Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 27: The Case of Mary Vicent Part 2
78 Plays1 year ago
Happy Monday guys! Sorry this one is a little late!
Today we finish the horrifying case of Mary Vincent
Sources:
How Mary Vincent Survived A Horrific Abduction While Hitchhiking (allthatsinteresting.com)
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Scared But Curious'
00:00:04
Speaker
Hey guys, I'm Lana. And I'm Ellie. And welcome to Scared But Curious. Happy Monday. Happy Monday.
Ellie's Excitement for the Case Discussion
00:00:19
Speaker
How are you? Well, I'm excited to hear the rest of this bullshit.
00:00:26
Speaker
I'm here for that. It is, it is gonna be a crazy case. And it's one of those where as soon as you think it's done, it's another one. I feel like every time we have a two parter, it's because it's the every time you think it's done, it's not. And this keeps going. And you either lose faith in humanity, or you gain faith in humanity. There's no in between. No, there's really one or the other. And the verse about this case is that it's kind of both.
00:00:52
Speaker
Like you kind of lose faith in humanity, you gate it back a little bit and then you lose faith in it again and then you get it back again. So it's, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry if you guys can hear that. My husband's home and he's gaming. So I'm so sorry if you could just hear him yelling. How dare he? Do better.
00:01:13
Speaker
do better. Oh, no, you weren't dying, then you wouldn't yell. So yeah, exactly. Do better. Shoot. That's what you're supposed to do. Just aim and shoot. Yes, exactly. So are you ready for the rest of this? God awful story slash also kind of good story. I guess. See, I know that there is some light at the end of this tunnel.
00:01:41
Speaker
because for a bit there, it did not seem like there was going to be any light at all. So I'm ready for the second half, but I also know it's going to really make me... Uncomfy. Like happy, then sad, and then mad, and then maybe a little bit better, and then mad again, and then maybe a little bit better again. Like I just know. Yeah, exactly. I'm about to be an emotional wreck.
00:02:11
Speaker
crying while laughing. Let me at him. He's already dead. Just let me at him. I just want to talk. I just want to talk. I just want to just show me who he is. I just want to talk. It's fine. I'm finding it. I'm finding it. Oh, no. Oh, no, she's dying. Rest in pieces. I took on my spit. I hate when that happens. Okay.
00:02:39
Speaker
All right, let's just get comfortable and situated and you get ready to tell me your bullshit because I know it's about to be some bullshit. All righty.
Mary's Forensic Hypnosis Leads to Attacker Identification
00:02:50
Speaker
So besides the brutal healing process that Mary had to go through, Mary also had to help with the with the investigation. And
00:03:02
Speaker
At first, of course, Mary was too traumatized to really be of help. A lot of things were fuzzy, and she couldn't really remember a lot of things. But what she could remember was the name of the guy that did this to her, and what kind of
00:03:23
Speaker
what he kind of looked like. But the police actually used forensic hypnosis to get information about the event and forensic hypnosis. OK. Yeah. Yeah. Which I mean, I've heard of like police using hypnosis before or like whatever. But this is a very I looked it up and this is a very specific type of hypnosis so that they don't put anything into your brain, you know, so you don't get fake memories.
00:03:53
Speaker
Um, this is very much of like, go back to the night of what, uh, what, you know, when this happened. So everything kind of slowly came back to Mary while she was, um, doing this and she was able to give a pretty accurate description of Lawrence Singleton. And, but she said that she was picked up by a guy named Larry and this, this will come into play and.
00:04:20
Speaker
the sketch was so accurate that Lawrence's neighbor was actually the one to call the police when they put the sketch out. I remember this part because I remember that being actually so funny that her memory she knew exactly what she needed to remember and she did this exactly to where she could oh I love it I love it yes the sketch that
00:04:46
Speaker
Mary did was so accurate that Lawrence's neighbor was the one that called the police and told the police to look into Lawrence. So this girl is, like she was able to remember. Literally, she's able to know what she needs to do to stay alive and then also remember the things that she really needs to remember.
00:05:13
Speaker
It's not like you get a guide on what, this is what you do when your kidnapper does this. You either know or you don't and she has that instinct that kept her alive. It's impressive. Oh my gosh, this girl is just amazing. And so on the 9th of October, two weeks, only two weeks after the attack, which is also my anniversary, my wedding anniversary. So I read that and I was like, oh, I hate that, okay.
00:05:46
Speaker
didn't do that on purpose. Yeah.
Trial and Testimony Against Lawrence Singleton
00:05:49
Speaker
So on October 9, two weeks after the attack, they finally caught up with Lawrence and Mary was able to pick him out of a lineup, which is also going to be very important.
00:06:02
Speaker
So, yay, Lawrence is arrested. Well, of course she's going to be able to pick this guy out. He was a monster and she could have his face drawn. You think she's not going to be able to go, that motherfucker right there, right there. And that's my final answer.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yes, so yay, Lawrence gets arrested, but this is not quite the end of the case, I wish, but we still have the trial and other stuff, so.
00:06:37
Speaker
Oh no, the way that you said trial did not make me feel hopeful for what's about to happen. Because of course, I just remember the absolute awful shit that he did to her. But do you think I remember the aftermath? Nope, I just remember the awful shit. You're gonna have to remind me and I think, judging on your face right now, I'm gonna be so mad. So mad.
