In 1978, a fifteen-year-old girl named Mary Vincent from Las Vegas was being rebellious. She left home with her boyfriend and went to California. But soon, her boyfriend got in trouble with the police, so they split up. Instead of going back home, Mary decided to hitchhike about four hundred miles to her grandfather’s house in Corona, California. She had hitchhiked before without any problems, so she thought it would be fine this time too. But things turned out very differently.
On September 29, 1978, Mary packed her things in a backpack and started her trip. She was young and pretty, so it was easy for her to get rides. But most people would only take her a short way before dropping her off, so she had to keep finding new rides. In the Californian city of Modesto, she met two other hitchhikers who were also trying to get to Southern California. They stood by a busy road with signs asking for rides. They hoped someone kind would stop and give them a lift.
Before long, a man in a blue van stopped next to them. He was older than them. He said he could take Mary to Los Angeles, which was close to where she wanted to go. But the other hitchhikers felt uneasy about the man and the situation. They thought something might be wrong. They told Mary to be careful and suggested she wait for another ride.
She was very tired from spending the last few days in the hot sun, hoping to get a ride. She slightly ignored the concerns of other hitchhikers and got into the car with someone she thought was okay. She fell asleep quickly because of the bumpy road. When she woke up, she saw signs on the road that showed they were going the wrong way. She thought he made a mistake and tried to tell him. He agreed but said he needed to go to the bathroom first. He stopped the car and got out.
As she watched him leave, she felt like she might need to run. She opened the door to tie her shoelaces. While she was bent over, the driver suddenly appeared with a big hammer. He hit her many times on the head. Then he took her to the back of the van and did bad things to her all night.
In the morning, Mary was hurt and bleeding. She asked the person who hurt her to let her go and promised not to tell the police. The person agreed and said, “You want to be free? I’ll make you free!” Then, he used a hatchet to cut off both of her arms at the elbows. After he was done, he said, “Now you’re free.” He thought she would die, so he threw her off a cliff, and she fell thirty feet into a deep crack in the ground.
Even though Mary was badly hurt, she stayed awake and knew what was going on. She realized she would bleed to death if she didn’t act quickly. So, she stuck what was left of her arms into the mud to stop the bleeding. Surprisingly, it worked.
With the bleeding stopped for a bit, she climbed up the steep slope using her stubs for support. When she got to the top, she looked for help with her arms up to stop the bleeding again. After walking three miles, she tried to stop a car for help, but the old couple inside drove away quickly when they saw her naked and covered in blood. Later, another driver on the highway stopped and helped her. They took her to the nearest hospital as fast as they could.
Finally, Mary was in the hospital. Doctors quickly operated on her to fix her injuries. After she got better, she got prosthetic arms. She then had therapy for months. “I’d have been a lead dancer at the Lido de Paris in Las Vegas,” Mary said in 1997. “Then Hawaii and Australia. I’m serious. I was really good on my feet… but when this happened, they had to take some parts out of my leg just to save my right arm.”
It helped Mary learn how to use her new arms and deal with the ordeal of what happened. She didn’t know the name of the man who hurt her. But she remembered exactly what he looked like. The police drew a picture of him with Mary’s help. Newspapers called him the “Mad Chopper.”
Fortunately, The picture helped catch Mad Chopper. The evil who almost destroyed young Mary Vincent was named Lawrence Singleton, a fifty-year-old retired merchant seaman. They asked him questions, but he said he didn’t know anything about Mary. Even though he said he didn’t do anything, they arrested him and charged him with some serious crimes.
The trial started in March 1979. Mary, who was the only one who saw what happened, went to court and told everyone what had happened. Singleton, the man who tried to hurt Mary, just sat there without showing any emotions. Mary remembered that he threatened her when she walked past him in court.
After listening to Mary’s story, the jury decided that Singleton was guilty of everything. The judge charged him with maximum penalty allowed by law at the time, fourteen years in prison. Before finishing the trial, the judge told Singleton that if it was up to him, he would have sent him to prison for life.
Mary fought in court to make her attacker pay for what he did to her. She won a judgment of $2.6 million, but her assailant, Lawrence Singleton, didn’t have a cent to his name.
In 1987, much to the dismay of Mary, the state’s attorney, and the public, Singleton was released from prison after serving just eight years. Many were outraged, fearing he was still a danger. Their worst fears were realized when Singleton struck again, and this time, his victim didn’t survive.
The public outcry over Singleton’s early release led California to pass the “Singleton bill,” ensuring that those who commit horrific crimes would face longer sentences. Though technically free, finding a place for Singleton to live proved difficult. Residents of Rodeo protested vehemently against his presence, knowing the heinous crimes he had committed.
Singleton was told very clearly that he wasn’t wanted in their town, so they set up a place for him to live while he finished his one-year parole. He stayed in a temporary home on the San Quentin grounds.
In 1988, after he was completely free to go, Singleton packed his few things and went back to Florida, where he was not as famous as he was in California. He tried to live quietly there, at least for a while. But two years later, he got arrested for stealing from stores multiple times. In court, he didn’t admit to doing anything wrong, saying it was because he was getting old and his brain wasn’t working well. The judge didn’t feel sorry for him and said he had to spend two years in prison after being found guilty.
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After getting out of prison, Singleton had three quiet years. But on February 19, 1997, trouble returned. A house painter heard screams at Singleton’s house. When he investigated, he saw Singleton stabbing a 31-year-old mother of three, Roxanne Lea Hayes, who was fighting for her life. The painter called 911, but it was too late for Hayes.
Police arrested Singleton, covered in blood. Initially, he claimed self-defense, saying Hayes tried to rob him after a $20 deal for sex. He said they fought, and he came out on top. But investigators found seven fatal wounds on Hayes and none on Singleton. So, he changed his story, blaming drugs and alcohol. Still, he faced murder charges.
After being found guilty of killing Roxanne Hayes on purpose, Singleton had to wait to find out his punishment. On that important day, Mary Vincent traveled from California to tell the court what she had suffered because of him. After hearing her scary story, the judge decided Singleton should be put to death.
“He destroyed everything about me,” she once said of Singleton. “My way of thinking. My way of life. Holding onto innocence… and I’m still doing everything I can to hold on.” In 2003, she told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “I’ve broken bones thanks to my nightmares. I’ve jumped up and dislocated my shoulder, just trying to get out of bed. I’ve cracked ribs and smashed my nose.”
Now, Mary is happily married with two sons. She’s really good at art and learned to paint using her fake arms. She also works hard to help people who often get ignored by the system. She’s careful to keep her personal details private to protect herself and her family.
But Singleton never faced his punishment. Instead of being executed, he died from cancer in prison in 2001. Even until his last moments, he showed no sorrow for the terrible things he did.
Mary still has nightmares about what happened, but she refuses to let Singleton control her life. For years, she worried he might come after her again, but with his death, she finally felt safe. She’s an amazing person who defeated evil, and her story is truly inspiring.
