Second attempt to try Singleton for Tampa murder gets underway

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 1998 | 10:38 a.m.

This is the second time a judge has tried to seat a jury in the first-degree murder trial.

In December, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Bob Anderson Mitcham declared a mistrial after a prospective juror complained neighbors had seen his face on television. Mitcham had ordered local stations not to broadcast closeup shots of the panel.

Singleton, who wore a navy blue suit and tie, sat quietly beside his lawyer as members of the jury pool were questioned Monday. Jury selection is expected to take at least a week.

Singleton, 70, is accused of killing prostitute Roxanne Hayes last February 19. The 31-year-old mother of three was found dead in his living room in suburban Orient Park after police were called to the home by a painter who said he saw a struggle.

Police said Singleton's face and chest were covered in blood when he answered the door. The slaying came nine days after Singleton had been released from a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide.

"I was framed the first time," the former merchant marine said at the police station after his 1997 arrest. "But this time I did it."

If convicted, Singleton could face the death penalty.

In 1978, Singleton was convicted of raping Mary Vincent, a 15-year-old hitchhiker, chopping off her arms with an ax and leaving her for dead on the side of a California road.

But she survived to testify against him.

He served eight years and four months of a 14-year-prison sentence.

After he was paroled in 1987, prison authorities shuttled Singleton from city to city, as residents staged angry demonstrations and even filed lawsuits to keep him out of their communities.

Authorities wound up housing him in a mobile home on the grounds of San Quentin Prison until his parole ended in 1988.

Singleton ultimately returned to his home state of Florida, where he had several minor run-ins with police for shoplifting.

Vincent is expected to testify again against Singleton if his trial here progresses to a penalty phase. The prosecutor, Assistant State Attorney Jay Pruner, then will be able to use the California case to argue for the death in Florida's electric chair.

Singleton's public defenders have renewed motions to have the trial moved out of Hillsborough County. They also have asked to exclude people from the jury panel who know about the California case.

Mitcham has yet to rule on those issues.