00:07:03
Speaker
So at first, Lawrence denies everything. And of course, he has his own fucking story. Because why not? And apparently, he had picked up two other hitchhikers along with Mary. There was Mary, Pedro, and Larry. Uh-huh.
00:07:27
Speaker
So I don't know if Lawrence was being smart here, or if he was like, oh, I see that there's another person who just happened to have the same name as me, and he attacked her. Because remember, she had told the police officers Larry.
00:07:44
Speaker
because he had introduced himself as probably larry yep so he's then later going to introduce himself no i don't go by larry i go by lawrence i'm not larry yep so i don't know if he was i hate to say that it's i think that unfortunately he was smart enough because that's how these people work they're evil and smart in the most maniacal way
00:08:04
Speaker
Yep. And then there's people like Mary who are the smart in the best fucking way. And they're like, you can put me through hell, bitch, but I'll still come out on top. Fuck you. Yep. Yep. But either way.
00:08:17
Speaker
He said that they all went to a bar. He had picked up Mary, Pedro, and Larry, which it sounds like the fucking Three Stooges. Yeah, also, wait, is he really telling the police he took a 15-year-old to a bar? Okay, sure. Pop off, buddy. I guess it's one of those where it's like you confess to the little thing,
00:08:41
Speaker
because that's- Oh, you know, that is actually super common. Yeah. Where they're like, um, no, I definitely took into a bar, but I never would kill them. No, I didn't have that felony. Yep. Yep. And so he says that they all went to a bar and then they all paid Mary to have sex with them. Oh my god, I know why he said that too, because then if there's his semen found there, then there's an explanation for it.
00:09:11
Speaker
And the worst part, I didn't actually write this in my note, but he had said, so Lawrence said to the police that Mary wanted to, you know, wanted to be paid to have sex and that he obliged because she was a cheap whore and only wanted $10 from everybody.
00:09:39
Speaker
So yeah. Yep. Okay. The silence is loud. Um, and then you're so that's why I was like, I'm, I'm finding it. You have the audacity to talk. He thinks she's dead. Yep. Cause this is during the trial. Okay. Okay. I thought this was for like per before they had gotten to the trial. I still just so taken aback. Yeah. No. Okay. You know, you were right. It is when they were,
00:10:09
Speaker
So they're interviewing him and he's trying to cover his ass. That's why his semen's found there. That's why his DNA will be in these locations. Is DNA even a thing yet? Hold on. Yeah, but they did, I think, still save shit because they're like, this could be helpful. Yeah, they still saved shit and they still could do semen. So again, he calls her a fucking cheap whore and then says that, like, oh, well,
00:10:38
Speaker
After sex, I just let all of them go. Like I just dropped them off or they wanted to be dropped off. And she was fine when I dropped her when I dropped her off. Like it must have because I dropped all three of them off together. It must have been Larry who did it. Why not Pedro? Well, because she said it was Larry, remember?
00:11:01
Speaker
Oh, I'm like, why isn't it Pedro? Like, why are you so- how do you know it was fucking Larry if you dropped off two guys? Hmm? Okay, I see now. It's so fucking defensive over the fact that it's- It's like, it's like he's lying. He's lying. How did he know it was Larry? He was there. Well, I feel like they wouldn't-
00:11:32
Speaker
They wouldn't tell him, right? I think they maybe did because like, OK, weird thing about Lana is that I watch interrogation videos for fun.
00:11:44
Speaker
So that's the thing. And some of the times they do. I always joke around with my husband saying that our kids will never be able to lie to me because I watch interrogation videos for fun. So I know when you're fucking lying. I just interrogate my husband for fun. You just walk up to the random cashier at your local market and go, hey,
00:12:11
Speaker
Are you doing this? Are you sure about that? In a lot of interrogation videos, they will say like, well, they said that it was a person named Larry, or they said, and so I wouldn't surprise me if they did say like, Oh, this person
00:12:35
Speaker
Does the name Larry mean anything to you type of thing? Yeah, yeah, exactly. So they probably did tell him. So with this whole BS fucking story that Lawrence, I almost called him, goddamn, I almost called him Pedro. What the fuck? That was like that Pedro's fucking name. Because he like made up these two names and I'm like, how did he specifically pick Larry between the two names? What are you doing here?
00:13:18
Speaker
So after this story, he tried to pull luckily the police didn't believe him. Thank God. And so they actually decided to get a search warrant for his house and for the van.
00:13:29
Speaker
And in his house, they found a pack of Mary cigarettes and wouldn't normally be like a slam dunk because those could be anyone's cigarettes. He could be like, oh, those are mine. You know, so, um, but they also found burnt clothing that belonged to Mary. Okay. Explain that then Larry, how is her clothes burned in your possession?
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. What? I thought the other Larry, what did you do when you were on the side of her own naked? What did you do? She was fine. She's just naked as fuck. She was naked. And what are you going to explain yourself out of this one? Yeah. And like I said, they also got a search warrant to search his van. And Lawrence, wow, I cannot talk today.
00:14:24
Speaker
had removed all of the carpet from the back of his van and had cleaned it. It was spotless, which is also very suspicious.
