The Story of Mary Vincent: Mother, Artist, Survivor; And The Murder of Roxanne Hayes. — Transcript

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1. 0:00warning this video contains graphic
2. 0:02content
3. 0:03viewer discretion is advised
4. 0:15lucy and herb vincent were strict
5. 0:17parents to their daughter
6. 0:19mary vincent mary was going through her
7. 0:21typical rebellious phase at the age of
8. 0:2315
9. 0:24and started cutting class mary decided
10. 0:27to commit the ultimate revolt
11. 0:29and run away to live with her older
12. 0:30boyfriend in las vegas
13. 0:32however later when her boyfriend was
14. 0:34accused of raping another girl
15. 0:36she fled mary decided to hitchhike to
16. 0:40corona california where her grandfather
17. 0:42resided
18. 0:43on september 27 1978 she held up a sign
19. 0:47reading
20. 0:48heading south while walking beside the
21. 0:50freeway
22. 0:51there were two other hitchhikers walking
23. 0:53behind her at the time as well
24. 0:55after some time a light blue van pulled
25. 0:58up beside her
26. 0:59the driver told mary he could only give
27. 1:01her a ride and not the other two
28. 1:02hitchhikers despite having a van
29. 1:05the two hitchhikers warned mary not to
30. 1:07go with the man because it was unusual
31. 1:09that he didn't want to give them a ride
32. 1:11as well he wanted mary
33. 1:13all alone however mary was exhausted
34. 1:16from traveling
35. 1:17and she didn't want to spend another day
36. 1:19alone the man was headed to reno
37. 1:22but told her he would help her by
38. 1:23turning around and driving to interstate
39. 1:255.
40. 1:26mary happily accepted the ride from the
41. 1:28man and felt at ease
42. 1:30climbing into the passenger seat beside
43. 1:32him once she arrived in california
44. 1:35she planned on starting a career in
45. 1:37dance mary pulled out a cigarette took a
46. 1:40puff
47. 1:40and sneezed suddenly the strange man put
48. 1:43his hand on her back
49. 1:45he pulled her towards him and said let's
50. 1:48see if you're sick
51. 1:50mary was bothered by this man's
52. 1:51willingness to touch her
53. 1:53a stranger she had just met mary
54. 1:55withdrew herself from his clutch
55. 1:57noticeably not enjoying the interaction
56. 2:00the man turned his eyes back to the road
57. 2:02and continued on the drive after a while
58. 2:06mary drifted to sleep when she awoke
59. 2:10mary realized that they were headed in
60. 2:11the wrong direction
61. 2:13she alerted the driver of this but the
62. 2:14man made up excuses
63. 2:16and reassured mary that it was in fact
64. 2:18the right way
65. 2:20she wasn't going to let that slide
66. 2:22however and grabbed a surveyor stick and
67. 2:24pointed it at the man
68. 2:26he started down a rural road following a
69. 2:28canyon and pulled to a stop
70. 2:30mary was starting to feel extremely
71. 2:32unsettled about the stranger
72. 2:34she noticed her shoes were untied so she
73. 2:37bent down beside the car to lace them up
74. 2:40she thought she could outrun the man if
75. 2:42she needed to
76. 2:43she was young and healthy compared to
77. 2:45the old man
78. 2:46out of nowhere mary was struck by two
79. 2:49hard blows from
80. 2:50a sledgehammer one to her back and one
81. 2:52to her head
82. 2:53she buckled and fell to the ground the
83. 2:56intimidating man stood over her
84. 2:58and mary looked back up at him the man
85. 3:01grabbed her
86. 3:02demanding that she perform oral sex on
87. 3:04him the man wasn't content however
88. 3:07he grabbed her and threw her into the
89. 3:09back of the van
90. 3:10she was told to obey everything that the
91. 3:12man said if she wanted to live
92. 3:15otherwise he'd kill her unable to scream
93. 3:18out of fear
94. 3:20mary was raped six times and sodomized
95. 3:22inside the van
96. 3:24in an interview mary said it was the
97. 3:26worst thing she's ever felt and in that
