Episode 786: Episode Revisit- The Survival Story of Mary Vincent, Patron Saint of Badassery | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos, I'm Ash. >> And I'm Elena. >> And this is Morbid. Not in the pod lab.
>> Nope, we're in Elena's room. >> Woah. >> It's purple. >> It is purple. >> It's very comfy in here.
>> It's a nice dark purple. >> Yeah. >> A deep dark purple. >> Me and Annie are painting our room and I
think that I want to do like everything white with one accent wall, but then your room makes me feel like
do I want it to be like darker and homier? >> That's why I like it cuz it's like
moody. >> Yeah, you're a moody [ __ ] >> I'm a moody [ __ ] so this works out really well.
>> But this isn't a decorating podcast. >> It's not. >> What are we talking about this week?
Death, crime, Jesus. >> Yeah. But you know what? This one is kind of good because it has
a happy ending. >> Hey. >> So, I mean there's some there's some [ __ ] along the way.
>> Spoiler alert. >> For sure. But we're going to be doing one where some badass lady
somehow, against all odds, in a situation that none of us could even fathom being in, somehow pulled her [ __ ]
together and survived. >> Yeah, this case is bananas. >> Like badass woman alert.
>> Bam. >> We are doing the case of Mary Vincent. >> And she is a baller. >> She really is.
And we're going to focus mostly on Mary. >> Mhm. >> We are going to talk about her attacker
because he did some other [ __ ] too, that affects her as well. But we're going to focus it mostly on Mary.
>> Yeah, cuz she's a badass. >> Because she's where it's at. There's a little true crime news that I'm sure
everybody has heard about by now. We might have a new very prolific serial killer on our hands. He's caught,
luckily, but this could be insane. He could be one of the worst. >> Yeah, I don't know much about this, so
fill me in. >> So, this guy's name is Samuel Little. He doesn't have three names, but you know,
we'll take it. Basically, he could be one of the deadliest serial killers in history,
which is crazy. He has admitted to Texas Rangers that he played part in more than
90 unsolved murders in 10 states. >> Woah. >> Uh so, he is 78 years old now, and he's
serving three life sentences in California for killing three women. So, he's already
he's already away forever. >> And they said that so far they're able to match over 30 cases to him so far.
Yeah. >> And that's that's like all that they like that's crazy. >> so far, and they said they have no false
information coming from him. It's all been up to snuff so far. >> How did they How did they get him?
>> I don't know exactly how he got arrested but for the three women, but he obviously he got caught for other
murders. >> [ __ ] >> Um and like I said, he would this would make him one of the most prolific serial
killers in US history. Ted Bundy confessed to 30. >> Mhm. >> John Wayne Gacy killed at least 33 boys,
but I think the Green River Killer had 49 that he was convicted of. He confessed to 71.
>> Woah. >> So, this guy would pass him, which is insane. >> Damn. Wait, so he has 30 and how many
more >> They've at least been able to connect 30 to him, but he's confessed to 90. And
he's giving information to police about these 90. >> [ __ ] do you kill 90 people?
>> I'm saying. I guess he started way back in the '70s. >> The '70s were a wild time.
>> Yeah, they really were. He's he's linked to possible deaths in Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Texas. >> Wow. >> Yeah. So, this is kind of an ongoing
thing, so it's going to be kind of one of those things that more [ __ ] is going
to leak out as we go. >> Woah. >> But, it's crazy. So, we'll definitely be on the lookout
for that one. And I think the only other thing that's been happening lately is that Chris Watts [ __ ] the guy who
killed his wife and his children and then blamed it on his wife cuz she's dead and can't defend herself.
