Eccentric Earth Episode 15 - Mary Vincent — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:06[Music]
2. 0:22the world will little note nor long
3. 0:24remember what we say but it can never
4. 0:28forget what they do and not what your
5. 0:31country can do for you and what you can
6. 0:35do
7. 0:36[Music]
8. 0:42hello and welcome to eccentric earth I'm
9. 0:45your host Amy Walker and joining me this
10. 0:48week to delve into a story from history
11. 0:50is my guest Glenn Jackman hello how are
12. 0:54you hi I'm good how are you yes not not
13. 0:57too bad not too bad just getting over a
14. 0:59horrible cold so we're getting back to
15. 1:01feeling like human again good well
16. 1:04hopefully we can help you feel a fun
17. 1:07story from history which this is is not
18. 1:10fun at all so I don't know why's like
19. 1:12that you'll be a good sport though not
20. 1:16only for coming on the show but also for
21. 1:19letting me give you a subject that's not
22. 1:22going to be a walk in the park compared
23. 1:24to some we've had 90% of history is
24. 1:28awful you do find that I did history at
25. 1:32school look at history at college on a
26. 1:33date history at university and you will
27. 1:35find that most of history is not happy
28. 1:38sometimes yes and that's something that
29. 1:42we like about history on this show is we
30. 1:47don't want to shy away from those
31. 1:49because history is awful but it can
32. 1:52teach us a lot of things and was this
33. 1:55story has some horrible stuff having in
34. 1:58it it's also one of the most inspiring
35. 2:01people I've ever heard of mm-hmm Bobby
36. 2:04they do save it you know obviously those
37. 2:06who fail to learn the lessons of history
38. 2:08are doomed to repeat it so I think they
39. 2:10I do find in the current sort of climate
40. 2:13that we're kind of selling 2018 a lot of
41. 2:16people would rather not hear about
42. 2:17horrible things and while you know
43. 2:19nobody wants to hear about horrible
44. 2:21things
45. 2:22if you cocoon yourself too much then
46. 2:24you're just gonna go down the same route
47. 2:26that our forefathers did yeah so hey go
48. 2:31all philosophize in on a Thursday night
49. 2:34yeah well as listeners it may have seen
50. 2:40in the episode description there is a
51. 2:43Content warning on this episode there
52. 2:46are some graphic and disturbing moments
53. 2:50coming up if you didn't see that this is
54. 2:52your warning now
55. 2:53so that you can't be taken by surprise
56. 2:55and you've seen the title as well so you
57. 2:58might even know the subject whereas poor
58. 2:59Glen has no idea but without further ado
59. 3:04I can start the story and hopefully
60. 3:07we'll all get through it together
61. 3:08okey doke there we go it takes a bonding
62. 3:11experience
63. 3:12exactly Mary Vincent grew up in Las
64. 3:18Vegas with her parents both of whom
65. 3:20worked in local casinos her mother Lucy
66. 3:23was a casino dealer and her father herb
67. 3:26was a gambling machine repairman in 1978
68. 3:30at the age of 15 Mary ran away from home
69. 3:33with her boyfriend and moved to
70. 3:35California after her boyfriend was
71. 3:38arrested for allegedly raping a high
72. 3:39school girl they decided to return home
73. 3:42as you do yeah I can't blame her falling
74. 3:46away from him hmm
75. 3:47unfortunately she didn't have any money
76. 3:50so she chose to hitchhike back to Nevada
77. 3:53oh dear unfortunate this is the 70s
78. 3:57where everyone seemed to hitchhike yeah
79. 4:00these days nobody hitchhikes
80. 4:03please please nobody ever hitchhike no
81. 4:07that's a stupid thing to do during her
82. 4:11journey through Berkeley on the 29th of
83. 4:13September a van pulled over to offer her
84. 4:16a ride the van was driven by a man
85. 4:18called Lawrence singleton described as a
86. 4:21balding middle-aged man whose blue
87. 4:23jumpsuit was stretched over a beer belly
88. 4:25he was a former merchant seaman he was a
89. 4:28heavy drinker who had been convicted to
90. 4:30contributing to the delinquency of a
91. 4:32minor mild-tempered enough when sober he
92. 4:35was reported to turn vengeful when he'd
93. 4:37had enough to drink
94. 4:38singleton told Mary that he had room in
95. 4:41the van for one passenger two young men
96. 4:43who were hitchhiking close to Mary could
97. 4:45see into the back of the van and could
98. 4:47see that it was empty
99. 4:48they told Mary not to go with him
100. 4:50despite these warnings Mary got into the
101. 4:53van when in the van Mary pulled out a
102. 4:56cigarette and lit it when the smoke made
103. 4:58her sneeze she felt a hand on the back
104. 5:00of her neck let's see if you're sick
105. 5:03single son said pulling her towards him
106. 5:06she jerked away from him and settled
107. 5:08against the door out of his reach a
108. 5:10short while into the drive Mary fell
109. 5:12asleep when she awoke she noticed that
110. 5:15they were not heading in the right
111. 5:16direction panicked she grabbed a pointed
112. 5:19Surveyor stick that was sitting beside
113. 5:21the passenger seat and pointed it at
114. 5:23singleton demanding that he turned the
115. 5:25car around he told her that he had made
116. 5:28an honest mistake
117. 5:29and had turned down the wrong road I'm
118. 5:32not going to hurt you he said turning
119. 5:33the van around and heading back the way
120. 5:35they had come yeah that tents not if you
121. 5:39have to say it then it's a good chance
122. 5:42that Colie i'm gonna happen yeah it's
123. 5:44one of those things whenever people
124. 5:46really feel the need to point something
125. 5:47out yeah normally something that they
126. 5:50are gonna do or have done yeah it's like
127. 5:54if someone comes up to you as hi nice to
128. 5:55meet you I don't drown puppies they're
129. 5:57probably drowned puppies yeah yeah I'm
130. 6:00not gonna punch you in the face I don't
131. 6:02plan in to brutally murder you and put
132. 6:05you in their foundation to the hair oh
133. 6:06that's oddly specific yeah a short while
134. 6:12later he pulled the van over telling