98. 3:28moment
99. 3:29she wanted to die
100. 3:32once the man was done he bound her hands
101. 3:35together so she couldn't escape
102. 3:37her arms were fastened to the van walls
103. 3:40while still naked
104. 3:41he climbed out of the back and into the
105. 3:43driver's seat
106. 3:45the man drove for a while and then
107. 3:47eventually stopped once again
108. 3:49and climbed into the back where mary was
109. 3:51captive he cut her down
110. 3:53and forced her to drink an unknown
111. 3:55liquid from his cup
112. 3:56mary began to feel the effects of the
113. 3:58drug and eventually
114. 4:00passed out while the man proceeded to
115. 4:02rape her
116. 4:03mary finally woke up after the assault
117. 4:06and the man ordered her to get out of
118. 4:08the van
119. 4:08and lie on the ground beside the road
120. 4:11she pleaded with the stranger to let her
121. 4:13go
122. 4:14begging for her life the man walked back
123. 4:17to the van
124. 4:18and grabbed something from the rear when
125. 4:21he returned
126. 4:22he stood over her with a hatchet in hand
127. 4:24and said you want to be free
128. 4:26i'll set you free he lifted up the
129. 4:29weapon
130. 4:30and chopped off her left forearm in
131. 4:32three strikes
132. 4:34mary began screaming and crying due to
133. 4:36the unimaginable pain
134. 4:38she started kicking at her attacker in a
135. 4:40frenzy of self-defense
136. 4:42he then came down on her right arm with
137. 4:44the hatchet and in two blows
138. 4:46it was completely severed mary began to
139. 4:49lose consciousness
140. 4:50from blood loss pain and shock she was
141. 4:53barely awake when the man threw her body
142. 4:56off of a 30-foot cliff into the del
143. 4:58puerto canyon
144. 5:00the man followed her as she fell down
145. 5:02the embankment and once they were at the
146. 5:04bottom
147. 5:04he shoved her naked body into a concrete
148. 5:07pipe
149. 5:08as mary began losing her life he told
150. 5:10her
151. 5:12okay now you're free
152. 5:15mary awoke a short time later in an
153. 5:18intense amount of pain
154. 5:20she had lost both of her forearms and
155. 5:22was losing mass amounts of blood
156. 5:24she was also naked with nothing to wrap
157. 5:27around her wounds to stop the bleeding
158. 5:29mary almost gave up and went to sleep
159. 5:32forever
160. 5:33however when she thought about the other
161. 5:35women who could potentially cross paths
162. 5:37with her attacker
163. 5:39she did everything she could to resist
164. 5:41death she found the strength
165. 5:42to climb out of the pipe and hold the
166. 5:44remnants of her arms above her head
167. 5:47otherwise her muscles would fall out and
168. 5:49she would bleed to death
169. 5:52mary journeyed three miles before she
170. 5:54arrived at the main road
171. 5:56the first car that she tried to flag
172. 5:58down didn't stop
173. 5:59it was disappointing but it didn't stop
174. 6:02her from getting the help she
175. 6:03desperately needed
176. 6:04a random couple on their way to vacation
177. 6:07saw mary in distress
178. 6:09they pulled over and wrapped the naked
179. 6:11bleeding girl in towels
180. 6:13they drove her to a nearby airport and
181. 6:15called for an ambulance
182. 6:17the couple questioned mary on what had
183. 6:19happened to her
184. 6:20but the only word she could mutter was
185. 6:23he raped me
186. 6:25mary was rushed to the hospital and
187. 6:27immediately put into surgery
188. 6:29afterwards while she was recovering
189. 6:31police questioned her about the vicious
190. 6:33attack
191. 6:34mary carefully described her assaulter
192. 6:36which produced a detailed sketch
193. 6:38true to his appearance the police sketch
194. 6:40was distributed
195. 6:41on all media outlets one california man
196. 6:45recognized the sketch
197. 6:46immediately it was his neighbor larry
198. 6:49singleton mary picked him out of a