00:14:37
Speaker
If there are no just normal fingerprints in there, there is no just normal everyday stuff in there. If you're going to clean your car like that, maybe take it to a place with a bunch of kids and let them go rogue in the back of your car a little bit. Because that would make it a little bit more used because this is suspicious. It's suspicious.
00:15:01
Speaker
keep doing this yeah exactly don't do the keep doing this and get caught because you shouldn't be or if cops here on out if you find a bunch of random children fingerprints and cheetos all over the place you know why why is there no why is the smell like bleach and cheetos on here what is this what my fucking house smells like because i clean so much but i also fucking love cheetos
00:15:28
Speaker
No, yours smell like flaming Cheetos. True. So the police also learned that after the attack on Mary, Lawrence tried to take his own life and stacked with everything else. The police took that as kind of like a sign of guilt. So the trial started in March of 1979 and Mary took the stand at the trial and
00:15:57
Speaker
gave her whole account, you know? And which is just, ah, she is amazing. She just keeps getting more and more badass. Yeah. And on, so the sucky thing, uh, so to get from her seat to the testimony stand and then back, she had to walk past Lawrence, which I'm like, what in the seventies, what did they would never make you do that again? Like they would never.
00:16:26
Speaker
they might think about it because they sit on each side of the aisle so if she's walking up through the aisle yeah that would that would explain i'm just like why would you huh
00:16:40
Speaker
Hmm, so I did duct tape him to the chair do it. You shouldn't be doing move So as she's walking back from her testimony, okay, so she just got grilled on the stand Okay by both sides because that's that's what happens. She's walking back to her seat and Lawrence whispers to her this is a quote if it's the last thing I do I will finish the job and
00:17:09
Speaker
I remember that now that you said it. You want to hear his sentence?
Controversial Sentencing and Early Release
00:17:14
Speaker
You want to hear? No, I don't. I will, because that's literally what we're here for. So thankfully, the jury found Lauren Singleton guilty on all charges. And there was there were a lot of them. I can't remember everything, but it was like torture, mutilation, rape.
00:17:39
Speaker
kidnapping, there was a lot of them. And so he should be put away for a long time, right? Right? Absolutely. He should be. Uh-huh. I was muted because Stella wanted to have her appearance and it was not the time for her to make an appearance. Okay. So, but yeah, he should, should be going to jail for a long time. For probably his whole life, right?
00:18:08
Speaker
Well, you know, a life sentence in America is what, 25 until they get, so all I care about if there's no parole. So he was sentenced to 14 years. That's not even how old she is. Nope. In California at the time, this was the maximum sentence that he could have gotten. At the time, the maximum sentence for rape was only two years.
00:18:43
Speaker
oh my god yeah oh my god so it's not like they didn't try they gave him the maximum sentence and i i know i see i get it i get it um it just
00:19:02
Speaker
I have a hard time understanding how 25 is considered a life. Yep. When, um, no, no, it should be 25 and then add on the age of whomever the victim is. So if it's like an 80 year old victim, then there we go. If it's a 15 year old victim, then it's 25 plus 15. Like we need to do better. This is so no parole. Damn it. Did he get parole? Please don't tell me that girl.
00:19:32
Speaker
Um, so that's where it should end, right? Yeah. But, uh, we're going to talk about that a little bit later. Um, so, but now we're going to talk about good things, sort of. Okay. So you're going to tell me the good things just to bring me right back down with the last bit there. Kinda. I see you. Kinda. Okay. Hold on everybody.
00:19:59
Speaker
After after everything that happened to Mary, she tried to rebuild her life. But sadly, this is kind of her family treated her completely different after the attack. They didn't know how to treat her now that she didn't have arms.
00:20:24
Speaker
Well, like you treat a normal kid. Yeah, right. So maybe even extra love and compassion. Yep. Because she doesn't have arms. Did you think she just decided one day I don't want these arms anymore? Like, why would it be? Yeah, and what in the 70s is going on with this case, man? And they just kind of slowly drifted away from her. Yeah.
00:20:54
Speaker
What? Could you imagine your 15-year-old child surviving this situation and then you abandoning her? They went, sorry, sorry. Sotto's prez. Sotto's prez and sotto's. Yeah. But Mary is amazing, like we keep saying, and she tried to keep living her best life. She got engaged. She had two kids.
00:21:23
Speaker
Uh, really trying hard to get back to normal and live the life that she wanted to live. But as her wedding day was getting closer, she was having this anxiety, but not the like wedding day anxiety, almost like something was wrong. Like she had when, you know, she got attacked and
00:21:50
Speaker
She found out on her wedding day that Lauren Singleton was being released. Why for good behavior? Because there was no 15 year old girls to fucking mutilate and rape. Sorry. So he was being released on good behavior.
00:22:12
Speaker
I was like, Ellie, shut up, let me. I was like, you fucking called it. God, I'm good in the worst way, which I was wrong. Um, for good behavior after only. Are you ready for this? No, it's going to make me really upset after only serving eight years. Yeah.
00:22:42
Speaker
Sorry, speech, Ellie is speechless. No, I'm not speechless. I'm finding it. I'm finding it. I'm finding it. It take you that long? Yeah. You do. My God. You want to hear and apparently I had to do something with like the prison overcrowding. There it is.
