mary. She remembers being awake throughout everything and seeing the sun slowly starting to rise. Still in the middle of nowhere, the man pulled her out of the van, completely naked. The whole time she was begging him to just let her go, “Set me free.”
Next, Mary said that the man said “You want to be set free? I’ll set you free,” as he pulled a hatchet out of the toolbox in the back of his van. He walked up to Mary with the hatchet and grabbed one of her arms and swung the hatchet, digging it into her arm. She started to fall and he swung again. She grabbed tightly on his arm, but continued to fall. After she hit the ground, she looked over and her arm was missing, just blood squirting out.
Mary’s left arm had been severed below her elbow. As she was laying there, the man grabbed her right arm and started to chop with the hatchet. Mary was kicking and screaming the whole time, hoping that someone might hear and come help. The man had to chop at her arm several times because of her fighting back, but eventually, he severed her right arm as well. Then he started to walk away. Mary watched him in the distance and described him flicking his arm, similar to how you would if you had a piece of tape or a sticker stuck to one of your fingers. She was bewildered at first, then as she looked closer the horror became apparent. One of her hands was still grasping his arm and he was swinging wildly to get it to let go.
Next, the man came back and Mary had stopped moving. He started dragging her body to the edge of a 30 foot cliff. The man then picked her up and threw her over the edge. She sustained four broken ribs from the fall, and her body was in shock from the bloodloss. She didn’t know if the man was still on the cliff or if he had left, but she just laid there. She said that she got really tired and cold. The only thing she wanted was to go to sleep. As she lay there though, she just heard a voice in her head telling her that she couldn’t go to sleep. He was going to do this to someone else, and I can’t let that happen.
Mary used what little energy she had to dig her arms into the dirt around her. She tried to pack her wounds with dirt to form mud and try to slow the bleeding. She then set her sights on the 30 foot cliff that she was thrown from. Without any hands, she fought her way back up. By the time she made it to the top, the sun had set and there was darkness. Only the moon and stars dimly lit the area. As she lay there, exhausted, Mary began to hear the faint sound of cars and traffic. She thought that there had to be a freeway or highway close, so she started to follow the noise. She walked until the sun started to come up and daylight began to peek in. She made it to a road and remembered a red convertible pulled up and stopped short of her. There were 2 men in it. She yelled out to them for help, but after seeing the state she was in, the men left. She said that at that point, the only thing going through her mind was that she was about to die because people were too afraid to even stop. She equated what she looked like to a horror movie, covered in blood, missing limbs, etc. She had survived being dismembered, being thrown from a cliff, climbing back up that cliff with no hands, then walking three miles to a road, and she thought this was how it would end.
Mary kept walking down the middle of the road, and it didn’t take long for a second car to drive up. It was a couple on their honeymoon who had gotten lost. They helped Mary get into their truck as best they could and sped away. They told her to lay still and they would get her to help. She said it was an older truck, but she could hear the tires squealin as they sped down the road and around the curves. They made it to a phone and called 911 and paramedics. A medi-vac helicopter was brought in to get Mary to the hospital.
At the hospital, they discovered that she had lost over half of her blood, and the remaining blood had become so infected that it was toxic. Mary said that she felt like her body was able to withstand it because of her will to live. Within 10 days, the man was identified and arrested. Mary had given details to a sketch artist for the police to distribute. It was so detailed and clear that one of the man’s neighbors recognized it immediately and turned him in.
Lawrence Singleton
Larry Singleton was born in July of 1927 in Tampa, Florida. He worked as a merchant seaman, which is essentially working on one of the big ships that sail from one country to another with the giant containers of goods for import / export. In his younger years, Singleton had been convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was a heavy drinker, what many would call an alcoholic. When he was sober, people described him as mild tempered at best. After he had a few drinks though, it was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he became mean and vengeful.
Much of his adult life was spent on the sea. His first marriage to a woman named Shirly ended in 1971, and he re-married a nurse named Mary Collins in 1976. The couple was only married for two years before their marriage fell apart, but they remained close friends. He had a daughter, Debra whom he had been fighting with because she was beginning to defy his strict rules. Their arguments and fragmented relationship weighed heavily on him in the summer of 1978, poor fella…..
Six months after his attack on Mary, Singleton’s trial was taking place. Mary was there to testify against him. He was charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, rape, and various other crimes. Mary testified in court with her prosthetics, which she began wearing just two weeks after her attack. Her testimony helped convict Singleton, who was found guilty. So, he went to prison for the rest of his life and this episode is over, BYE!!
Not really though….
At the time, the laws in California were very lenient, and Singleton was given only 14 years in prison, which was the maximum allowed at the time for his crimes. At his sentencing, the judge said, “If I had the power, I would send him to prison for the rest of his natural life.”
Mary said that she was terrified when she was in court, since Singleton was only 10 – 15 feet from her while she was in court. When she was leaving the courthouse after he was found guilty, she had to pass by him. As she walked past, Singleton said to her “If it’s the last thing I do, I will finish the job.”