199. 6:52lineup ten
200. 6:53days later and larry was finally
201. 6:55arrested
202. 6:56his trial began five months afterwards
203. 7:02even while in police custody mary could
204. 7:04barely stand to be in the same room as
205. 7:06larry
206. 7:07but she had to walk by him in the
207. 7:08courtroom when she walked by him to
208. 7:11testify the witness stand
209. 7:13larry whispered something into her ear
210. 7:15mary turned pale
211. 7:16but proceeded to her seat and gave her
212. 7:18testimony
213. 7:20larry's words sent chills down mary's
214. 7:22spine
215. 7:23he said i'll finish the job if it takes
216. 7:26me the rest of my life
217. 7:28larry testified to the court that mary
218. 7:30was a hard-bitten
219. 7:32runaway teen who smoked reefers and
220. 7:34threatened to maim him
221. 7:36and accuse him of rape if he refused to
222. 7:38drive her to los angeles
223. 7:40larry also claimed that mary had sex
224. 7:42with two hitchhikers
225. 7:44that he assumed attacked her and then
226. 7:46tried to have sex with him as well
227. 7:48larry's false claims didn't sway the
228. 7:50jury
229. 7:51after all mary sitting 20 feet away with
230. 7:54missing limbs
231. 7:55was proof enough for them at larry's
232. 7:58sentencing
233. 7:59the judge said he wanted him to never
234. 8:01walk as a free man again
235. 8:03sadly due to the times the judge could
236. 8:06only sentence him to 14 years
237. 8:08mary vincent was a brave survivor she
238. 8:11underwent
239. 8:12a brutal attack and was left to die but
240. 8:14she didn't feel
241. 8:15like a brave survivor mary fell into a
242. 8:18deep and dark depression
243. 8:20suffering horrifying nightmares the
244. 8:22torture and mutilation she experienced
245. 8:25was weighing on her heavily due to her
246. 8:27new disability
247. 8:28she was unable to find a job mary filed
248. 8:32a civil suit against larry singleton
249. 8:34that settled for 2.56 million dollars
250. 8:38unfortunately she was unable to claim
251. 8:40the money she deserved
252. 8:42because larry was unemployed imprisoned
253. 8:45and in poor health
254. 8:46he only had two hundred dollars to his
255. 8:48name
256. 8:49while serving his 14-year sentence larry
257. 8:52worked as a teacher's assistant in a
258. 8:54prison classroom
259. 8:55this combined with good behavior allowed
260. 8:58him to be released after only serving
261. 9:00eight years when mary received this
262. 9:02shocking news
263. 9:03it was devastating to her the last thing
264. 9:06larry said to her was
265. 9:08i'll finish the job if it takes me the
266. 9:10rest of my life
267. 9:11was this a promise larry was going to
268. 9:13keep
269. 9:15mary continued to live her life in a
270. 9:17constant state of fear
271. 9:18a fear that larry would in fact keep his
272. 9:20promise
273. 9:22larry was set to be paroled in contra
274. 9:24costa county california
275. 9:26but the surrounding towns protested his
276. 9:29presence
277. 9:30according to time authorities attempted
278. 9:32to let larry settle in one bay area town
279. 9:34after another
280. 9:35but furious crowds of people protested
281. 9:38this decision
282. 9:39amongst this crowd of protesters was
283. 9:41tampa's chapter of guardian angels
284. 9:43the guardian angels is a non-profit
285. 9:45international organization of
286. 9:47unarmed crime prevention this group
287. 9:49helped immensely
288. 9:50and the protest eventually prevailed in
289. 9:53the town of rodeo
290. 9:5525 miles northeast of san francisco a
291. 9:58crowd of 500
292. 9:59armed local protesters showed up this
293. 10:02forced officers to move larry under
294. 10:04armed guard from his hotel room when
295. 10:06authorities tried housing him across the
296. 10:08street from concord city hall
297. 10:10protesters showed up again and larry had
298. 10:12to be moved
299. 10:13authorities made the decision to house