00:23:11
Speaker
And so they had this thing in there where every day, it was like a work incentive. So every day that they worked in prison, they would get a day off of their sentence.
00:23:28
Speaker
a day. No, they should get an hour off of their sentence. So every day is an hour. Twenty four work days is equivalent to one day. Well, and it's like even if they had that where it was like one day cut off, it should be for like people, not violent offenders. No, not someone who straight up chopped the arms off of a child tortured someone. Yeah. And maybe like drug offenses.
00:23:56
Speaker
or theft or fraud. Those things. Murder or attempted murder. Not specifically. I can't even say whether yes or no for murder because there are so many variables in a lot of different cases, but this one in particular
00:24:18
Speaker
Who the fuck decided that he was worthy of getting released? I just want to talk. Oh, so not the psychologist because before he had before he got released, he had a psych evaluation. Okay. And you want to know what it said?
00:24:33
Speaker
The psych eval. I don't know if I want to. It's going to make me really lose faith in the 70s. Yeah. Said he is so out of touch with his raid and hostility. And this is a quote. He is an elevated risk to others safety inside and outside the prison. And at this point, he is in San Quentin prison. OK. San Quentin is kind of where they put the bad of the bad.
00:25:03
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And the fact that they thought that he was an elevated risk to the safety of people even inside the prison? In a maximum security prison. In maximum security prison. In other murders. Yep. Yep. Yeah. So I just want to make sure that I am understanding this right now. Okay. So he was evaluated by a psychologist, deemed a risk to anyone, to anyone both inside and outside of the prison. Mm-hmm.
00:25:33
Speaker
Um, and that he's completely just detached from these very, uh, problematic things, uh, because he murdered someone. Yeah. Um, you should probably be in touch with your hostility. If you, if your crime was mutilating a child, who the fuck decided this? Like truly who, were they just not told? Like, yeah.
00:26:03
Speaker
Did they confuse this Lawrence with a different Lawrence? I'm confused. Was there two Lawrence's and they got a wrong Lawrence? I don't understand. And also there needs to be something for the victim. They have it now. I don't know when it was implemented, but they can say, no, I don't want this person out.
00:26:31
Speaker
and I don't know when it was implemented. It might've been the 90s. Yeah. It's like a victim impact statement, right? Or something like that. Or something like that each time they're up for parole or something like that, they can, which, bro, he grabbed the arm of a human being and- And said- We just do the same thing. At his trial, I will find you and kill you pretty much. Like, I will not rest until you're dead.
00:27:00
Speaker
And if people don't know about that, though, like true. If it just like, hypothetically, if they were unaware and it wasn't actually heard, then all they know is that this guy's a fuckhead and that he called her a sex worker. So with this with this elevated risk bullshit. He still gets out of prison and he gets out of prison and you want to know how much parole he got. How much time did he get?
00:27:29
Speaker
I know I'm going to hate it. Oh, God. I know I'm gonna hate it so much. Um, one year of probation. Yeah, I can't even be like that upset. I wasn't even a thought in anyone's mind at this point. Like I truly was not
00:27:51
Speaker
but nothing it could be done but it's like wow do fucking well I mean like don't exactly like women are already seen like the victims get treated I mean men can also be victims do not get me wrong but the victims do not get treated correctly and unfortunately if you're a woman and a victim it's like double whammy yep
00:28:15
Speaker
God forbid if you're in America and you're a person of color and a woman or even queer of some point. There are so many things that can make you less important and there's, it shouldn't be a thing. None of it should matter on your importance. You're a human being, period. Exactly. Exactly. So he only gets one year of parole and when Lawrence gets out. Probation.
00:28:45
Speaker
Oh yeah, he has, yeah, one year parole, one year probation, whatever. Probation is very similar to parole, except the probationers have not served prison time on their suspended sentence. So when they're parole, they have served prison time. Okay, yes, yes. Probation is when you are- And if they're just probation. Probation is you got released early or- Dodging prison time. Yeah. Okay. Interesting.
00:29:15
Speaker
Probation allows the offender to remain in society and have their behavior monitored by a probation officer while parole is granted by a parole board and allows a person to be released from jail before the end of their sentence. So he was brought upon a, there was a board of people that said, yeah, he's fine. Yeah. Did they not know the whole story? Like were they just given
00:29:40
Speaker
also edit out the white men thing. I keep going after that. They're gonna fucking cancel before we get monetized. Yeah, I don't fucking pisses me off. Yeah. So he gets out of prison. And luckily, just because
00:30:03
Speaker
these fucking people in the prison don't know how to fucking do their job. Um, luckily the court of opinion is fantastic. And no town in California wanted him. People. I remember this actually.
00:30:23
Speaker
weren't they like all like boycotting or like protesting that they were there and they're like we're not going to accept him and everyone's like no you take him and they just kept being passed and passed and he ended up back where he started. Yes people came out like in mobs to show them that he was not wanted and because the story it was yes it was like not just a peaceful protest it was
Legislative Changes: The Singleton Bill
00:30:45
Speaker
no
00:30:45
Speaker
I dare you. The story had become such big news and people had known what he had done and everyone was so mad that he had become that he had gotten released early that California actually introduced a bill called the Singleton Bill and it would prevent people getting released who were in prison for torture
00:31:12
Speaker
Good. And the new minimum prison time- And it shouldn't be called the Singleton Bill. It should be called the Vincent Bill. Yep. Yep. Fuck that. And- You shouldn't have anything named after him. Exactly. And the new minimum prison time for someone who is charged with torture was raised to 25 years. Instead of this fucking, I don't know- 14. Whatever, fucking was. Yeah, 14 or whatever. 14 years. Yeah.