135. 6:14Mary that he needed to pee and couldn't
136. 6:16wait until the next service station he
137. 6:19climbed out of the van and walked into
138. 6:21the bushes Mary feeling like something
139. 6:24wasn't right notice that her shoelace
140. 6:26was untied thinking that she may have to
141. 6:29try and run away from the older man she
142. 6:31got out of the van so she could tie her
143. 6:33laces as she got out singleton walked up
144. 6:36behind her and hit her over the head
145. 6:38with a sledgehammer the blow didn't kill
146. 6:41her but knocked her unconscious when she
147. 6:45woke up she was in the back of the van
148. 6:47strips naked singleton forced her to
149. 6:50perform oral sex on him telling her that
150. 6:53he would kill her if she didn't after he
151. 6:56raped her orally he tied her hands
152. 6:57behind her back and raped her again he
153. 7:01did rape her several times throughout
154. 7:02the course of the night only stopping
155. 7:04when the Sun came up
156. 7:05I asked why he was doing this there was
157. 7:10no response he raped me
158. 7:15few times probably about six times and
159. 7:20he fell asleep but I couldn't I couldn't
160. 7:24get away because I was completely tired
161. 7:27I wanted to die that was the worst
162. 7:32feeling I've ever felt that's all I was
163. 7:36thinking please God kill me now
164. 7:39can't handle it the whole time I was
165. 7:48just telling him please just set me free
166. 7:53let me go set me free
167. 7:56I remembered the words just set me free
168. 8:05and he kept raping me too the next day
169. 8:08and I was awake the whole time and I was
170. 8:16always told I saw the Sun starting to
171. 8:20rise in the morning he pulled her out of
172. 8:23the van Mary begged him to set her free
173. 8:25promising that she wouldn't go to the
174. 8:27police he turned to her and said you
175. 8:31want to be free I'll set you free
176. 8:34reaching into the van he pulled out a
177. 8:36hatchet grabbing hold of her he swung
178. 8:39the hatchet onto her right arm cutting
179. 8:42it off just below the elbows Mary
180. 8:45screamed and tried to get away from him
181. 8:46but singleton continued his assault
182. 8:49taking hold of her left arm he hacked at
183. 8:52Rama as Mary tried to kick at him trying
184. 8:54to break his grip she fell to the ground
185. 8:57and looked up at singleton who was
186. 8:59shaking his arm around trying to loosen
187. 9:02Mary severed hand that still had hold of
188. 9:04him beaten repeatedly raped and with
189. 9:08both arms hacked off Mary was picked up
190. 9:11and carried to the edge of the road okay
191. 9:13now you're free singleton told her
192. 9:16before throwing her off a 30-foot cliff
193. 9:19edge
194. 9:21he said you want to be set free I'll set
195. 9:26you free and he pulls out a hatchet from
196. 9:31his toolbox and took my left arm and
197. 9:38took one swing and I started to fall and
198. 9:47then he took another swing and I grabbed
199. 9:52his arm grabbed it real tight and I
200. 9:56couldn't figure out I'm holding him
201. 9:58little tight on his arm but I'm still
202. 10:01falling I looked down my arm
203. 10:07there was nothing just blood squirting
204. 10:11up I felt all the paring the sharpness
205. 10:17the burning and when my blood was
206. 10:22leaking out of my body I felt the hot it
207. 10:28was just flowing out of me I felt
208. 10:32everything I was aware of everything and
209. 10:36the pain was so excruciating
210. 10:40[Music]
211. 10:45and yeah he then took my right arm and I
212. 10:55started kicking and screaming hoping
213. 10:59someone would hear me and I'm just
214. 11:01kicking non-stop and he started to chop
215. 11:07my right arm off but because I'm still
216. 11:10kicking and screaming it took longer so
217. 11:14he had to keep chopping away at my arm
218. 11:18when when he was done chopping my arm
219. 11:21off
220. 11:22I lay there bleeding but I could see him
221. 11:28at a distance and he was flicking his
222. 11:33arm and I couldn't figure out why until
223. 11:38I looked at the end of his arm my hand
224. 11:41was still clutched onto him real tight
225. 11:43and he was trying to flick it off at
226. 11:54that point he he started to drag me
227. 12:01and I think he thought I was dead
228. 12:04because I just lay still and didn't move
229. 12:10and he threw me off a 30-foot cliff the
230. 12:14full knocked her unconscious once again
231. 12:16and also broke several of her ribs it
232. 12:19didn't however kill her
233. 12:21unsure if singleton had left or who's
234. 12:23still around
235. 12:24Mary lay at the bottom of the ravine
236. 12:26fighting the urge to fall asleep Mary
237. 12:29would later say that a voice in her head
238. 12:31told her not to fall asleep she said
239. 12:33that she knew that he would do this to
240. 12:35another girl and that she couldn't let
241. 12:37that happen
242. 12:38hmm - probably already done it a few
243. 12:41times I would imagine yeah this doesn't
244. 12:44seem like the sort of thing someone does
245. 12:46as a first you know kind of offense
246. 12:50pressing her mutilated arms into the mud
247. 12:53she used the wet dirt to cover her
248. 12:55wounds preventing further blood loss
249. 12:57Mary spent the next several hours
250. 13:00dragging herself out of the ravine that
251. 13:02she had been thrown into eventually
252. 13:04making her way back up to the road by
253. 13:06the time night had fallen having heard
254. 13:09the sound of traffic during the day Mary
255. 13:11knew what direction to head in in order
256. 13:13to reach the main road walking in the
257. 13:16dark with only the light of the moon to
258. 13:18show her her way Mary walked for hours
259. 13:21when a convertible crouched two young
260. 13:24men were inside their headlights
261. 13:26revealing a naked blood-covered young
262. 13:28woman missing both of her arms she
263. 13:30called out further out to them for help
264. 13:33but they were too frightened and sped
265. 13:35away
266. 13:36fortunately for Mary a second car soon
267. 13:38came along the car was driven by a young
