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Lawrence Singleton a.k.a. The Mad Chopper - Survivor Mary Vincent and the death of Roxanne Hayes — Transcript

by Felony Spectator · 2,802 words · 485 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:01[Music]
0:05[Applause]
0:18welcome back
0:19i am your host heather here at felony
0:21spectator
0:22and on today's episode we are going to
0:25talk about
0:26lawrence singleton also known as
0:29the mad chopper some of you may have
0:31heard about him before
0:33but if you haven't you are in for a real
0:36treat he is a special kind of awful
0:40we're going to talk about both his
0:41murders that he's responsible for
0:43so let's just jump right in who is
0:46lawrence singleton
0:47he was born in tampa florida on july
0:5028th
0:50of 1927. his childhood
0:54isn't discussed much anywhere but i did
0:56find out that he had dropped out of high
0:57school
0:58at the age of 16 to work on the railroad
1:01for a few weeks
1:02before moving on to working at a
1:04shipyard for a year
1:06singleton was drafted in 1950 and served
1:09in the army in combat in korea
1:12he was honorably discharged in 1952
1:15and then went to officers training
1:17school and obtained his master's license
1:19to become
1:20a captain he would marry shirley and
1:23powers in 1958 and remained married to
1:26her for 14 years
1:29they divorced because of his heavy
1:30drinking but during their time together
1:33they had a daughter
1:34sadly surely passed when their daughter
1:37was only 14 years old
1:39lawrence remarried but that too ended in
1:42divorce due to lawrence's drinking and
1:44also violence it said that he was
1:47heavily drinking also while raising his
1:49daughter and she was quite afraid of him
1:51he was very aggressive and abusive while
1:54he was drinking
1:55when she got older and moved out she
1:57stopped speaking to him when he injured
1:59her during one of his drinking binges
2:02she would later even change her name and
2:04hid from him when he came back to tampa
2:06in the 70s
2:08his first victim was mary vincent
2:11she was only 15 years old when she met
2:13singleton
2:15mary grew up in las vegas where her
2:17mother worked as a casino dealer
2:19and her dad as a machine repairman in
2:21the casinos as well
2:23mary also said that she was quite the
2:25dancer
2:26but on september 29th of 1978
2:30she was hitchhiking in northern
2:31california from nevada
2:33singleton pulled over and she accepted
2:36his ride
2:37as he seemed nice enough mary would
2:39consider herself
2:40a very confident hitchhiker she would
2:43often hitchhike to get around nevada
2:45so this wasn't an uncommon occurrence
2:47for her mary would consider herself
2:50a very confident hitchhiker and she
2:52often hitchhiked around nevada
2:55but on this particular day mary decided
2:57to run away from home
2:59and was headed through california
3:01because she wanted to see her grandma
3:03lawrence would show mary a kind smile
3:05and he pulled over to offer her a ride
3:08and he told her that he had a daughter
3:09about her age and that he was happy to
3:11drive with her
3:13nothing was immediately alarming to her
3:16so they would go back on the road and
3:18mary would relax and fall asleep
3:20upon waking up she realized that they
3:22actually were headed back towards nevada
3:25and not california so she got angry and
3:28scared and ended up pointing a sharp
3:30stick at singleton that she found on the
3:32floor
3:33she then demanded that he drive back and
3:36he apologized
3:37and agreed to turn around saying it was
3:39an honest mistake and he was an
3:41honest guy she would believe him and
3:44stayed in the vehicle sometime later
3:48lawrence would stop the van to relieve
3:50himself telling her that he just
3:51couldn't wait for a gas station
3:53and at this point mary would also get
3:55out to stretch her legs
3:57when she wasn't looking lawrence would
3:59hit her across the back of the head
4:01until she fell to the ground he then
4:03dragged her back to the van
4:05where he raped her and told her not to
4:07scream or he'd kill her
4:09he would then tie her hands and jump
4:11back into the van to continue driving
4:14he would eventually pull over again and
4:16order her to drink from a plastic jug
4:18which she thought was alcohol but then
4:21she would become really woozy and
