You’re about to read a story that could have been the end of a young teenage girl’s life but didn’t. Instead she became a success story.

It all began in September 1978, when 15-year-old Mary Vincent was hitchhiking on a highway near Berkeley, California, trying to reach Los Angeles, when a 51-year-old man named Lawrence Singleton stopped to offer her a ride. She accepted, unaware that the man behind the wheel would soon commit one of the most brutal crimes in California history.

Lawrence Singleton was a vicious man, born in Tampa, Florida on July 28, 1927, a merchant seaman by profession. And according to People Magazine, he was a heavy drinker, who would become mild-tempered when sober to extremely violent once fully drunk. He’d had two failed marriages. His first was with Shirley whom he married in 1958 and remained married for 14 years before they divorced, got married again to a nurse named Mary Collins, with their marriage lasting after just two years. Had a recent quarrel with his daughter Debra before his later encounter with Mary. She was unbeknownst to the kind of person Lawrence Singleton was that made her to have hopped in at his request.

He told her he was headed to Reno, and promised to drop her off in Los Angeles, but didn’t.

Right after hopping in, she pulled out a cigarette and started smoking, and sneezed as a result of the smoke. Singleton immediately had his hand on the back of her neck, trying to know if she’s okay. But Mary Vincent had this unease within her and pulled herself away from him and then settled at the door by her side to stay out of his reach.

On their way, Singleton asked her to follow him to his house near San Francisco, where he intended to pick up his laundry. She agreed. But as they were back on the road, Mary did fell asleep. It was not until after she woke up that she realized he had adrift on the agreed-upon route.

Angry, she asked he turned the van around. It was on his refusal she carefully looked around her seat and brought out a long, pointed stick and threatened to use it on him if he didn’t stop the van. In an attempt to make himself appear as a good person, he told her it was all but “an honest mistake,” and reassured her that he wasn’t “gonna hurt” her.

But here’s where everything really went off. He innocently pulled over, stepped out of the van, and told her he was going to the bathroom. Mary Vincent also stepped out of the van so as to relieve herself. Bending to tie her sneaker, Singleton viciously attacked her from behind, and later shoved her inside the van. He then tied her up, took her to the back of the van and sexually assaulted her.

After the first assault, he drove the van a few miles and stopping at the canyon road, he cut loose her hands and had her raped a second time. Terrified, Mary passed out.

After another few miles of driving, Singleton pulled over and dragged her out of the van to the side of the road. At this point, she was thinking he had truly freed her, but Singleton had another ace up his sleeve. He went back to the van, came back with an axe, and chopped off her both arms.

He then shoved her down into a culvert, hoping she would die as a result of the trauma he had inflicted on her, but Mary was a strong person mentally. She didn’t die. Naked with her arms held upright to curtail the bleeding, she somehow managed to walk up three miles to a nearby road, where she met a couple who gracefully offered to help her. She was rushed to the hospital where she got her wounds treated.

While recovering, Mary worked with police to identify her attacker. From her hospital bed, she provided a detailed description that led to Lawrence Singleton’s arrest. When police searched his home, they found physical evidence linking him to the crime. He was later convicted of rape, attempted murder, and other charges, and was sentenced to 14 years in prison — which was the maximum allowed jail term in California at the time.

However, Lawrence Singleton didn’t complete his jail term even at that. He was later released after serving eight years in prison for good behavior, which sparked protests in several cities in California, as no town would accept him to settle with them, of which he eventually served out his parole in a travel trailer on the grounds of San Quentin State Prison. Shortly after his release, Singleton moved to his hometown in Florida, where he grew up, and went by a new name “Bill.” But was the new “Singleton” renamed “Bill” really a changed person? Let’s find out.

Well, it turns out that Singleton wasn’t prepared to abandon his former way of life. He later went on to commit his next heinous act: the murder of Roxanne Hayes, his sex mistress.

Singleton did returned to Tampa in 1988, but later met Roxanne Hayes in 1996, at a KFC restaurant on Hillsborough Avenue. She then agreed to become his sex mistress. She asked for his phone number, which he gave to her and drove her back to Hillsborough Avenue. She continued as his mistress in exchange for money. Singleton liked her a lot. Not until the unexpected happened.

Roxanne had some taste of Singleton’s hard drugs as claimed by Singleton, and was not herself anymore. He claimed she took his wallet and money and refused to return them to him. They later had a serious confrontation as a result of it, which then led to the murder of Ms. Hayes. And according to him, it wasn’t intentional.

However, Paul Hitson, a painter who had be hired to paint the interior of Singleton’s house had a different account of the events. He claimed to have noticed strange movements in Singleton’s house, and had gone to see for himself, only to see Roxanne Hayes sitting on the right side of the couch, asking for “help,” in a muffled voice. Singleton then looked over his shoulder and asked her to shut up.

But by the time Paul Histon and his uncle drove to a gas station, he had called police, who later went over to Singleton’s house for confirmation of reports they got.

On February 19, 1997, the day Hitson and his uncle called 911, Deputy Morffi was asked to respond to a domestic trouble call at 7704 23rd Avenue East, Singleton’s home. When he arrived, Singleton met him at the doorway, and told him everything was okay, that it was just a minor confrontation with his girlfriend. However, when Deputy Morffi entered into his apartment, he ended up finding the dead body of Roxanne Hayes, which he had hidden in a closet. Singleton was then arrested and charged with murder. Now what about Mary Vincent, what happened to her afterwards?

Mary Vincent’s recovery took years. She was fitted with prosthetic arms and began rebuilding her life, eventually becoming an artist. She later used her art to support herself and advocate for victims of violent crime. Her case became a catalyst for legal discussions about sentencing limits for violent offenders. She also played an important role in the final sentencing of Lawrence Singleton. He was sentenced to death but died in prison on December 28, 2001 from cancer before the sentence could be carried out.

Two years after her rape-mutilation, Mary Vincent who previously had no desire for school started her off by going to school again, gradually transforming herself and doing the best she can to get the most out of life.