00:31:40
Speaker
25 is still not enough. Nope. Well, that's just with torture. That's literally you have torture. You can do multiple counts. Yes, exactly. So it can accumulate. Yeah. Yeah. Like 103 counts of this and it's like, whoa. Exactly. Throw away the key. Yeah. I'm paying taxes for that though. Yeah. For 103 counts of that's why death row should be a thing.
00:32:06
Speaker
but I don't want to get canceled. So anyway, Stellan agrees. She does. She said, you know what? Fuck them bitches. Yep. Yep. So because this is so funny too, because no one wanted him, Sam Quinton prison had to put him in a trailer right outside the Sam Quinton prison for his one year parole or probation or whatever it fucking was.
00:32:36
Speaker
Nobody wanted him to the point where they literally just had to put him back on prison grounds for a little bit. Can you imagine? Even the warden's like, God damn it, I don't even want him. Yeah. So, Lauren serves his one-year parole.
00:32:54
Speaker
And he moves back to Tampa, Florida, where he was born, if you remember. And funny enough- I'm sorry, Florida. We were already saying some shit earlier. And now I just feel bad for you. Like what? He came back to you. Yeah. And funny enough though- He went to you guys. Funny enough though, the same thing happens in Florida. The story had gotten so big that nobody even wanted him across the country. Nobody wanted him.
00:33:23
Speaker
good. Yeah, they were like, good. And again, if Florida doesn't even want you, then you know you fucked up. Florida will take back anyone because you know, we have to remember though that Florida in the 70s was probably significantly different than the Florida now. We're thinking of Florida now, which true. Where even the crocodiles are on crack. So you know,
00:33:50
Speaker
Oh yeah, wasn't there a crocodile found with a lot of cocaine in it or something like that? Like somebody had dumped it and the alligator ate it? Yeah. And then there was the bear that did it too. There was a lot of animals that have actually overdosed on cocaine. What a way to go, right? They wouldn't even know what's going on. They're like, wait, wait, wait. It was the sound effects that got me.
00:34:27
Speaker
So because no one in Florida wanted him, he moves in with his brother, but that doesn't last very long because the house actually gets vandalized because he's there.
00:34:43
Speaker
This is giving me Brock Turner vibes. Yes. Yes, let's go. So his so the house gets vandalized and Lawrence moves again, because he's like, nope, I'm done. He's in fear of his safety. Poor little boy. Poor, poor baby. Yeah, so he so he moves and he actually finds a place that will
00:35:09
Speaker
kind of take him, uh, not that they are like welcoming by any means, but they're kind of just like, yeah, we don't fucking care. We have more shit to deal with, you know, like they're just kind of like, whatever, you know? So he lives there.
00:35:26
Speaker
And at this time, we're gonna switch back to Mary. Mary is still fighting on, but life has not really been good to her.
Mary's Struggles Post-Release
00:35:37
Speaker
It's been really hard because, you know, it's almost like she's traumatized. Like she doesn't have arms. It's almost like she quite literally fought for her life and survived and now has to live with the repercussions that someone else inflicted on her and it's fucked up. Mm-hmm.
00:35:53
Speaker
So you know how I said she got married? Well, she went, she ended up getting a divorce. Money was really tight and she was terrified because Lawrence is out. And the last time that she saw him, he said that he would finish the job. And so she is so stressed, she actually loses a ton of weight. Like I'm talking a hundred pounds.
00:36:18
Speaker
Like I normally wouldn't put in like, Oh, she lost weight or she gained weight. I'm like, what, who the fuck cares? But the fact that she lost a hundred pounds because she stressed, she's not eating. She's not pure stress. It's not, yeah, it's not because she went, she ate right and exercise. She just didn't eat at all.
00:36:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, so she is not sleeping, so she's not going to work. She is just, it's all kind of spiraling down. And because money was so tight, she couldn't afford the upkeep on her prosthetics, her metal prosthetics. And it was just a rough, a rough time for her. And on top of all of that,
00:37:03
Speaker
Lawrence had the nerve to sue Mary when he got out of prison. For what? For what? Saying that he was the victim of all of this. Mm-hmm.
00:37:21
Speaker
Uh, hold on. I'm sorry. I think I just pulled something in my brain. I don't know if you can, but I think something's been hurt because I don't, I can't, there's mental gymnastics right now. I'm. You should be in the Olympics. I got to stretch first. Like, bro, did you pull a muscle reaching for that one? The fuck are you talking about?
00:37:43
Speaker
Yeah. You cut her arms off and you're trying to play victim. Bro, you a grown ass man and this is a child. Well, now she's not really a child, but she was a child. When he did this, she was a child. What do you do? Yeah. But okay. Well, this will make you happy though. This will make you happy though. So instead, Mary's like, fuck you bitch. And sues him back.