4:22confused
4:24he would rape her again until she
4:26eventually passed out mary would wake up
4:28sometime
4:29later but this time lawrence was in the
4:31middle of dragging her away from the van
4:33on the side of the road
4:35she was so scared and confused she
4:37begged him to set her free
4:39he would then cut her lower arms off
4:42with a hatchet and shove her naked body
4:44down a 30-foot embankment off the
4:46interstate
4:47screaming now you're free miraculously
4:51she lived she would struggle to remain
4:53conscious
4:54but she knew she was in dire need of
4:56help because her arms were bleeding
4:58so much she also needed to climb back up
5:01this embankment so
5:02she stuck her arms in the mud to control
5:04the bleeding
5:05and the mud actually worked pretty good
5:08she was able to climb up
5:09and reach the road where she then had to
5:11walk three miles naked with her arms in
5:14the air trying to wave people down for
5:16help
5:17it took hours but finally a car stopped
5:20and they wrapped her in blankets and
5:22drove to a nearby airport to call for
5:24help
5:25mary's recollection of lawrence his van
5:28and everything that happened
5:29was so detailed and accurate that a
5:32neighbor immediately recognized the
5:34police sketch
5:35and lawrence was apprehended i did read
5:37somewhere that she was actually
5:39hypnotized to help her memory
5:41if that's true that's pretty amazing i
5:44also read that one of mary's hands was
5:46found near the golden gate bridge
5:48but i also read somewhere else that a
5:51fisherman would later reel in one of her
5:53severed hands
5:54on october 9th in the san francisco bay
5:58lawrence would lie about the whole
6:00incident
6:01and tell the courts that mary was just a
6:03prostitute
6:04and that wasn't even him who did this at
6:07one point he even said that other people
6:09were in his van
6:10which included a man named larry he
6:13would say that
6:14he was framed and it was the other larry
6:16who did this
6:17and referred to mary as a quote ten
6:20dollar
6:21night [ __ ] end quote thankfully there
6:23was enough
6:24overwhelming evidence against lawrence
6:27he was convicted of kidnapping
6:29attempted murder and rape he was
6:32sentenced to 14 years in prison
6:34which sadly was the maximum sentence
6:36allowable at that time for that certain
6:39crime
6:41mary would also be awarded 2.5
6:45million lawsuit against singleton but
6:48she wasn't able to collect on this
6:49because
6:50he was broke while in prison singleton
6:53was surprisingly
6:55a model prisoner he got his ged
6:58worked as a teacher's assistant in
7:00english classes and
7:01also took college classes for himself
7:04lawrence was able to get out early on
7:06good behavior and ended up only serving
7:08eight years and four months of a
7:10sentence before being released
7:13like who is in charge there stay with me
7:16because
7:16it's not over and it gets worse
7:19when released the public was outraged
7:22after being placed in an apartment in
7:23rodale
7:25nobody wanted this man in their town and
7:27his notoriety
7:29from his conviction would cause large
7:31protests wherever he was placed
7:33lawrence would be removed from the
7:35apartment with a bulletproof vest
7:37and put in the back of a police car he
7:40would then serve his parole in a travel
7:42trailer on the grounds of san
7:44quentin state prison because they
7:46couldn't safely house him anywhere else
7:48lawrence would complete his terms of
7:50parole but in 1990 he'd go back to jail
7:54once for 60 days for stealing a 10
7:56camera and he'd later go back in the
7:59same year
8:00for a two year sentence for stealing a
8:02three dollar hat
8:04he would describe himself to the judge
8:06as a quote
8:07muddle-headed old man and quote
8:11in july of 1996 lawrence would move into
8:14the neighborhood where his next murder
8:16would take place
8:18his neighbors actually testified that he
8:20was a really good neighbor
8:21he was helpful polite and often generous
8:25and he would loan his tools and assist
8:27neighbors with yard work
8:29apparently they all knew of his
8:31incarcerations but they never really
8:33felt uncomfortable around him
8:35now everything was going okay for a
8:37while but on february 1st of 1997
8:41lawrence would attempt suicide by
8:42attaching a dryer hose to his white