Mary tried to move on and live her life, but she had a daily, constant reminder of her attack. She met a man and they married and had two children, but eventually divorced.
After his conviction, Mary also won a civil judgment of $2.56 million. She never collected anything from it though, since Singleton was unemployed at the time and in poor health, with $200 in his savings account.
After serving only 8 years of his 14 year sentence, Singleton was paroled. He was able to cut time off of his sentence by good behavior and working as a teaching assistant in the prison classroom. News of his parole spread like wildfire throughout California, and several towns refused to let the authorities bring him there. In town after town, there were protests when Singleton was brought in. The Tampa chapter of the Guardian Angels went to several towns and joined in the protests. Several times, Singleton had to be moved by authorities with armed guards wearing a bulletproof vest. Eventually, the governor at the time ordered that a trailer be placed on the grounds of San Quentin prison for Singleton to serve his parole. He lived there for one year until his parole ended. He had a curfew of 10 Pm, and only left a few times a week to get groceries or see a movie.
Many were shocked when Singleton got released, and in 1988, the Singleton Bill was passed in California, which mandates that early release not be possible for any crime that involved torture and carry a minimum sentence of 25 to life.
After his release, Mary lived in constant fear that Singleton would return to make good on his promise in the court that day. She went into hiding and withdrew from the public spotlight as much as possible. She has said that at some points, she thought that suicide would be the only way to get away from him. But, she said that she had to be around for her 2 sons, and that she would never let anything happen to them.
Debra, Singleton’s own daughter, was fearful of his release as well, since she said that he was violent when she was growing up. She went as far as to ask the California prison system if they could keep him in longer, but they said they couldn’t . They suggested that she get a restraining order to which she said, “Sorry, but I mean this quite sarcastically. I tell you he’s a danger. I said that before his first crime. I’ve changed my name multiple times and am moving across state lines. You all suggest a piece of paper that will tell him exactly where I am, what my name is, and not to come within say 300 feet of me.”
Singleton Moves to Florida
Singleton had a warped view on the crime he perpetrated. He never accepted responsibility. He felt like he didn’t warrant any type of punishment. Right before his parole ended, the prosecutor who convicted him said that “I think, if anything, he’s worse now. He has not taken responsibility. He lives in a bizarre fantasy land and acquits himself each day. He doesn’t accept his guilt and won’t resolve never to do it again.”
Singleton attempted to clear his name by…..trying to file a complaint against Mary. In the complaint he stated she forcibly kidnapped him to rob him. Yep… you heard that right, he claimed that she kidnapped him to steal his non-existent money. He said that after he picked her up, she told him that she was going to tell the police he raped her if he give her a ride where she wanted to go. Everyone knew that was just bullshit though, and his complaint didn’t get any traction. Singleton left California, since no one wanted him there and returned to the Tampa area where he was from.
Once he was back in Florida, Singleton was arrested a couple of times for petty theft in 1990. Once for stealing a $10 disposable camera, for which he served 60 days. Later that year, he was arrested for stealing a $3 hat and was given 2 years. After he served his time, he tried to live a quite life, but mentally, he had convinced himself that he never attacked Mary. He barely accepted that he cut off her arms in a blind rage over the rape threat.
In February of 1997, Singleton paid a sex worker named Roxanne Hayes $20 to meet him at his house. She showed up and not long after, a house painter working outside called 911. He reported that there was a naked man, covered in blood, stabbing a woman who was motionless on the sofa. Roxanne was 30 years old and a mother of three children.
When the police got to his house, he answered the door naked, covered in blood. He claimed that Roxanne tried to rob him with a knife, and he tried to grab it from her. In the ensuing struggle.. She was stabbed accidentally… multiple times…
Again, Singleton was in court, and this time the house painter’s testimony sealed the deal. He was found guilty of Roxanne’s murder. Mary went to Florida to testify during his sentencing. The prosecutor felt it was very important for the jury to hear what kind of person Singleton was and the type of violence that followed him around wherever he went. Mary described in detail her attack and on April 14th, 1998, Singleton was sentenced to death.
Singleton died on December 28th, 2001 from cancer.
While many believe that Mary and Roxanne aren’t Singleton’s only victims, they also agree that Mary should have been his last. He never should have been released from prison in California.
Mary spent years and years going to therapy, and eventually, reached a good place. She’s an artist, which surprises many people, including herself. She said that before her accident, she could barely draw a straight line. One night though, she woke up and began to draw a self portrait and it turns out that she has a natural talent for drawing and art. Mary has said that being a mother helped her get through some of the hardest times after her attack.
If you or anyone you know are a victim of domestic abuse, please reach out to someone for help. The national domestic abuse hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or www.thehotline.org to chat with someone online. The great thing about this website is that, at any time, hitting the escape key twice will instantly take your browser to a google search page. In the event the abuser is nearby, you can ensure that you don’t get caught trying to get help.
If you’re having thoughts or feelings of harming yourself, or just need someone to talk to, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), they’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