268. 13:41couple on their honeymoon who were lost
269. 13:44seeing the wounded teen they stopped
270. 13:46immediately
271. 13:47got her into the back seats wrapped her
272. 13:49in towels and drove as fast as they
273. 13:51could to a nearby airport where they
274. 13:53called for an ambulance her wounds were
275. 13:56so grave that Mary's taken hospital via
276. 13:58helicopter by the time she reached
277. 14:01hospital she had lost half the blood in
278. 14:03her body
279. 14:03climbing the first thing she said to the
280. 14:06hospital staff was he raped me despite
281. 14:11horrific injuries and the severe
282. 14:12emotional trauma Mary arraigned very
283. 14:15calm while speaking to police and was
284. 14:17able to give such a detailed description
285. 14:18to police sketch artists that singleton
286. 14:21was almost immediately
287. 14:22anta fide a neighbor of singleton whose
288. 14:26name was removed from newspaper reports
289. 14:28but described as a housewife and bowling
290. 14:31aficionado saw the police sketch on the
291. 14:34news a new of out doubt there was her
292. 14:37neighbor she immediately called the
293. 14:38police in the months following her
294. 14:41attack Mary began the long road to
295. 14:43recovery being fitted for prosthetics
296. 14:45for her missing hands and even returned
297. 14:48to school when the trial began in 1979
298. 14:52singleton told the court that he was
299. 14:54innocent he said that Mary was a $10 a
300. 14:58night [ __ ] that he had picked up along
301. 15:00with another hitchhiker he said that it
302. 15:03was this hitchhiker Larry was the one
303. 15:05who attacked Mary whilst he was passed
304. 15:07out drunk hmm Mary he was still
305. 15:10recovering both physically and
306. 15:12psychologically from her ordeal only six
307. 15:14months before took the witness stand she
308. 15:17told the court about her attack going
309. 15:20into detail about the events she made it
310. 15:23clear that singleton was the one
311. 15:24responsible for her horrific injuries
312. 15:26and sexual assault completely destroying
313. 15:29his defense story as Mary left the
314. 15:32witness stand she passed close to
315. 15:33singleton who lent towards her and
316. 15:36whispered I'll finish this job if it
317. 15:39takes me the rest of my life he sounded
318. 15:41lovely yeah he sounds great you
319. 15:47definitely get him to play Santa for the
320. 15:50Christmas fete absolutely he's
321. 15:53definitely that kind of nice old urgent
322. 15:56yes are he he's the last of the silver
323. 15:58tongue jammers here plus if your defense
324. 16:01is I didn't do it and then people enjoy
325. 16:03he was but I'll finish the job you've
326. 16:05kind of [ __ ] yourself well yeah
327. 16:08probably cuz he's a mental case
328. 16:10that's probably there is why true yeah
329. 16:13mental case is kind of the early
330. 16:15explanation for what he did all right
331. 16:17Psych off but it's psychopathic he
332. 16:19thinks he's above everything that's
333. 16:21that's classic sociopath behavior is
334. 16:23that I'm I'm above all this I done the
335. 16:26rules don't apply to me I I go by my own
336. 16:30rules and my rules is that I'm not
337. 16:32guilty but I'm gonna kill you later
338. 16:35fortunately though
339. 16:36singleton was found guilty by the jury
340. 16:39he was charged with rape kidnapping
341. 16:41mayhem attempted murder and sodomy the
342. 16:46judge gave him the maximum sentence
343. 16:48possible for each of these crimes how
344. 16:51long do you think that that would total
345. 16:54I'm guessing not long because there was
346. 16:58no murder I'm thinking because there was
347. 17:00no murder because basically hates a
348. 17:02woman in the 70s 20 years oh you're
349. 17:09being hopeful he was sentenced to 14
350. 17:12years yeah I knew it wasn't gonna be
351. 17:15long because it's attempted murder it's
352. 17:17not murder yeah it's like that me it's a
353. 17:21fine line between murder and
354. 17:22manslaughter in this country oh it
355. 17:24wasn't premeditated it's not as bad
356. 17:27Oh ass fine then yeah he didn't he
357. 17:31didn't plan it so you know this person
358. 17:33will only kill you in a
359. 17:35spur-of-the-moment rage they're not
360. 17:36gonna plan it ahead of time so they're
361. 17:38fine exactly I would feel safer with the
362. 17:41person who plans it yeah cuz it
363. 17:43generally is just cold emotionless and
364. 17:46nine times out of ten one person they're
365. 17:48after where is the mental with a an axe
366. 17:51who likes killing women
367. 17:52sure I'll share an empty train carriage
368. 17:55with him he sounds great yeah and well
369. 18:00like I said woman in the 70s I'm
370. 18:02surprised I didn't say I'm surprised I
371. 18:04didn't sent her to prison
372. 18:05yeah it's your fault [ __ ] prison I
373. 18:09think it's a case of if he hadn't have
374. 18:13did what he did after the rapes and she
375. 18:16was just a rape victim he probably
376. 18:19wouldn't have got anything I think the
377. 18:22fact that she turned up to court missing
378. 18:24arms yeah he was found guilty he would
379. 18:31have got something it wasn't it's not
380. 18:35that bad that they would see rapers you
381. 18:38know oh it's not that bad because at the
382. 18:40end of the day yeah it is that bad and
383. 18:42and if nothing else the sodomy charge
384. 18:45would carry a hefty sentence anyway
385. 18:46because this this is back in the
386. 18:48seventies when sodomy you know
387. 18:50or sodomy that means gay people and you
388. 18:53know which isn't even [ __ ] true
389. 18:55anyway but you know but that's that nine
390. 18:59times and that will have been the reason
391. 19:01that so that carried a heavy sentence
392. 19:03cuz you know you know how them gays love
393. 19:06sodomy right straight people couldn't
394. 19:08possibly do there anything like that
395. 19:10ridiculous yeah straight people would
396. 19:13never do that no one check porn yeah no
397. 19:16Jack any porn whatsoever
398. 19:20ninety percent of which is anal sex