>> He's the male version of a [ __ ] >> Yeah, exactly. And now his mother is coming out and saying that the wife
killed the kids. Like, "My baby couldn't have killed his whole family." And it's
like, "That's exactly why your [ __ ] [ __ ] son is the way he is." Cuz his whole life his mother probably bailed
him out of all his [ __ ] >> Everything. >> It's like, "Nope, you need to look in
the mirror and know that your son is a [ __ ] monster who annihilated his entire family and his pregnant wife
because he had a mistress. >> And how do you say that about somebody that's dead? Like, "Oh, no, they killed
all the kids." >> It's like, you know not Oh, it just makes me crazy. That case makes me nuts.
Um but yeah, so that's I think that's all the stuff we have to catch up on. >> The case that we're talking about this
week is like one of my favorites. >> It is, it's such a good one. >> I heard this case when I first started
listening to My Favorite Murder and I was in my car driving to work on the edge of my seat.
>> Oh, yeah, it's insane. Like, there's um I'm sure you guys have all heard of the
show I Survived. It's so good. It's so binge-worthy. It like but it's stress it's very heavy. There's a lot of heavy
[ __ ] in that show. >> And I can't watch it like live. Like, I have to fast forward through the
commercials. >> too, cuz I need to take a break. >> Yeah. And I have to fast forward through
the commercials. >> Oh, yeah, for sure. >> Like, they keep you on such a >> Oh my god, yeah, cuz you know, you're
like, "I know they're going to survive, but I need to know how." >> How did you do it?
>> And this one in particular, I still to at this moment I still cannot understand
how she got out of this situation. Oh, and I mentioned I mentioned I Survived because there was an episode about Mary
and Vincent. So, go check it out because it's a really good episode. Listen to this first though.
Keep listening. >> Please. >> So, let's dive in. September 29th, 1978. The 70s, man.
>> Damn 70s. >> Mary Vincent was a 15-year-old girl living in Las Vegas. She, from all accounts, it seems like
she kind of had a troubled home life. I don't think there was anything I actually I shouldn't say I don't
think. There's not a lot known about her home life growing up. >> Right. >> I know she was in a military family. She
probably moved a lot. At 15, she was kind of at odds with her parents. And from what I read, it seems like she ran
away from home this day and she was going to be running away to California at 15, which is like so young to me.
It's like I think of me when I was 15 and like I can't even >> Yo, sorry mom, but I was about to run
away from home at 15. There's been plenty of times where I was like, I could run away.
>> I could run away. 15 is a And you know what? 15 is a shitty age. >> Oh, yeah.
>> I like I don't know anyone who's like, you know what? 15 was a great year for
me. I had everything going on. I had it all figured out. >> They should have a show that's like 15 I
survived. >> I survived 15. Cuz it really is that bad. >> It is. >> Like 15 for me was [ __ ] Absolute [ __ ]
>> Yeah, same. >> So, thanks high school bullies or junior high bullies. So, yeah. So, she was living in Las
Vegas. On this day, she was hitchhiking from Berkeley, which was her uncle's house in
California. >> Okay. >> And she was hitchhiking to her grandfather's, which was somewhere near
Los Angeles. I'm not sure exactly where. I also don't know California that well.
Sorry, California. >> I was listening to California love on the way here. >> Of course you were.
>> California love. >> Of course you are. So Or is it RIP? Or is he living somewhere?
>> I don't think so. I wish. >> I know. I I love that conspiracy theory though. >> Actually shout out to Last Podcast on
the Left just for like a quick little break. I was like I couldn't stop listening.
>> Oh yeah. I Honestly I love Last Podcast on the Left. Every case that they have
covered they have covered so well. Like they just did I'm just going to plug them like like they need it but
whatever. They just did the West Memphis 3 which we will cover at some point but
that's going to be a very long very research heavy case. >> Yeah. >> They did it in like three episodes and
they did it so well cuz you feel like you know everything about that case but they did it and you felt like you
learned more. Yeah, so shout out to them. So on this night on this day that she was hitchhiking she was standing on
the side of the road with two other hitchhikers. They didn't know each other they were just all hitchhiking
somewhere. They all had signs saying where they wanted to go. Now this is when Lawrence Singleton Larry pulled up
in a blue van. Mary described him as looking like a friendly grandfather type. Like she was like he's older he
looks like he could be my grandfather and he was old enough to be a grandfather. So she felt immediately
like comfortable which is not a good thing. Also apparently he was wearing blue overalls and like here's the thing
about old dudes in overalls. >> Don't trust them. >> Well especially you generally get two
kinds of old dudes wearing overalls. Either sweet farmer types who just want to tell you the best way to get the
beefiest tomato crops or hillbilly mutants who think you look like their sister.
