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The Survival of Mary Vincent - Heroism and Horror · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: At the age of fifteen, Mary Vincent ran away from
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  home with the intention of visiting her grandfather in California.
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  In September nineteen seventy eight, she accepted a ride from
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  a man named Lawrence Singleton, an encounter that would irrevocably
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  alter the course of her life. Initially, Singleton appeared to
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  be amiable. However, this illusion quickly dissipated. Shortly after picking
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  her up, he assaulted her, subjected her to multiple rapes,
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  and ultimately severed her arms before abandoning her in Del
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  Puerto Canyon. This should have marked the end of Vincent's life,
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  yet she demonstrated remarkable resilience by managing to traverse three
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  miles to reach the nearest road, where she was eventually
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  found and transported to a hospital. Although she had endured
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  a traumatic experience, this was merely the beginning of her story.
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  Laurence Singleton's violent attack on Mary Vincent. Mary Vincent was
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  raised in Las Vegas, but chose to leave her home
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  at the age of fifteen. She relocated to California with
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  her boyfriend, and the couple lived in a car. Unfortunately,
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  he was later apprehended for the rape of another teenage girl,
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  leaving Vincent to fend for herself. On September twenty ninth,
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  nineteen seventy eight, she made the decision to hitchhike nearly
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  four hundred miles to Corona, California, where her grandfather resided.
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  When fifty year old Laurence Singleton stopped and offered her
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  a ride, she accepted without hesitation, perceiving him as a kind,
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  older gentleman. Shortly after entering Singleton's van, Mary Vincent began
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  to sense that she might have erred in her judgment.
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  He inquired about her health after she sneezed, and placed
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  his hand on her neck to assess her temperature. However,
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  Vincent interpreted his actions as mere kindness and soon drifted
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  off to sleep. Upon awakening, she realized that they were
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  heading in the wrong direction on the road. A sense
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  of unease washed over her. As she discovered a sharp
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  stick within the vehicle. Vincent aimed it at Singleton, demanding
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  that he turned the vehicle around. Singleton insisted he was
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  merely an honest man who made a mistake and began
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  to drive back the correct way, but soon he stopped
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  to take a bathroom break. Vincent exited the vehicle to
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  stretch her legs and bent down to tie her shoe
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  when Singleton struck her on the head and forcibly pulled
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  her into the back of the van. He assaulted her
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  while threatening to kill her if she made any noise.
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  As Vincent pleaded with Singleton for her release, he unexpectedly remarked,
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  you want to be free, I'll set you free. He
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  then seized a hatchet and severed both of her arms
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  below the elbow, declaring okay, now you're free. Singleton then
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  pushed Mary Vincent down an embankment, leaving her to perish
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  in a concrete pipe. However, against all odds, she managed
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  to survive. Mary Vincent's miraculous story of survival. Exposed and
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  teetering between consciousness, Mary Vincent managed to crawl out of
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  the canyon and traverse three miles back to Interstate five.
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  She elevated what remained of her arms to minimize blood loss.
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  According to the Los Angeles Times, the first vehicle that
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  Vincent encountered turned around and fled alarmed by her appearance. Fortunately,
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  a second vehicle stopped and transported her to a nearby hospital.
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  Following extensive surgery aimed at preserving her life, she was
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  fitted with prosthetic arms, a transition that would require years
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  of physical therapy for her to adapt. Additionally, she underwent
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  rigorous psychotherapy to assist her in processing the trauma she
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  had endured. I could have been the lead dancer at
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  the Leedo de Paris in Las Vegas, Vincent remarked in
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  nineteen ninety seven, then in Hawaii and Australia. I'm serious.
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  I was exceptionally skilled on my feet, but after this
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  incident they had to remove some parts from my leg
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  just to save my right arm. Fortunately, Vincent was able
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  to furnish authorities with a comprehensive description of Laurence Singleton,
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  which led to his swift identification through a police sketch
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  and subsequent arrest. Mary Vincent provided testimony against her assailant
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  in court, and as she departed from the witness stand,
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  Singleton allegedly murmured to her, I'll complete this task if
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  it takes me my entire life. In the end, Singleton
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  was convicted of rape, kidnapping, and attempted murder. Nevertheless, he
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  served a mere eight years in prison before being released
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  on parole for good behavior. Following his release, Vincent lived
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  in constant fear, anxious that Singleton might eventually act on
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  his threat. Unfortunately, he did, but Vincent was not the
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  one who suffered the consequences the murder of Roxanne Hayes.
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  By the end of the nineteen nineties, Singleton relocated to
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  Florida due to his inability to find a supportive community
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  in California. On February nineteenth, nineteen ninety seven, he enticed
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  a sex worker named Roxanne Hayes to his residence, where
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  he brutally took her life. Residence in the Vicinity heard
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  Hayes's cries for help and promptly contacted law enforcement. However,
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  their intervention came too late. When the officers arrived, they
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  discovered her lifeless body on the floor, marked by blood.