00:38:10
Speaker
And she won the lawsuit and won $2.6 million. From who though? He doesn't have that money. So she didn't get any of that money. I think that it was just a statement of like, fuck you, dude. No.
00:38:32
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, so he didn't have any money and he, she literally drained him. She drained him of his money. All of the $200 he had to his name. Like the bank accounts were zeroed out. Now make him sell plasma and take that money too.
00:38:52
Speaker
Yeah, yep. Yep. Let's sell a kidney while we're at it. What else do you got? Let's just nevermind. I'm finding it. I'm finding it. I'm finding it. So anyway, so anyway, Lawrence is living in Florida, and he actually ends up going back to prison for a little bit.
00:39:17
Speaker
What did he do? Oh God, at least it's that thing. When I'm relieved at that. You want to know what he stole? A car? I don't know. Oh no, I wish. A three dollar hat from Walmart. Why do people like this always get caught in the dumbest ways? Like you straight up somehow
00:39:47
Speaker
dodge police for years right like let's say what what is it what's the ted bundy he was able to stop sign his way and you fucking have a blinker out or a tail light out and that's how you get caught
00:40:04
Speaker
honestly i would if i ended up ever doing something like that i would be the i would be on it the most like oh my tail lights out better go get that fixed now oh my i i would be the safest fucking driver i would you know what i mean i oh my god well i don't understand how these people just get so fucking cocky
00:40:26
Speaker
Well because they've gotten away with murder. They don't give a fuck about a blinker. They're psychopaths. We care too much about people. We could never even do that. We'd be worried about the blinker. We're too worried about the blinker to even think of taking a life. Are you fucking kidding me?
00:40:46
Speaker
Exactly, but it's me. We have anxiety about leaving. I get sad when I run out of dog food. The other day, I ran out of dog food and I had to go to the store, and I felt bad because I don't have a car right now. I can't fucking kill anyone. I feel bad enough just accidentally killing a mosquito. I apologize for bumping into people. I could fucking hurt anyone. I apologize for bumping into a lamp. I'm like, oh, sorry.
00:41:16
Speaker
I have done that before. I straight up will clip the edge of a doorframe and then say sorry. I'm like. Yep. Yeah, this is why it should be apologizing to me. This is why we talk about other people doing crimes because.
00:41:30
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So when I got into the accident, it was technically not my fault. Like it was my fault, but it wasn't my fault because I slipped into ice. It's oncoming traffic. Okay. Yeah, I got hit by a vehicle. Yeah, I got hit by a pickup truck. I got T boned by a pickup truck. Guess who said fucking sorry and was making sure that the other man was okay.
00:41:52
Speaker
The one that was not in the wrong. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. Cause yeah, I got sandwiched in between two pickup trucks and the little old man that we swerved into, I was making sure he was okay, but he's in a fucking pickup truck. And he's like, ma'am, I'm in a pickup truck. Are you okay? Yeah. This is why I can't. Meanwhile, the other one is screaming at you. Oh my God.
00:42:19
Speaker
Yeah, that's a whole different cup of wheat. You guys are not listening for that type of shit. So let's go back anyway. Lauren, someone I can actually add that. Yeah, exactly. And take my anger actually out on the one. Yeah. Anyway, so Lauren. So we're going to skip kind of forward, not to not too much, but we're going to skip to 1997 and Lawrence is 69 years old at this time.
00:42:47
Speaker
Nice. Anyway. I wanted to do that, but I was like, no, I hate this guy. I literally took everything in me to not say that because I was like, that's going to be funny. No, he doesn't. And he's living in this kind of trailer park thing that people don't really, you know, whatever.
00:43:05
Speaker
And neighbors describe him as a lovely, kind, caring... Just kidding. I'm just kidding. No, they didn't. I was about to be like, what the fuck happened? Did he get blunt force trauma? Did he get hit upside the head with a sludge hammer?
00:43:24
Speaker
I wish. That was a weird squeak, but no. No, no, no, actually. Neighbors said that he was really mean and cranky and violent and he was a drunk and he would like yell at you for no reason and that this man could drink up to two gallons of vodka a day. Why?
00:43:53
Speaker
What type of liver, what is his liver made of? What is going on? Titanium apparently, I don't know. Yeah, seriously. Two gallons of vodka a day. How did they figure that? Do you like, was that just how much you consume and like they tracked how many bottles he was? I'm guessing so, like you probably were like hanging out with people. I don't know, I don't fucking know. Like, could you imagine like the Costco size? Like a little handle on the side, like a gallon.
00:44:24
Speaker
I can barely drink that much water. That's too much vodka. I know. How can you drink that much fluid?
Lawrence Singleton's Murder of Roxanne Hayes
00:44:32
Speaker
I can't. Literally. OK, so remember, it's 1997. Lawrence is getting up there at age. And this is where we're going to meet a new person named Roxanne Hayes. She was 31 years old and a mother of three.
00:44:52
Speaker
Roxanne had had a really rough childhood. She was sexually assaulted by her grandfather at the age of two. Like he started at the age of two. And her dad was an alcoholic and physically abused Roxanne. At 14, her mother died
00:45:14
Speaker
And this is when she left home. Yeah, sorry. I just kind of went through it. I was like, anyway, we're just going to plow right through that. Because that's just awful. Like, there's nothing that any of us can say about that. So like, yeah, I just had to I just had to go right through. Yeah. So this is when. So at 14 is when she left home and this led Roxanne to work as a sex worker to survive.