399. 19:27seriously I mean if there was no such
400. 19:29thing as sodomy with straight people
401. 19:30then why the hell would anyone bleach
402. 19:31their in oh yeah
403. 19:36I must be an interesting thing right
404. 19:38that's a weird conversation we'd segue
405. 19:42from the story into anal bleaching but
406. 19:48[Laughter]
407. 19:51oh I'm so glad I have the power to edit
408. 19:58myself which only makes it true
409. 20:06otherwise I'll know the judge presiding
410. 20:10over the case said that if he was able
411. 20:12to he would have sentenced singleton to
412. 20:14life without parole he said if I had the
413. 20:18power I would send into prison for the
414. 20:20rest of his natural life
415. 20:22I'm guessing they even then didn't have
416. 20:25the death sentence in California that
417. 20:28because otherwise I'm guessing just
418. 20:30doesn't strike me as a death sentence he
419. 20:32kind of place I just it it shows how
420. 20:37shocking the law is in some ways ways
421. 20:39where he was found guilty and the judge
422. 20:42could tell what kind of awful person
423. 20:45here's his hands are tied he can't give
424. 20:48him more than 14 years yeah I mean you
425. 20:51know in a way it's it's a good thing I
426. 20:54guess that you can't just have judges or
427. 20:57people making sort of arbitrary
428. 20:58decisions because that's what the laws
429. 21:00they're for but on the other hand a
430. 21:04frustrating yeah when it's we're really
431. 21:07needed and in cases where the sentences
432. 21:10need to be harsher I think I think did
433. 21:16they have pretty sure they have more
434. 21:18leniency with that now I'm pretty sure
435. 21:20they do and it's because of things like
436. 21:22this sort these extreme cases yeah that
437. 21:26you know the law that's how the law
438. 21:28groans that's how the law changes and
439. 21:31and you know we it's gonna happen a lot
440. 21:32in Britain at the moment because the
441. 21:33case is gonna happen with the certainty
442. 21:36a girl guy who killed the guy who was
443. 21:38trying to burgle him you're gonna have
444. 21:40these cases where the law is gonna be
445. 21:42tested and the law is gonna have to set
446. 21:43a precedent and that's a good thing it
447. 21:47may not seem like you at the time but it
448. 21:48is a good thing that the law isn't set
449. 21:50in stone that he does need to be tested
450. 21:52it does need to have precedent sir and
451. 21:54this I'm guessing one of those things
452. 21:56yeah as well as having found single can
453. 22:01singleton guilty marry one a civil
454. 22:04judgment worth 2.56 million dollars good
455. 22:08about as singleton was unemployed and
456. 22:11had only $200 savings he did not receive
457. 22:14a penny
458. 22:15no singleton was sent to San Quentin
459. 22:18prison to serve out the term of his
460. 22:20sentence
461. 22:20ouch it was during this period that a
462. 22:23scheme was put into place where
463. 22:25prisoners were able to have time knocked
464. 22:26off their sentences if they worked
465. 22:29whilst incarcerated singleton worked as
466. 22:32a teaching assistant in the prison
467. 22:34classroom sure got it was in a classroom
468. 22:37with children hmm thanks to this as well
469. 22:41as good behavior he became eligible for
470. 22:44parole after just eight years mm-hmm
471. 22:48singleton was paroled to Contra Costa
472. 22:50County in California but no town would
473. 22:53accept his presence according to Time
474. 22:56magazine as authorities attempted to
475. 22:59settle him in one Bay Area town after
476. 23:01another angry crowds and tampers chapter
477. 23:04of guardian angels led protests screamed
478. 23:07picketed and eventually prevailed
479. 23:10guardian angels ply man heard that in a
480. 23:13while
481. 23:14do you remember them I don't remember
482. 23:18them myself but I've seen things with
483. 23:21them I remembered a bit Samaria yeah I
484. 23:25don't think we have anything close to
485. 23:27that anymore dick no vigilantes at the
486. 23:32end of the day I'm guessing you're a lot
487. 23:33younger than me I'm 41
488. 23:36who I'm very old so I remember the
489. 23:38eighties very clear I remember them
490. 23:39coming over here and trying to establish
491. 23:42themselves on the tube in London and
492. 23:44didn't last long because we're not we're
493. 23:47not that sort of country certainly work
494. 23:49back in the 80s in radio about 25 miles
495. 24:00northeast of San Francisco a crowd of
496. 24:03approximately 500 local protestors were
497. 24:05up in arms and forced officers to move
498. 24:08singleton under armed guard from a hotel
499. 24:11room authorities tried housing him
500. 24:14across the street from Concord city hall
501. 24:16but that was met with protests and
502. 24:19failed as well he was removed from one
503. 24:21apartment in Contra Costa County in a
504. 24:23bulletproof vest after 400 residents
505. 24:26surrounded the building to protest a
506. 24:28decision to place him there permanently
507. 24:30with no we're willing to accept him and
508. 24:33public opinion that he should not be
509. 24:34freed from prison the state governor
510. 24:36ordered that singleton be placed in a
511. 24:38trailer on the grounds of San Quentin
512. 24:40for the duration of his one-year parole
513. 24:44the outrage at his sentence resulted in
514. 24:46legislation supported by Mary Vincent
515. 24:48which prevents the early release of
516. 24:50offenders who have committed a crime in
517. 24:53which torture is used the 1987
518. 24:56Singleton's parole led to a passage of
519. 24:59California's Singleton bill which
520. 25:00carries a 25 to life sentence oh yeah
521. 25:04yeah the law has tested and the Lord was
522. 25:08changing it's a president sir there we
523. 25:11go that's how we're supposed to work the
524. 25:13leniency of the legal system shocked and
525. 25:15outraged many one journalist who
526. 25:17interviewed him remarked what was most
527. 25:19surprising to me however was not his
528. 25:22sentence it was that Larry singleton had