8:45dodge van
8:46and direct the exhaust to inside the
8:48vehicle
8:49his attempt was unsuccessful because his
8:51neighbor danny sayles
8:53would see lawrence in the van and he'd
8:55pull him out onto the ground and call
8:579-1-1
8:58paramedics would say that he was groggy
9:00but alive
9:02but he was also drunk so this means he
9:05fell off the wagon
9:07a few months before his suicide attempt
9:10lawrence would meet
9:10roxanne hayes at kfc while she was
9:13working the streets
9:15roxanne was a local woman that
9:16frequented the area and police were
9:18familiar with her
9:20she was a mother of three children ages
9:224
9:238 and 12 and was always pleasant with
9:25the police
9:26her friends would also go on to say that
9:28she was a very nice person
9:30she was honest and straightforward she
9:33was also engaged to be married
9:36lawrence would be a customer of hers a
9:38few times between december
9:40and february and he typically bring her
9:42to his home where he would give her a
9:44meal
9:45and twenty dollars for one of her
9:46services on february 19th
9:491997 william baker a neighbor
9:52saw lawrence drive up and park his white
9:55dodge van in his driveway
9:57singleton and a woman roxanne
10:00exited the van and went inside his home
10:03later in the evening
10:05two painters paul and his uncle robert
10:09arrived to do some touch-up work at
10:10singleton's home
10:12the white van was still in the driveway
10:14but the back doors were open
10:16paul heard moaning so he knocked on the
10:19carport door
10:20and then said hey bill and walked inside
10:23he would then hear what sounded like two
10:26muffled calls for help
10:28paul walked to the dining room area and
10:30noted at least
10:31five prescription pill bottles spilled
10:33all over the counter
10:34and a strong odor of alcohol it said
10:37that singleton could drink up to
10:39two gallons of vodka a day paul would
10:42continue through the house towards the
10:44living room
10:45where he saw singleton naked bent over
10:49between the legs of a woman he noted
10:51seeing blood on her thigh
10:53but he ran out of the house when
10:55singleton turned around and saw paul in
10:57the doorway
10:59paul would also say that singleton
11:01continued with whatever he was doing
11:03right before paul exited the driveway
11:06paul told his uncle what he saw because
11:09it seemed like the girl could be in some
11:10sort of trouble
11:12so they looked through the window at the
11:14front door and they could now see the
11:16woman sitting up on the couch
11:18but singleton was standing leaning
11:20towards her with his hands around her
11:22neck
11:23paul and his uncle tried to barge
11:25through the front door and again
11:27they thought they heard the woman saying
11:29help singleton would tell her to shut up
11:32and he made three punching motions
11:34towards her head
11:35neck and chest paul would describe these
11:38sounds as
11:39bone crunching and his uncle then drove
11:42to a gas station and called 9-1-1
11:45when police arrived they would knock on
11:47the carport door
11:48and singleton opened the door and
11:49stepped outside
11:51he was wearing an unbuttoned shirt a
11:53pair of shorts with the fly open
11:55and there was a blood stain on his chest
11:58singleton told the police that he did
12:00have a fight with his girlfriend but
12:02everything was fine and it was just some
12:04turnip on his chest
12:06as they were talking singleton's phone
12:08rang
12:09so he went back in the house to answer
12:11and tried to close the door behind him
12:13on the police officer
12:15the door however remained open a crack
12:18and the police officer saw a woman's
12:20foot on the floor
12:22he pushed the door open more and saw a
12:25naked woman
12:26laying face down with cuts on her side
12:29blood on her nose and her eyes were
12:31closed she appeared to be dead
12:33singleton was detained on the spot and
12:36upon further
12:37investigation the woman was sadly
12:40confirmed deceased
12:41when paramedics arrived on the scene
12:43they spoke with singleton
12:45who claimed that his chest hurt but all
12:48his vitals were okay he just smelled
12:50strongly of alcohol
12:51singleton would then say to the
12:53paramedics we had an argument and i
12:56killed her
12:56i guess that makes me a murderer you've