00:45:44
Speaker
which led her to drugs and alcohol addiction. And people say that even though she had a rough upbringing, she was still so kind and caring and just a lovely person and that she did everything for her kids and her kids came first. She would make sure that they had the best birthday parties and the best, you know, anything that she could give them.
00:46:12
Speaker
And she knew- She loved being a mom. And she knew that like this, hopefully that this would only be temporary. And so on February 19th- She's doing what she had to do to survive and to give her kids a better life than what she had. Exactly.
00:46:29
Speaker
So on the 19th of February, 1997, Lawrence picked up Roxanne for sex work. And so Lawrence takes Roxanne back to his home. And around 6 p.m. that night, a neighbor came around to Lawrence's house to ask him for a favor. And Lawrence didn't answer because Lawrence is kind of old and has a lot of health problems, probably, you know, from drinking so much.
00:46:56
Speaker
the neighbor gets worried and he starts peering into the windows to see if Lawrence needs help. And what this neighbor would see, he probably needs therapy for the rest of his life.
00:47:13
Speaker
The thing is that the crime is bad, yes, but the neighbor sees a naked 69-year-old Lawrence. That's probably all he needs therapy for. Call the police. He's going to call the police immediately after that.
00:47:32
Speaker
he sees a naked 69 year old Lawrence. The actual bad thing was Lawrence was beating up and strangling Roxanne and Roxanne was still alive at this point and she was screaming for help and the neighbor being great bangs on the window to see if it would kind of like distract Lawrence and
00:47:56
Speaker
It kind of does, in a way, it's very weird. Naked Lawrence, that's all, I'm just gonna call him Naked Lawrence. Naked Lawrence. A friendly reminder that this old man is naked. It's Folly Butt Naked. So Naked Lawrence turns and faces the neighbor, makes eye contact with him, and then goes back to beating Roxanne.
00:48:20
Speaker
So the neighbor is making note of who to kill next? Apparently. Okay. So the neighbor calls 911 and the police show up. But sadly, it was too late. And Lawrence had beat Roxanne to death.
00:48:38
Speaker
The police show up and Lawrence opens the door, still naked, covered in- Nevermind, carry on. I think I'm gonna answer my question. He opens the door naked, covered in blood. Okay, great. And tells the officer that he cut his finger cutting vegetables. Your finger. Your finger.
00:49:03
Speaker
Your finger. You could have. Your finger. Bro. I'm finding it. I'm finding it. I was skinning a pig for rotisserie. You could have thought of so many other things. Uh-huh.
00:49:20
Speaker
So luckily the police are not as stupid as fucking Lawrence's apparently. And they see right through his bullshit. Jesus Christ. Well, he's a naked man covered in blood. Well, I mean it's Florida. Who fucking knows? You're totally right. Where else would you read the headline? He answered the door naked and covered in blood. I cut my finger, Ossifer. Ossifer? Fucking idiot.
00:49:48
Speaker
They go into the house and they find Roxanne dead, and she had been beaten, strangled, and stabbed multiple times. Luckily, Lawrence was arrested on the spot and charged with the murder of Roxanne Hayes.
00:50:09
Speaker
And during the trial, he didn't deny it because he couldn't. They caught him literally right handed. Yeah, no kidding. Literally. But he did try to justify it. He was saying that he had caught her trying to steal from him, and that's why he lashed out.
00:50:35
Speaker
Right, so that makes sense. That's a reasonable reaction. Your life was in danger from a theft, right? Yeah, exactly. So, Mary actually came out of hiding to see him at trial. She was in hiding because she knew he was out.
00:50:56
Speaker
And yeah, she took the stand and gave her testimony again and saying that like, this is what I had to deal with with him and everything like that. And with everything stacked against him, the evidence, you know, everything, uh, he was found guilty of murder and Lawrence was sentenced to death in 1997, but
00:51:26
Speaker
I just wanted to hear that. But in 2001, he died while on death row. He died of cancer. Well, that sure didn't happen fast enough. But I know. At least he's dead. Yep. Yeah. What a schmuck. So the thing that pisses me off the most, honestly, is the fact that they give you more time
00:51:53
Speaker
Like buy a lot if you kill someone rather than if you just maim someone horribly for the rest of their life. Like the fact that he was charged for murder for Roxanne's death, you know, like he was given what said death sentence. He, for, for her death.
00:52:16
Speaker
but yet was only given 15 years because Mary was strong and survived. And she knew he only gave 14 years for that.
00:52:29
Speaker
It should be equivalent. It doesn't matter if they succeeded or not. They shouldn't be rewarded for not succeeding. Exactly. Exactly. And so it just... It doesn't matter if they actually took a life. They wanted to. They tried to. They wanted to. And Mary's life is never going to be the same again.
00:52:52
Speaker
Yeah, they took the life that she had. And, and he got to continue situations like this because these monsters are truly just a waste of space. Yes. So it's always bugged that they get lighter sentences. If anything, like it should be equivalent
00:53:14
Speaker
or more by a little bit. Because the person that's alive still has to live with everything and has to live with the fear of you getting out. At least when they're dead. Exactly. At least when they're dead. I mean, it sucks that they died. I'm not putting any like, oh, at least they died. No, but it's like at least they don't have to live the rest of their life.