529. 25:25worked his crimes around in his mind so
530. 25:27come
531. 25:28ompletely that he did not warrant
532. 25:29punishment at all yeah that's a Coppa
533. 25:32Theatre yeah its way you know it's like
534. 25:36I didn't know law does not apply to me I
535. 25:38could do whatever I want
536. 25:40right before Singleton's parole ended
537. 25:42Donald Stahl
538. 25:43the prosecutor at Singleton's trial said
539. 25:45I think if anything he's worse now he
540. 25:49has not taken responsibility he lives in
541. 25:51a bizarre fantasy land and acquits
542. 25:53himself each day he doesn't accept his
543. 25:56guilt and won't resolve never to do it
544. 25:58again
545. 26:00so yeah definitely falling into that
546. 26:02category oh yeah definitely
547. 26:05I think in this country you know
548. 26:08obviously it would be treated different
549. 26:09I think because he should they do take
550. 26:12that into account you know the remorse
551. 26:13shown and things are long if you don't
552. 26:15show remorse and you go to prison
553. 26:17forever you never get out I think
554. 26:19they've got that sort special
555. 26:20home-office clauses as well don't they
556. 26:22where you know if you do have somebody
557. 26:24basically doesn't care that they've done
558. 26:27what they've done then the Home Office
559. 26:28can say y'all never get out yeah and and
560. 26:32it should be more like that it should be
561. 26:35looked at on a case-by-case basis and
562. 26:37not just the laws that were broken but
563. 26:40the people who broke the laws need to be
564. 26:42looked at and evaluated well yeah I mean
565. 26:45it isn't thing is it murders very
566. 26:49emotional subjects and if you get
567. 26:52someone who goes to prison for murder it
568. 26:55depends on the murder it depends on the
569. 26:57circumstances it depends on a lot of
570. 26:58things because you do get murders who
571. 27:00come out and they spend a long time in
572. 27:02prison and they they accept
573. 27:03responsibility in wish they hadn't do
574. 27:05what they've done you can't
575. 27:07conversely say that all murderers should
576. 27:09go to prison forever because some people
577. 27:11you know that there might be a reason
578. 27:14they've done what they've done and you
579. 27:15know or they found God or whatever or
580. 27:18the reason they found a moral center
581. 27:21that they maybe didn't have before and
582. 27:22it's yeah as you say it's a case-by-case
583. 27:25thing and I think again it's cases like
584. 27:30this that have shown that it doesn't
585. 27:32need to be on a case-by-case thing yeah
586. 27:34you can't just say unanimously and
587. 27:37unilaterally this is what happens yeah
588. 27:40it's like
589. 27:41think it's Denmark their legal system
590. 27:45set up so that you can't be sentenced to
591. 27:48life in prison the maximum you can get
592. 27:51is a 25 year sentence which at the end
593. 27:55of that you get evaluated and if it's
594. 27:56found that it's better to keep you in
595. 27:59prison if say you haven't been
596. 28:01rehabilitated or you're still a danger
597. 28:03you can then be kept in prison for
598. 28:06another five years
599. 28:07and then it's really keep it rolling
600. 28:11over like that which you know that's
601. 28:14from what I've seen and read quite a
602. 28:16good system because it means these
603. 28:18people who have served that time and
604. 28:21have changed and they're sorry for what
605. 28:23they've done and want to turn their life
606. 28:25around can be released while those
607. 28:27people that really should be there a bit
608. 28:30longer do stay in the system and then
609. 28:34you get people who are institutionalized
610. 28:35as well yeah
611. 28:38char's promises very good example of
612. 28:40that there's no way he's gain out
613. 28:42because he doesn't want to come out he's
614. 28:45found that prison is probably the best
615. 28:46place for him and he would rather stay
616. 28:48in prison yeah and you do get prisoners
617. 28:52right up so you know the other the other
618. 28:56way I look at it is obviously that you
619. 28:58know it's not an easy thing to say but
620. 29:00it does cost money to keep people in
621. 29:02prison you don't always want them to
622. 29:04stay in prison forever sometimes they
623. 29:06have to get out yeah because people
624. 29:10aren't willing to pay taxes forever to
625. 29:12keep someone inside unless they already
626. 29:15better proceed ornament yeah like this
627. 29:19dude should have been yeah I'd say a bit
628. 29:22more than eight years should have been
629. 29:24just a touch just a bit longer yeah like
630. 29:27forever but you know singleton felt that
631. 29:31he was the victim having insisted upon
632. 29:33his innocence during his years in prison
633. 29:35and during his parole period he claimed
634. 29:38that Mary had become violent move him
635. 29:40threatening him physically and forcing
636. 29:43him to take her where she wanted to go
637. 29:45he claimed that he had only become
638. 29:47violent with her out of fear and
639. 29:49self-preservation
640. 29:50because of this he decided to sue Mary
641. 29:54for
642. 29:55forcible kidnap for the purposes of
643. 29:56robbery fortunately nothing came of this
644. 30:01good yeah cuz [ __ ] insult to injury
645. 30:06or what I have charms off but you were
646. 30:09the one that kidnapped me yeah
647. 30:12shortly before his released his
648. 30:14psychiatric evaluation read because he
649. 30:17is so out of touch with his hostility
650. 30:19and anger he remained an elevated threat
651. 30:22to other safety inside an outside prison
652. 30:25in addition whilst incarcerated
653. 30:28singleton had written several letters to
654. 30:30Mary's lawyer in which he threatened her
655. 30:32after his parole Mary was terrified that
656. 30:35he would come back to finish off what he
657. 30:37had started as he had promised in court
658. 30:40it was during this period that he spoke
659. 30:42to reporters about the incident
660. 30:44continuing to claim his innocence
661. 30:46according to singleton the