300. 10:15him in a contra costa county apartment
301. 10:17however this attempt failed as well when
302. 10:20400 residents surrounded the building
303. 10:22authorities were unable to find a
304. 10:23community that would let larry live
305. 10:25through the last year of his parole due
306. 10:27to this the governor of california
307. 10:30demanded that singleton be moved to a
308. 10:32trailer
309. 10:33on the san quentin prison grounds this
310. 10:36is where larry would stay
311. 10:37for this one year parole people were
312. 10:39outraged at larry singleton's sentence
313. 10:42this led to mary vincent and many others
314. 10:45supporting legislation that prevents the
315. 10:47early release
316. 10:48of offenders who have committed a crime
317. 10:50in which torture is used
318. 10:53a journalist who interviewed larry said
319. 10:55quote what was the most surprising to me
320. 10:57however was not his sentence it was that
321. 11:00larry singleton had worked his crimes
322. 11:02around in his mind
323. 11:03so completely that they did not warrant
324. 11:06punishment at all
325. 11:07before larry was released donald stahl a
326. 11:10county prosecutor at his trial said
327. 11:13quote i think if anything he's worse now
328. 11:16he has not taken responsibility he lives
329. 11:19in a bizarre
330. 11:20fantasy land and acquits himself each
331. 11:22day
332. 11:23he doesn't accept his guilt and won't
333. 11:25resolve never to do it again
334. 11:28after his release larry singleton
335. 11:30returned to florida
336. 11:31where he was originally from and
337. 11:33continued on his crime-ridden path
338. 11:36he was convicted twice in 1990 of theft
339. 11:39he served 60 days for stealing a 10
340. 11:42disposable camera in the spring
341. 11:45in the winter he stole a three dollar
342. 11:47hat and served a two-year prison term
343. 11:50at his sentencing for the hat theft he
344. 11:52told the judge he was a confused
345. 11:55muddle-headed old man larry singleton
346. 11:58was an old man
347. 11:59but he wasn't confused about his actions
348. 12:02he was evil
349. 12:04dark and twisted mary vincent mustered
350. 12:07up the strength to survive
351. 12:09when she thought about what larry could
352. 12:10potentially do to other women
353. 12:13however due to the failure of the
354. 12:14justice system at the time
355. 12:16this would be in vain on february 19
356. 12:201997 a neighbor of larry phoned the
357. 12:23police
358. 12:24larry singleton was assaulting a woman
359. 12:27in his home
360. 12:28in sulphur springs florida police
361. 12:31arrived and discovered the body
362. 12:33of 31 year old roxanne hayes
363. 12:36roxanne had been stabbed multiple times
364. 12:38in her upper body
365. 12:40she was a sex worker and mother of three
366. 12:43because roxanne was a sex worker
367. 12:45the media discriminated against her
368. 12:47heavily
369. 12:48she had been arrested dozens of times
370. 12:50over the past 11 years
371. 12:52and most of those charges were for
372. 12:54prostitution
373. 12:55roxanne's grieving children and fiance
374. 12:58were interviewed after the disaster
375. 13:00but the media continued to push her
376. 13:02image as simply being a prostitute that
377. 13:04had been murdered
378. 13:06one of roxanne's children akina hayes
379. 13:09wanted to paint her mother in a
380. 13:10different light at 12 years old
381. 13:13akina said quote i don't think my mom
382. 13:15should have died
383. 13:16and i just don't understand why akina
384. 13:19wrote in a letter shortly after her
385. 13:21mother's death
386. 13:21quote she was a good mom to me and my
387. 13:24two brothers
388. 13:24and a good wife to my father i wrote
389. 13:27this to notify the public
390. 13:28that my mom was not as bad as the
391. 13:30newscast described her
392. 13:32in a separate statement she said she did
393. 13:35what she had to do for us