>> Hillbilly mutants always. >> so no bueno. >> So yeah [ __ ] overalls are a no.
>> Yeah, don't get in the car with someone who has overalls. Like sorry everybody
who wears overalls. I want a pair of overalls but don't get in the car with me. >> No.
>> Like just don't do it. >> room for comfortability. >> Yeah, exactly. So Larry was like I only
have room for one of you in here. Meanwhile, he had a van. >> Which is low-key alarm or excuse me,
high-key alarm maybe. >> Like that's a that's a red flag. I think that's a red flag. Sir, you've got a
van. Sir, you have a van. >> I don't know if you know what you're driving, but it's called a van.
>> I have I'm small. I don't need a lot of room. So, already these these people with her were like,
yeah, maybe you shouldn't go with him. And she was like, yo, I got to get to my grandfather's. She was tired. She'd been
like, you know, >> She'd been hitchhiking for like 3 days, right? >> Yeah, and she he she was just like, I'm
over this. I just want to get to my grandfather's house. So, Larry was a 51-year-old former merchant marine at
the time. He had just been divorced from his second wife and had a teenage daughter
that was also 15 at the time. He told Mary this immediately. He was like, I have a daughter your age who reminds me
of you. >> okay, chill. >> And this further cemented his like, nice soul, you know, older man. He's a
father. Like he has a kid my age. And that's exactly what he wanted. Um so, he told her he wasn't going to Los Angeles,
but would happily take a detour to bring her there. He offered to drive her to Interstate 5,
which is the fastest route south. And she was so desperate that she was like, yep, I'll just get in. We'll do this.
So, she got in the car. Now, she said it was pretty uneventful for the most part
in the car until obviously a big event happened, but at one point, she lit a cigarette and
she sneezed. And he immediately reached out to feel her neck and asked if she was sick. Like he felt for like gland.
>> I was going to say, that's weird. >> and that [ __ ] her. She was like, nope,
don't touch me. Like that's weird that you just felt like you could touch my neck. And she said it made her comfort
like uncomfortable. Like that weirded me out, but she ended nothing else really happened after that right away. So, she
ended up nodding off and falling asleep. >> Don't fall asleep if you're hitchhiking.
>> Yeah. In the '70s, this was totally acceptable. Everyone was hitchhiking, which I think we learned now that that
was a bad idea because a lot of these people ended up dead. But now definitely don't hitchhike
>> the rules of hitchhiking. One, don't. Two, don't fall asleep. >> Yeah. >> I'm sure we'll come up with more.
>> Exactly. Uh so she ended up falling asleep. When she woke up she noticed that they were not going to
LA as promised, but instead were going east toward Modesto. So immediately she started to panic. She saw that there was
a stick or like a like a little yardstick or a surveyor stick on the floor of the van, so she grabbed it,
held it out, and demanded. She was like, "Where the what the [ __ ] You're supposed to be taking me to Los
Angeles." >> makes my stomach hurt. >> So he was like, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." And he said he said, "I am an
honest man and it was an honest mistake. I'm so sorry." >> Yeah, right. >> So he was like, "You know what? I'm
going to take you there. I'm really sorry. I just wasn't paying attention." And she was like, "Okay, well [ __ ]
take me there." So he was like, "All right, let's pull over quickly so I can relieve myself and then we'll be on our
way." So they pulled over. He gets out of the car and he goes somewhere to piss.