662. 30:48psychiatrist's did not understand the
663. 30:50psychology of a seaman such as he he
664. 30:53told them and the press that had been
665. 30:55threatened by the 15 year old hitchhiker
666. 30:57he said that she was a prostitute he
667. 30:59kidnapped him after he was nice enough
668. 31:01to give her a ride then she tried to
669. 31:03maim and kill him sure everything I did
670. 31:07was for survival he wrote in a letter he
671. 31:10wanted everyone to believe that he was
672. 31:11the victim not the girl but that did not
673. 31:14mean he hated prostitutes sailors he
674. 31:17said are never hostile to prostitutes
675. 31:22[ __ ] I kind of saw that quote as like
676. 31:26that has to go in just for the show what
677. 31:29the [ __ ] yeah you know that old saying
678. 31:32right you've heard that old saying
679. 31:34sailors had never been to prostitutes
680. 31:37even if you do a hundred percent think
681. 31:44Harris and you were in the Navy surely
682. 31:47you know what some sailors can be like
683. 31:50what the stories are around all over the
684. 31:53world well yeah it wasn't you know this
685. 31:56dodgy things that happened between
686. 31:58sailors and sex workers come on well
687. 32:01which way sailors and sailors as well
688. 32:03you know soldiers and prostitutes and
689. 32:07don't know you know it's it's
690. 32:08every single military profession in the
691. 32:11world has had its problems with things
692. 32:13like Wellington's army
693. 32:16you know before Wellington came along on
694. 32:18the probe US soldiers would write blue
695. 32:21and pillage and their Wellington came in
696. 32:24and said yeah if you do that I'm gonna
697. 32:25[ __ ] hang you and that that was just
698. 32:28the sort beginnings of a professional
699. 32:30army and you know things around that
700. 32:31time that sailors and that had to book
701. 32:34their ideas up as well but you know it's
702. 32:37but then again you know sailors and
703. 32:40never means a prostitute so what the
704. 32:43[ __ ] - whilst Mary survived the attack
705. 32:52she didn't feel like a survivor after
706. 32:55the attack she fell into a deep
707. 32:57depression
708. 32:58she had hopes and dreams of becoming a
709. 33:00dancer but her reconstructive surgery
710. 33:03rendered her unable to dance ever again
711. 33:05she spent numerous years shuddering at
712. 33:08the very thought of that afternoon she
713. 33:10suffered from a relentless nightmares
714. 33:12and drifted from place to place she was
715. 33:15unable to find a job and couldn't even
716. 33:17afford to have her prosthetic arms fixed
717. 33:19when they broke eventually she filed for
718. 33:22bankruptcy Mary was not the only one who
719. 33:26feared singleton his own daughter Debra
720. 33:29spoke at length about the nature of her
721. 33:31father and what he was like as a dad
722. 33:33when she found out that he was getting
723. 33:35out of jail she also fled and hid asking
724. 33:39law enforcement if there was any way
725. 33:40that they could keep him behind bars for
726. 33:42longer considering how I've used his
727. 33:45status as a father to lure Mary into his
728. 33:47car it only made sense to her in her own
729. 33:50words
730. 33:51I asked California prison personnel what
731. 33:53could be done to keep him in longer and
732. 33:55I was told there was nothing they
733. 33:58suggested I obtained a restraining order
734. 33:59at the time of his release sorry but I
735. 34:03mean this quite sarcastically I tell you
736. 34:05he's a danger I said that before the
737. 34:07first crime I've changed my name
738. 34:09multiple times and I'm moving across
739. 34:11state lines and if you all suggest a
740. 34:14piece of paper that will tell him
741. 34:16exactly where I am and what my name is
742. 34:17and not to come within 300 feet of me
743. 34:20finding California less than while
744. 34:22coming Singleton moved back to his home
745. 34:24state of Florida in 1990 he was twice
746. 34:28convicted of theft he served a 60-day
747. 34:31sentence for stealing a ten dollar
748. 34:32disposable camera in spring 1990 and in
749. 34:36the winter received a two-year prison
750. 34:37term for stealing a $3 hat before his
751. 34:41sentencing for the latter crime he
752. 34:43described himself to the judge as a
753. 34:44confused muddle-headed
754. 34:46old man and of course he's just like mr.
755. 34:49Magoo in 1997 a painter called police
756. 34:55after witnessing something gruesome
757. 34:57through a window of a home in Tampa the
758. 35:00horrified caller said that he saw a
759. 35:02naked man raising his arms again and
760. 35:04again over a bloody woman who had been
761. 35:06slouched over his couch he told police
762. 35:09that he heard bones crunching like
763. 35:11chicken bones breaking when police
764. 35:14arrived they were met by none other than
765. 35:16Lawrence singleton topless and covered
766. 35:19in blood on the sofa inside the living
767. 35:21room lay the lifeless body of Roxanne
768. 35:23Hayes a 31 year old mother of three and
769. 35:27sex worker who arranged a date with
770. 35:29singleton he'd agreed to pay her $20 for
771. 35:32sex singleton had stabbed Roxanne to
772. 35:35death with a boning knife stabbing her
773. 35:38more than a dozen times in the chest and
774. 35:40face when Mary learnt of the murder of
775. 35:43Roxanne and that singleton once again be
776. 35:45on trial she knew that she had to face
777. 35:48him again although she wasn't required
778. 35:50to testify at his trial she felt that
779. 35:52she had to do it mmm
780. 35:54I was raped I had my arms cut off
781. 35:57he used the hatchet and left me to die
782. 36:00she told the stunned courtroom as she
783. 36:03pointed towards singleton with her
784. 36:04prosthetic hook assistant state J pruna
785. 36:08said that the brutality of Singleton's
786. 36:10attack on Mary and the violent murder of
787. 36:12Roxanne are the reason they was
788. 36:14recommended that singleton be sentenced
789. 36:16to death 20 years ago
790. 36:19Mary Vincent got into a van with mr.