12:58got me now
13:00when investigators went through the home
13:02they would find blood
13:03throughout the house there was also a
13:06knife behind the couch covered in blood
13:08and they also noted that there was no
13:10turnips
13:12sadly roxanne would have a total of six
13:14stab wounds to her body
13:16and one to her face she would also have
13:18defensive wounds on her hands
13:21lawrence's defense was that roxanne
13:23wasn't being her usual nice self
13:26and they had an argument that night he
13:28claims that she threatened him with a
13:30knife that she picked up from the
13:32counter
13:33and she also refused to hand him back
13:35his wallet
13:36so he was afraid for his life he would
13:39say that he too picked up a knife and
13:41then they
13:41struggled over the knives he alleges
13:44that all of her
13:45wounds were the result of this struggle
13:48he would also go on to say that he tried
13:50to call 9-1-1
13:51but was so drunk he mistakenly picked up
13:54the tv remote instead
13:56he then tried to get her up to walk to
13:58his van but she slumped down to the
14:00ground
14:01and this would be when police arrived he
14:04was heavily intoxicated so he also
14:06claims he doesn't remember
14:07much after this point but he doesn't
14:10remember being handcuffed
14:12or being treated by ems and strangely he
14:15doesn't remember
14:16paul walking in on him either so being
14:19that his memory is so
14:20bad during the altercation it's it was
14:22impossible for the jury to believe his
14:24version of events
14:26this would also come into question when
14:27they were sentencing lawrence
14:29because the death penalty is typically
14:31reserved for first degree murder
14:34and it was questionable if killing
14:35roxanne was actually first degree murder
14:38or
14:38second degree but singleton never showed
14:41any remorse during the trial and mary
14:44vincent flew in to testify
14:46against singleton which the defense
14:48tried to stop
14:49saying that his prior convictions
14:51shouldn't be included
14:53thankfully that motion was denied and
14:55mary got to tell her story to the jury
14:57and they got to see her prosthetic arms
15:00and learn how hard her life has been she
15:03basically said that he took
15:04her entire life that day he took her
15:06youth he took her confidence
15:09and she also talked about how hard it
15:11was raising children when you don't have
15:14arms and you know you can't even feel
15:16your newborn baby
15:17singleton was convicted of murder and
15:20was handed the death penalty
15:22singleton would appeal this as there
15:24were apparently
15:26three jury members who had previous
15:28knowledge of his convictions
15:30and he felt that deprived his right to
15:32an impartial jury
15:33there were also some other reasons that
15:35came forward if you read the court
15:37documents
15:38you can see that his child did have some
15:40questionable things
15:42but at the end of the day he was a
15:43dangerous person and clearly capable of
15:46murder
15:47lawrence's lawyer would try and save
15:48singleton saying that he was just an
15:51old man and he should just live his
15:53remaining life in jail
15:54singleton ended up dying in jail and he
15:57died of cancer at the age of 74
16:00while behind bars without a final
16:02execution date
16:04now i don't even know what to say about
16:07this guy it seems like he had a lot of
16:09demons that he just couldn't control
16:11and it was weird to me that he seemed to
16:13be okay
16:14in the prison or army system where they
16:17have strict rules and structure
16:19but he just couldn't handle being a
16:21normal member of society
16:23and sadly his actions affected a lot of
16:25people
16:26mary vincent has been in a lot of
16:28television appearances and small
16:30documentaries about her ordeal
16:32and i'm pretty sure there's a book about
16:34her life as well i mean she's just so
16:36strong and so brave and she survived
16:38this and
16:39facing him again in court to testify
16:42against him
16:43in roxanne's situation was even more
16:46powerful to me
16:48thanks again for joining me here at
16:49felony spectator
16:51hit subscribe if you like my video and
16:53we will see you again in two weeks
16:55thank you and have a great day

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