She gets out of the car to stretch her legs and she said she reached down to tie her shoes and that's when Larry
snuck up behind her and hit her in the head with a hammer. >> Dear god. First of all, how did she even
survive that? >> Exactly. And she immediately went out like unconscious. When she woke up, she
was completely naked and tied up. >> Oh my god, I hate this. >> Right away after waking up, he forced
her to perform sexual acts on him. He also said something really disgusting as he was doing this that I'm not going
to repeat because it stresses me out too much. But he was gross. He was a pig. He
like shoved himself in her mouth basically. He then raped her and sodomized her. He then threw her in the
back of the van, drove to another secluded area, and repeatedly raped her again.
She recalls at least six to eight times that he raped her and she said it hurt a
lot the entire time. >> god. >> During this, he also made her drink some weird unknown substance from a plastic
jug that she assumes is alcohol, but she said it made her pass out. So, it could
have been anything. Uh she passed out several times, and when she woke up at one point, he had thrown her onto the
ground on the side of the road and forced her to lay down. Now, she's naked, completely naked and tied up. She
started begging him to set her free because she was like, "What's going to happen next?" He said, "Quote, you want
to be set free? I'll set you free." Then, he went to the van, grabbed a hatchet, and returned back to her. He
then held her down as she [ __ ] fought and screamed and chopped her right arm off. He then hacked at her left arm
until it was severed just below the elbow. >> Oh my god. >> It took three strokes of the hatchet to
sever that arm off. >> god. >> He cut both her [ __ ] arms off while she was conscious with it, the whole
thing. Fighting the whole time. [ __ ] hacked her arms off of her body. Like >> sick [ __ ]
>> That is some [ __ ] >> And like what does that mean? Like, "Oh, I'll set you free by chopping your arms
off?" >> Yeah, he's literally cuz and you'll hear he says it again. So, he like he's
having to hold this poor nude woman down while she's screaming and crying and he's hacking her arms off. Like that is
that's beyond my comprehension. >> Like who does that? >> Yeah. So, she fell on her onto her back after
this, obviously, cuz he was like holding her up hacking at her arms. And she said
she caught a glimpse of him like twisting and shaking his arm. And what was happening was her arm was still
attached to his arm, and he was trying to fling it off. Yeah. He then rolled her down a 30-ft
embankment and stuffed her into a cement drainage pipe. When he left, he said, "Okay, now you're free." And this place
turned out to be Del Puerto Canyon, which I'm not familiar with, but I'm sure Californians will know. Um so,
yeah, he leaves and says, "Okay, now you're free." >> I'd be like, um >> So, I think to him, he was like, "Oh,
you want to be free? I'll untie you. And I'll leave you here, and you can get out
if you want." Like, I think to him, he was like, "You're going to die, but like, you're free. Like, good luck."
>> What is Like, what the [ __ ] is wrong with you, dude? >> blew my mind. So, he immedi- Obviously,
he thinks she's dead. She's been wailed on the head. She's been repeatedly raped. And she's had her [ __ ] arms
chopped off, and she's >> going to bleed out and die. >> And she's also been rolled down a 30-ft
embankment. Like, that There's so much here. So, he left her alone to die and sped off.
>> she [ __ ] survives. >> Yeah, just keep that in mind. She comes out of this. She is kicking, breathing,
thriving today. >> She's a bad [ __ ] >> So, at this point, she was like, "Okay,
I could die here, or I could fight and stop In In her mind, she said, "I can stop him from doing this to someone
else." >> Good for her. >> That was her thought process was I can't let him do this to someone else.
>> How do you have that coherent thought process when somebody just chopped your
[ __ ] arms off? >> It is like fight or flight, and she chose [ __ ] fight. So, at this moment,
she was like, "I need to for- I need to stay awake." So, she forced herself to stay awake because if she allowed
herself to pass out, she would just bleed to death. She would just fall asleep and never wake up. Now, think of
all those times you've just been sitting on the couch and you hit that wall of exhaustion all of a sudden, and you can
barely keep your eyes open. Now, think of that, but your arms have been chopped off. You've been force-fed some kind of
weird alcoholic substance, and you've been hit in the head with a hammer and raped repeatedly.