791. 36:21singleton so in 20 years later
792. 36:23Roxanne Hayes got into mr. Singleton's
793. 36:25van she unlike Mary did not survive the
794. 36:29meeting of Lawrence singleton he told
795. 36:31the court thanks in part to Mary's
796. 36:33testimony singleton was found guilty
797. 36:36and sentenced to death he died in prison
798. 36:39from cancer in 2001 before his sentence
799. 36:42could be carried out since the death of
800. 36:45singleton Mary has gone on to form a
801. 36:47family with two sons Luke and Alan and
802. 36:49her boyfriend and permanent bodyguard
803. 36:52Kurt
804. 36:53she has also found a passion for art and
805. 36:56spends much of her time creating
806. 36:57portraits many of which depict strong
807. 37:00heroic women one last thing I did find a
808. 37:04picture of Mary suddenly she's preparing
809. 37:06chicken and on the counter next to her
810. 37:09is a Fox News Morgan Am I oh I really
811. 37:13hope that just a complementary one they
812. 37:15he lot an aficionado of Fox News now
813. 37:17America's - kinda like you it's when
814. 37:20they just popped in there because it was
815. 37:22for Fox News or something
816. 37:23oxygen exactly but it's good to know
817. 37:26that she's formed a family and that she
818. 37:28found some peace after mr. singleton was
819. 37:32will charitably called him went to
820. 37:36prison for their well what turned out to
821. 37:37be the rest of his life yeah and I'm
822. 37:40sorry Kerry I was gonna say it's okay
823. 37:42one of these sort of such cases where
824. 37:44kind of everybody wins because he didn't
825. 37:46get killed by the state which he's good
826. 37:48because I don't like the death penalty
827. 37:49but say he did die in prison
828. 37:51I hope he I hope he really suffered
829. 37:53enough yeah and first think some people
830. 37:56may have found more justice in the idea
831. 37:59of him dying the way he did because in
832. 38:02their minds cancer is a worse way to die
833. 38:06because it's slower and more painful so
834. 38:08those people who did want him to die
835. 38:11kind of got a victory as well because he
836. 38:16didn't just go and like hang himself and
837. 38:17cheat the system was about he he went
838. 38:19slowly and yeah it's kind of a I don't
839. 38:23to say a win-win because malo if it was
840. 38:26a way he went for everything she did but
841. 38:30she's she's gone on to be an incredibly
842. 38:34strong woman there's some firsthand
843. 38:39interviews she's done about the incident
844. 38:42where she tells the story some of which
845. 38:44is going to be edited into the episode
846. 38:46so some of the listeners will have
847. 38:47already heard
848. 38:48and speak about what she went through
849. 38:51she appeared on a television show called
850. 38:53I survived yes which is on YouTube you
851. 38:57can actually search Mary Vincent I
852. 38:59survived and it is worth for watch
853. 39:01because hearing her story from from her
854. 39:05own mouth is so heartbreaking but also
855. 39:09so powerful it's on one of the crime
856. 39:12channels over here is I survived I've
857. 39:14never watched it but I've seen it on the
858. 39:16TV listings so if you're in the UK and
859. 39:18you have Freeview I think it's on one of
860. 39:20those channels because well it's not an
861. 39:26easy show to watch it's normally full of
862. 39:28stories like Mary who mmm fill you full
863. 39:32of or like these people's ability to go
864. 39:36through these horrific traumatic
865. 39:38experiences like everything mary went
866. 39:40free she was a 15 year old girl mm-hmm
867. 39:43if that was me at 15 I'd have laid in
868. 39:46the bottom of that ditch and I'd have
869. 39:48died I wouldn't have had the strength to
870. 39:50do what she did and survive and then
871. 39:53face him in court twice as well yeah I
872. 39:57mean I'd be I'd be interested to know if
873. 39:59she got any sort of faith because
874. 40:02sometimes that can and I I'm completely
875. 40:05faithless even but I have noticed
876. 40:08sometimes that people with some sort of
877. 40:10faith in something they tend to find
878. 40:13inner strength sometimes not always but
879. 40:17obviously you know with the grown ups on
880. 40:19my like California in the late 70s I'll
881. 40:21be interested to know not just Christian
882. 40:26any kind of faith really you know you
883. 40:27but yeah I bet I'd be interested to know
884. 40:30whether she's got any sort of belief
885. 40:32system that helped her cope with it or
886. 40:34there's just a lots of therapy yeah I'm
887. 40:38guessing a lot of therapy she said he
888. 40:40had PTSD from what from what you were
889. 40:42describing unsurprisingly there's
890. 40:45interviews I I read with her even quite
891. 40:49recently after singleton ended up dying
892. 40:52so she's moved on even further and she
893. 40:56says she still wakes up in the night
894. 40:57screaming and her boyfriend ends up
895. 41:01thrown out of the bed because she's
896. 41:03waking up in a panic so it's still it
897. 41:07still affects her to this day which I'm
898. 41:10not surprised about I think it's
899. 41:12something that you you would never be
900. 41:14able to get over but you know she's
901. 41:16found herself a family and is creating
902. 41:21and telling her story so that others can
903. 41:24know that first of all hitchhiking is
904. 41:27dangerous and you should never do it but
905. 41:29also you can survive these horrific
906. 41:31things and you shouldn't give up I I
907. 41:35only found out like this story a couple
908. 41:37of days before recording but I've looked
909. 41:39into it so much because she's I think
910. 41:41she's one of the most amazing people
911. 41:43I've ever heard of mm-hmm definitely so
912. 41:47if people enjoyed this episode they
913. 41:50enjoyed listening to us talk where can
914. 41:52they find you online game they can find
915. 41:55me I'm on Twitter at Qumran herb cave so
916. 41:59come REE as in as in Wales isn't that
917. 42:02whilst named for Wales and then nerd
918. 42:03cave as in a nerd cave I'm also on
919. 42:06Facebook my name is Glenn Jackman on
920. 42:08there please send me a message that you
921. 42:11know me from here and then I'll be able
922. 42:13to add you because I don't tend to add
923. 42:15many people I don't know understandable
924. 42:18because I'm a miserable old unsociable
925. 42:20get basically I also do a podcast on my
926. 42:24own called back to the 80s it's lighter
927. 42:27than this one but yeah we tend to talk
928. 42:31about sort of 80s pop culture and films
929. 42:34movies TV shows that kind of thing
930. 42:37mainly from a UK perspective because
931. 42:40surprise surprise I'm from the UK so I