00:53:43
Speaker
Scared like like it said Mary was in hiding because Lawrence was out Like her life was because he was still alive and she was still alive at the same time which was He shouldn't have been alive, but I digress. Um, yeah He even after the terrible act was done He still was dictating her life. Yep. Like it was still taking over all of like it's just insane to me that Mm-hmm
00:54:14
Speaker
Even after all of that, even after the distance, the time, she was genuinely in fear for her life, but who gave a fuck, right? Because... He got almost more treatment than she did. I'm glad she survived. I'm truly glad that Mary survived, even at the expense of her peace. Because she didn't deserve any of it.
00:54:41
Speaker
And now we actually get to move on to happier
Mary Vincent's Advocacy and Recovery
00:54:44
Speaker
notes. So after all of this and Lawrence was finally gone, Mary was able to rebuild her life. She got married again. She was finally able to really talk about what happened to her because she had no fear of Lawrence finding her if she were to talk about what happened or all this stuff. And she really fought against
00:55:11
Speaker
hitchhiking and wanted, she really became the spokesperson of the dangers of hitchhiking. I don't know if there's anyone who has more qualifications than she does. Oh, of course. Of course. She would actually go to schools and theaters and stuff like this and talk in front of a whole bunch of people and just really rally against hitchhiking and all this stuff. She also set up a foundation for victims of traumatic crimes.
00:55:41
Speaker
So this girl is amazing. And even now, her name isn't actually Mary Vincent anymore. It's Mary Gafe or hang on a second. Mary... McGriff. McGriff, yep. So yeah, she she now goes by or now she got married and it's Mary McGriff now. And she taught herself to paint and she actually sells her artwork currently. Like that's what she does as a living.
00:56:10
Speaker
along with public speaking. There we go. And the fact that she taught herself to paint while having the hooks, like, is there nothing that this woman cannot do? There truly is. And there's not. There's nothing she can't do. And I love it.
00:56:31
Speaker
So it just really sucks that Roxanne had to be brutally murdered in order for him just to be taken seriously as a threat. Yeah. I also wanted to add the fact that she modified
00:56:49
Speaker
her own prosthetic arms. That's why she still uses the same arms that she does. Oh, okay. So she was her she was someone who likes to tinker. Oh, so she used spare parts of a broken down electronic, or different electronics, not just one to modify her prosthetic into custom designs. Huh, that's cool. So that's why she has what she has because she's customized them for herself. That's super cool. Yeah, that is super cool. Hell yeah.
00:57:20
Speaker
But yeah, so that was the case of
00:57:25
Speaker
Lawrence Singleton and Mary and Roxanne. Also, I was gonna say this at the beginning of the episode, but a lot of this, I could not have done this episode without Danielle Kirsty on YouTube. Amazing. She, oh my gosh, her research into this case was amazing because a lot of the beginning stuff, I could not find
00:57:54
Speaker
anything on it. So yeah, so go follow her. She's great for true crime stuff. I think she posts like once a week. But yeah, so that was the case of...
00:58:12
Speaker
It's a lot yeah Yeah, but again, I needed a survivor story after everything that Has happened. Well, thank you for that awful story I Have heard before and it fucks me up every time. Yeah I'm pretty sure a lot of people have heard about this case So
00:58:41
Speaker
Yeah, I just, I think about this case a lot. Like the part that stuck with me is the arms part, like the part that she could, she was falling and she was confused of why she was falling because she could still see her arms clutched onto him. Because your brain just, how do you make sense? How? Yep, exactly. Exactly. God damn it.
00:59:05
Speaker
We're just going to SBC out this one, I think. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Stay safe out there, guys. Yes, stay safe. No hitchhiking. No hitchhiking. Also, that's the other thing, too. That's the other thing, too. My brother-in-law, he was telling me one day, so he actually works and lives right now. He kind of goes around the country, but he works in the wintertime in California, in Lake Tahoe area.
00:59:32
Speaker
And yeah, he was telling me one day that he wanted to go to this one place. So he just hitchhiked. And I was like, don't do that. And he was like, oh, it's fine. Would people do it a lot over here? And I'm like, no. So don't hitchhike people. Doesn't matter what gender you are. Just don't do it. Just I don't want to hear about any of you on the news.
00:59:52
Speaker
So, yeah, we're not trying to have any none of our listeners are going to be an episode. No, unless they write in and tell us their own stories. Yes. And then we will read your stories and talk about them. Mm hmm. And laugh with you guys. But we don't want you to be or cry with you guys. It's fine. We'll cry with you guys, too, if you want. Trust me. We're emotional. Yeah. SPC. Yeah. Wow. You beat me to the punch. Rude. OK, anyway, SPC out, bitch.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:00:27
Speaker
All right. Thank you so much for listening. And remember to follow us on Instagram at Scared But Curious Pod. And we have a Twitter. Follow us at Scared Curious on Twitter X and join our Scared But Curious Facebook group. And if you're listening on Spotify, please rate us. Five stars, please. And if there are any stories or cases you would love to hear us cover or anything you don't hear enough about, please don't hesitate. Email us at Scared But Curious Pod at gmail.com.