>> How I don't even know how to >> Like, I never want to say I'm tired. >> Mary's like, [ __ ] you. I'm never tired.
>> So, she forced herself to stay awake, and she said, quote, "He threw me off a
cliff. I should have broken bones. I should have bled to death. I didn't, and I never passed out. I remember
everything. I wanted to give up and go to sleep, but I felt someone there with me. A presence who wanted me to survive.
A voice told me to get up and get help, or someone else would die." >> Wow. >> Girl.
>> I got chills. >> I can't She's uh Mary. >> Mary. >> Look, I just can't even. >> Mary Mary quite contrary.
>> Oh, you are just I don't know how you did this, man. So, she she ended up losing 50% of her body's blood supply.
>> How does she How did she not pass the [ __ ] out? >> Cuz she's a [ __ ] warrior.
Um to stop it from getting worse, she packed her arms with mud to cut off the flow of blood.
>> Jesus. >> First of all, I would I am 33 years old, almost, and I work in the medical field, and I
don't think that would immediately be my like, I need to pack these severed arms
with blood. >> She was 15 years old. >> And how did you do that with both of your arms cut off? Like, you didn't even
have another arm to pack with. >> I It There's just so much about this that I'm like, who are you? What are
you? What kind Like, we don't deserve you, Mary. >> No. >> So, she walked herself up the 30-ft
cliff she had been rolled down without arms. Like, think about that for a second. How hard that would be to do
with arms, walking up a 30-ft cliff. >> without arms. >> It took her hours and hours and hours of
fighting up this hill with only 50% of her body's blood and a head wound. >> Jesus Christ.
>> And she said it took all day, like a full day to get up that 30-ft cliff. >> I believe it.
>> So, she finally reached the cuz she said she could hear the freeway above. She
just wanted to get there. She's like, I just got to get there. So, she finally reaches the freeway and ended up walking
for three more miles before seeing a car finally. It was a convertible with two men in it. They pulled over uh like a
little bit, but once they saw her, they sped off. And I mean, she was nude, she was
completely battered, she had no [ __ ] arms. >> They probably didn't even think it was
real. >> bleeding profusely. That's horror movie [ __ ] Like that And she says to this
day, she said she can totally understand why they were terrified and sped off. Like she was like, I do not hold that
against like So, she said at the time she was holding up what was left of her arms in the air
so, quote, the muscles and blood wouldn't fall out. >> Wow. >> So, she was holding her [ __ ] like
what's left of her arms up in the air. Now, luckily, a couple who were tourists and had like taken a wrong turn, like
what a wrong turn. >> Weren't they on their honeymoon or something? >> I think they were.
>> they were too. >> I've read that a couple of times. Yeah, so they might have been on their
honeymoon, I think. They picked her up and they immediately wrapped her in linens from their car before driving her
to a nearby airport and calling 911. Now, I mean, because it was the '70s, they didn't have a cell phone, so they
had to drive to a phone. Uh, all she could say was, quote, he raped me over and over again.
>> Oh my god. >> She went by helicopter to the hospital. And at the hospital like she just continues to be like a
[ __ ] warrior. She gets to the hospital and she doesn't sit there and be like, all right, now I'm going to
take a break and like rest to my my weary soul right now. She was like, nope, I can describe this [ __ ]
to an absolute [ __ ] T. Let me give you it. >> Wow. >> So, she could describe him so perfectly
that the composite sketch of him was like a photo, they said. >> We'll post it. >> Yeah, it was immediately released to the
media and Larry's own neighbor, who was his friend, like was a friend of his, saw it and was like, whoa, that's Larry.
And they called and told the police, I know who that is. And it was their friend. That's how clear it was that
they were like, that's [ __ ] Larry. >> That's insane. >> Mary also picked his picture out of six
others before the grand jury at one point. >> Wow. >> So, uh in 1979, he went to So, they picked him up.