932. 42:42know more about that than America but
933. 42:45you can find that it's B TTE lip sync
934. 42:48calm we do have a twist on that one at
935. 42:50bt de pod as well and you should
936. 42:53definitely go and check the podcast out
937. 42:56because it is a lot of fun and yeah if
938. 42:59you can go follow glen online because
939. 43:02you put out some good tweets yeah well i
940. 43:06trying every night put sort of a TV show
941. 43:09a song from the 80s and a thing from the
942. 43:1380s
943. 43:15so for example this week we doing
944. 43:16visionaries so we're doing a visionaries
945. 43:19cartoon every day and the theme this
946. 43:21week is Easter because it's just been
947. 43:23Easter I don't know if anybody had
948. 43:24noticed
949. 43:25so I'm putting salt for Easter eggs from
950. 43:27the 80s yesterday's was amazing because
951. 43:30there was an East Enders Easter Egg that
952. 43:32I didn't even know they'd done one I
953. 43:34would totally be not for having one of
954. 43:35those in 1986 and tonight is even better
955. 43:40spoiler alert it's the Doctor Who one
956. 43:42that's a bit rude I don't if you've
957. 43:43never seen that one yeah it's basically
958. 43:55they had a dolly with sushi I made an
959. 43:58egg in the shape of the TARDIS of the
960. 44:00box in the TARDIS and they had a Dalek
961. 44:03firing its gun on the front only when
962. 44:05you opened the door it was a picture of
963. 44:06Peter Davison he was the current doctor
964. 44:08when this was released and the little
965. 44:10lens flare from the Dalek gun kinda
966. 44:13looks like his winky popping out and
967. 44:17yeah but I didn't last one of the
968. 44:19shelves apparently they didn't notice it
969. 44:21in quality control which is yes no I'm
970. 44:25sure someone noticed it and thought yeah
971. 44:27that's going through we probably me I
972. 44:31would have totally done more yeah I
973. 44:34would like to say in my defense as well
974. 44:36though we don't always have episodes
975. 44:39like this a lot of ours are weird funny
976. 44:41stuff so yeah it's not completely grim
977. 44:45you just happen to come on that was your
978. 44:48first episode it's just me
979. 44:50I'm just grim but it's like at the end
980. 44:53of the day I guess I you know I said
981. 44:55earlier on 90% of history is grim that's
982. 44:59how we learn as it's a human race you
983. 45:01know it's how do you think things get
984. 45:03done it's the earth the whole how did
985. 45:06the pyramids get built oh it was aliens
986. 45:08it wasn't aliens it was human misery
987. 45:10that's what it was the Egyptians cared
988. 45:13nothing for their slaves and just
989. 45:15through slaves that's it until it was
990. 45:17done and that's that's how our history
991. 45:20is that's how history works it is a
992. 45:22catalogue of human misery and horrific
993. 45:26things
994. 45:28and that's you know that's just what we
995. 45:31do that's that human you know the the
996. 45:35base level of it human beings aren't
997. 45:37particularly nice and we you know we're
998. 45:40getting better I think in the last 400
999. 45:43years we've got better than we were but
1000. 45:45it's a two massive world wars and two
1001. 45:47nuclear blasts today but we will learn
1002. 45:49yeah all the way Star Trek won't happen
1003. 45:52and that has to happen right let's let's
1004. 45:56keep our fingers crossed it does well I
1005. 45:58prefer to think that we're yeah we will
1006. 46:01get through it
1007. 46:01but sadly life is the one thing that we
1008. 46:04we will not escape none of us will so
1009. 46:07it's best to be nice to each other while
1010. 46:09we're here I think don't be a Lauren
1011. 46:11singleton be a Mary yes I think is the
1012. 46:15message one of those two always be Mary
1013. 46:19be a Mary Vincent I think don't be an
1014. 46:22[ __ ] like Lawrence Larry and die
1015. 46:25alone in prison of cancer no no no even
1016. 46:29Lawrence he would much rather be out
1017. 46:33murdering prostitutes apparently so you
1018. 46:34know well if everyone enjoyed this
1019. 46:40episode which I hope you enjoyed it for
1020. 46:43the right reasons you can follow us on
1021. 46:46Twitter by going to at eccentric
1022. 46:49underscore earth and you can find us on
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1024. 46:55our social media are kept up to date
1025. 46:57with information about upcoming shows
1026. 46:59and new releases and we do try to tweet
1027. 47:02out little history facts and tidbits of
1028. 47:05information that we found interesting
1029. 47:07you can also find us on youtube as well
1030. 47:10where you can subscribe to our channel
1031. 47:12and listen to our show that way so
1032. 47:15subscribe and click the notification
1033. 47:18icon so you get told about new episodes
1034. 47:20and if you want to write in to us with
1035. 47:23any suggestions for topics you like to
1036. 47:25see us cover or any feedback email
1037. 47:28address is eccentric Earth outlook calm
1038. 47:31and you can find us on all major podcast
1039. 47:34providers so please make sure you
1040. 47:36subscribe so you don't miss an episode
1041. 47:37and please leave us a review if you feel
1042. 47:40like it we
1043. 47:41because it helps us get new listeners
1044. 47:44and helps us grow and find new audiences
1045. 47:47it really does yeah well Thank You Glen
1046. 47:53for coming on it's been an absolute
1047. 47:54pleasure to have you
1048. 47:56hopefully the experience wasn't too bad
1049. 47:59for you and you'll come on again a
1050. 48:00future
1051. 48:01I'd love so Bri brilliant great well
1052. 48:05thank you everyone for listening and
1053. 48:06we'll see you all next time bye bye damn
1054. 48:10I didn't feel relief when he had died I
1055. 48:15needed to know what was in that dark
1056. 48:19soul of his I felt that I was robbed of
1057. 48:23that opportunity but because of my son's
1058. 48:31they I saw the relief on their faces
1059. 48:35that made me realize okay that's good
1060. 48:40enough closure for me I don't have to
1061. 48:42worry about my son's lives anymore
1062. 48:44that's God and my son's that that keep
1063. 48:47me going they keep me loving life more
1064. 48:51than most people I appreciate it more
1065. 48:54and I'm just glad that I'm given another
1066. 48:58chance at life that I didn't die
1067. 49:06[Music]
1068. 49:07[Applause]
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1070. 49:27[Music]
1071. 49:37[Applause]
1072. 49:45[Music]
1073. 49:54[Applause]
1074. 50:11[Music]
1075. 50:39[Music]
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1080. 51:21[Applause]
1081. 51:29[Music]
1082. 51:33you
1083. 51:33[Music]