394. 13:36kids roxanne supported her children and
395. 13:40was a good mother
396. 13:41despite the tragic childhood she
397. 13:43suffered the youngest of five children
398. 13:45roxanne was sexually abused by her
399. 13:48grandfather
400. 13:49and according to her grandmother the
401. 13:51abuse started when she was just two
402. 13:53years old roxanne's older family members
403. 13:57knew this was happening
404. 13:58but no one did anything about it when
405. 14:01roxanne
406. 14:02was six or seven years old her
407. 14:04grandfather was in the room with her one
408. 14:06night
409. 14:06when he died her own father was an
410. 14:09abusive drunk
411. 14:10that beat her until the age of 14. one
412. 14:14woman
413. 14:14who met roxanne through the tampa
414. 14:16crossroads program
415. 14:18described her as bright and witty the
416. 14:21program was a part of her six-month
417. 14:22probation
418. 14:23and addressed substance abuse as well as
419. 14:26providing
420. 14:27psychological counseling akina's
421. 14:29elementary school teachers said roxanne
422. 14:32was very supportive of her daughter
423. 14:34when her fiance tyson injured his knee
424. 14:36in a car accident
425. 14:38roxanne became the sole provider causing
426. 14:40her to stay out on the street
427. 14:42only larry singleton knows how roxanne
428. 14:45ended up at his house
429. 14:46and why he killed her around 100 people
430. 14:50attended roxanne's funeral her body lies
431. 14:53in an unmarked grave
432. 14:54in rest haven cemetery twelve-year-old
433. 14:58akina wanted to establish a trust fund
434. 15:00for homeless families
435. 15:01and become a prosecutor akita said quote
436. 15:04i want to put people in jail who do the
437. 15:07wrong thing
438. 15:08so they'll serve their punishment
439. 15:10because they just can't go free and do
440. 15:11it again
441. 15:13in a letter about the murder of her
442. 15:15mother she wrote
443. 15:16i'd kill him myself even though i'm only
444. 15:1911 years old
445. 15:20larry singleton was arrested once again
446. 15:23for committing a horrific
447. 15:24act against an innocent woman mary
448. 15:27vincent traveled all the way from
449. 15:29california to tampa
450. 15:30and appeared at his sentencing she gave
451. 15:33a statement in hopes that this time
452. 15:34larry would be put away for the rest of
453. 15:36his life
454. 15:37one of her statements read quote
455. 15:40unfortunately my assailant's next victim
456. 15:43was not as lucky as i roxanne hayes died
457. 15:46as a result
458. 15:47of the brutal and violent attack she
459. 15:49suffered at the hands of my assailant
460. 15:51in february of 1997. it was only after i
461. 15:55saw him in a courtroom
462. 15:56in tampa florida and identified him as
463. 15:59the one who committed these horrible
464. 16:01crimes
465. 16:02that i realized that my whole life had
466. 16:04been on hold
467. 16:05for almost 20 years i have now obtained
468. 16:08the long overdue
469. 16:10psychological counseling to help me get
470. 16:12over my nightmares and fear
471. 16:14yet sometimes i still feel like that
472. 16:17confused 15 year old run away
473. 16:20trapped in the body of a 35 year old
474. 16:22mother of two
475. 16:24no one should ever have to go through
476. 16:26what i went through
477. 16:27or what the children of roxanne hayes
478. 16:30will go through without their mother
479. 16:32the judge sentenced larry singleton to
480. 16:34death in 1997
481. 16:36at the age of 70 but a date of execution
482. 16:39wasn't set on december 28 2001
483. 16:43he died of cancer behind bars at the
484. 16:46north florida reception center
485. 16:48at the age of 74.
486. 16:52today mary vincent is an artist and a
487. 16:55mother of two boys
488. 16:57luke and alan she said quote
489. 17:00when i became a mother i really had
490. 17:02something to live for