There's not a lot of like how they found him or you know, like she she knew who he was. She picked him.
>> Look at this [ __ ] >> That's That's a dude. >> Oh. >> He dead now, so that's
>> looks like a penis. >> Yeah, his nose is a lot. So, in 1979, he went to court and Mary testified against
him. After all she went through at 15 years old. >> That is insane. >> Badass. Uh Mary stood up in front of the court,
pointed one of her hooked prosthetic arms at him, and she was like, "That's [ __ ] him." And she She will to this
day, she will only refer to him as {quote} my attacker. She won't refer to him as And he doesn't
>> [ __ ] deserve it. >> doesn't. So, Larry said he was drunk that night and described Mary as {quote} a $10 [ __ ]
>> What the [ __ ] >> Yeah. He also claimed that the two other hitchhikers were in the van as well,
including another Larry. So, he said if anything happened to Mary in his van, and the blood and other physical
evidence presented at trial proved that it did, then he said the crimes must have been committed by {quote} the other
Larry. >> Like >> Yeah. So, he insisted on being framed. Later, when he became a little more
forthcoming, he mentioned that he had cut off her hands because he wanted to remove the ID. Yeah. Dental records are
a thing, you [ __ ] $10 dumbass. But, uh after testifying, Mary quickly left the
courtroom and she did this because Larry made a very quiet comment to her, and she just
rushed out of the courtroom. Later, he admitted what he said to her. >> I remember that.
>> He told her {quote} "I'll finish this job if it takes me the rest of my life."
>> Like, go [ __ ] yourself. >> you kidding? Like, can you [ __ ] imagine that? After all you've gone
through, this dude's like, "I'm going to finish this." Like, [ __ ] >> I feel like, I'll finish you, sir.
>> She was obviously [ __ ] terrified. Um afterwards her parents came to get her, but in but she said they were kind
of like they couldn't really help. Like they didn't have the relationship that needed that they needed to help her.
>> Yeah. >> They said she said quote she ran away in the first place. Yeah, and she said
quote they couldn't handle it. They took it harder than me. I'm telling them I need you, but they couldn't do it. They
were more interested in what they felt about what happened to me than what I felt. So Larry ended up being convicted
of a whopping number of charges. Uh attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, sodomy, oral copulation, aggravated
mayhem, and the use of an axe to cause great bodily harm. Now at the time he got the max sentence for this, which was
only 14 years in prison. >> I'll leave. >> Like are you kidding me right now? Well,
it gets worse. >> All those charges and you get 14 years? Like what the [ __ ] >> those like terrifying charges.
>> somebody's arms off. >> [ __ ] attempted murder. Like it's insane. He thought she was dead. He left
there thinking she was dead. She was going to die. Well, it gets worse. He only served 8
years out of that because he got off on good behavior. >> Okay, good behavior? You [ __ ] chopped
somebody's arms off. >> Exactly. It's like I don't give a [ __ ] if you always, you know, keep your cell
clean and always say please and thank you to the prison guards. I don't give a [ __ ] You tried to you raped somebody
repeatedly and tried to chop their arm and try and chop their arms off. >> and said it was the other Lawrence.
>> Yeah. [ __ ] poor other Larry that probably doesn't exist. Um well, it gets even worse. When he got
out, he immediately tried to sue Mary. >> For what? >> So while in jail, he said, and this is
where I get funny, he said he considered the alleged events and he was like nope,
I didn't do that. >> Oh my god. >> He said he remembers Mary threatening to accuse him of rape and that she had
brandished a stick at him. He said that's why he became violent. So, he filed a complaint suing Mary for {quote}
forcible kidnap for the purposes of robbery. Are you kidding me? >> Luckily, the courts dismissed it.
