Las Vegas rape victim takes stand against killer

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 1998 | 2:26 a.m.

He now faces execution for murdering a woman in Tampa.

"I was raped and I had my hands cut off," Mary Vincent said simply, quietly and deliberately of the 1978 attack, when she was 15. "He used a hatchet. He left me to die."

Singleton, 70, whose parole 10 years ago from that crime generated a public furor, showed no reaction during her 10 minutes on the witness stand at the penalty phase of his Florida murder trial.

He was convicted Friday of fatally stabbing Roxanne Hayes, a 31-year-old prostitute and mother of three, on the sofa at his Tampa house a year ago. Jurors must recommend either execution or life in prison without chance of parole.

Prosecutors opened the sentencing phase Tuesday and rested after Ms. Vincent's testimony. Assistant State Attorney Jay Pruner told jurors that the two attacks were reason enough to execute Singleton.

"Separated by 20 years and thousands of miles, two women, unrelated except by their tragic connection to Lawrence Singleton, got into Mr. Singleton's van," Pruner told jurors.

"Mary Vincent accepted a ride in 1978," Pruner said. "Some 20 years later, Roxanne Hayes got into a van driven by Mr. Singleton and she, unlike Mary Vincent, did not survive her meeting."

Singleton attorney John Skye urged the jury to put aside emotion when deciding the notorious ex-convict's fate.

"This trial is not a matter of vengeance or for you to clean up California's mistakes from 20 years ago, but about whether that old man dies a natural death or we take him out and kill him," Skye said.

Skye called a psychologist who testified Singleton abused alcohol, lacked self control and was violent toward women whom he perceived as a threat.

Outside the courtroom, Ms. Vincent, 35, shivered as she met reporters after her testimony. She wore a white T-shirt under a brown cardigan sweater. Her shoulders were slightly stooped. Her dark hair was cut to chin-length.

"I'm still trying to stay alive," she said. "For the most part, I'm just trying to be a normal person."

Her lawyer, Mark Edwards, said she had been overwhelmed with donations since she came into the national spotlight again after Ms. Hayes' slaying. She said she was grateful for the assistance, which is helping her raise her two sons, ages 9 and 11.

She said she looked Singleton in the eye when she pointed him out in court.

"I had to. I had to identify him," she said. "I think I felt I had to" testify against Singleton.

But Ms. Vincent said she was unable to describe her reaction to seeing him again, saying: "I blocked it out. I can't handle stress right now."

She had no comment on the sentence she wants for fear of jeopardizing the case against him.

Edwards said the voluntary trip has been very traumatic for her, and she was suffering a stomachache. She flew to Tampa early Tuesday and planned to return to her home near Tacoma, Wash., later in the day.

In an oversight by the court staff, Ms. Vincent wasn't sworn in before her testimony. After questioning by Pruner, she swung her left hook under her right elbow to hold up her arm for the oath.

On cross-examination, she said Singleton was drinking vodka from a plastic gallon jug during the attack. Asked if he was drinking heavily, she said, "I thought so."

Asked if he continued drinking throughout the attack, she said, "It's hard to recall."

Ms. Vincent was a runaway when Singleton, a merchant marine, picked her up, offered to drive her to Los Angeles and then repeatedly raped her before hacking off her forearms and leaving her for dead in 1978.

Ms. Vincent survived after walking naked for almost two miles on a remote ranch, holding the remains of her arms up to slow the flow of blood. She testified against him, was fitted with mechanical arms and tried to go on with her life.

Singleton denied attacking Ms. Vincent, but he confessed to stabbing Hayes, telling reporters after his arrest last February: "I was framed the first time. But this time I did it."

Defense psychologist Dr. Elizabeth McMahon told jurors Singleton has some mild to moderate brain dysfunction. He has a history of alcoholism, violence toward women and a poor control of his impulses.

The night he killed Roxanne Hayes "he's in a situation that he perceives as a woman who is threatening him in some way, who was attacking him in some way ... That was hitting every button you can push on this man," she said, adding Singleton's emotions probably were running too high for him to control his actions.

Other defense witnesses included sheriff's deputies and his former parole supervisor who said he had no history of disciplinary problems. A neighbor testified Singleton was "a model neighbor. He always tried to do things for you, always polite," Tom Bennett told jurors.