>> They were like, yeah, you can go [ __ ] yourself. >> a [ __ ] [ __ ] So, after he got out of jail, after 8
years, 8 years later. >> goodbye. >> Like she's barely even beginning to cope with this at this point. So, well, she
said she was afraid to stay in one place for too long. She went through a series
of bodyguards, and she ended up living in a deserted gas station at one point. >> Holy [ __ ]
>> Yeah, like she really like went down a bad path. She said she was depressed, she had crazy anxiety.
>> she did. >> suffered. I mean, with family, friends, like romantic relationships, like it was
a really dark time. She eventually had two sons of her own, and in her words, {quote} when I became a mother, I really
had something big to live for. And she says there, like, what caused her. >> That's so messed up.
>> I love it. >> I mean, his release was controversial, obviously, to Mary, but it was
controversial to everyone, because it was >> like any nobody wanted him to live anyway.
>> Yeah, it well, it was bonkers, because I mean, that's 8 years. Every and his own
daughter didn't want him loose. >> Wow. >> So, his own daughter said that he had
attacked and abused her and her mother. And in fact, her mother once told her that she was surprised that she had been
born without complications, because Larry had beat her mother while she was pregnant with her.
>> Oh my god. >> Yeah. So, when she when she found out that he was getting out of jail, she
also fled and hid, like >> That's what I would do. >> uh Mary did. She asked law enforcement
if there was any way they could keep him behind bars. >> Like, what the [ __ ] Florida?
>> Yeah. And she recently Well, this wasn't this wasn't in Florida. >> Oh, I thought it was.
>> No, this was in California. >> Oh. >> But, um >> Didn't he I think he ended up in to
>> yeah. We're going to get to that. What the [ __ ] California? So, his daughter, who I won't name cuz I
don't know if she wants her name out there, she recently spoke to a woman who runs the site familyarrested.com,
which helps family members of like shitty people who have done awful things cope with their own like victimhood.
>> Yeah, I'm sure you >> Cuz it's such a it's such a unique experience to be like the daughter of a
[ __ ] monster or the sister or the spouse or the mother, you know? Um so, she had this to say to this woman about
her father. It's a big long quote. "Six years into my father's sentence, I knew he was getting out early as an {quote}
ideal inmate. So, in 1984, when I was 21, 3 years prior to his proposed parole, I called the California prison
where he was staying, San and it was San Luis Obispo's California Colony for Men.
I told whoever I talked to, I wasn't sophisticated enough then to take names or notes, that I was afraid my father
would remain a threat to my safety and was in general still dangerous. When I was 21, I quickly made several
changes to my life. I graduated from college with my first degree. I changed my last name legally. I moved from
Nevada to California, then moved back to Nevada to marry my college boyfriend. When I left Reno, I told an anyone whom
my father might possibly contact to try to find me to tell him I {quote} flaked out or something.
Got married to someone they didn't know and left town. I gave them a PO box so we could stay in touch. I realize how
naive this sounds today as I write this, but I was concerned he might hurt or harass them. When I was about 20 years
old with the assistance of a PhD psychology intern, I had written a letter to my father telling him I was
terminating our relationship. I asked California prison personnel, "What could be done to keep him in longer?" and I
was told there was nothing. They suggested I retain obtain a restraining order at the time of his release. Sorry,
but I mean this quite sarcastically. I tell you he is a danger. I said that before the first crime. I've changed my
name multiple times and I'm moving across state lines, and you all suggest a piece of paper that will tell him
exactly where I am, what my name is, and not and not to come within say 300 ft of
of me? The neighbor woman who I had moved in with and lived with from about age 15 and a half until I was 18 had
discouraged me both from terminating with the relationship and from considering changing my name.
She told me it was my quote responsibility to, I don't know, not hide. I then and now wonder if she was
not motivated by fear of my father. >> That's insane. That's his own daughter. >> I've said that so many times, but I feel
like it's it's so insane. >> And that's it's like that's his [ __ ] daughter. >> She was always like so afraid I mean she
obviously was so afraid of him. >> Oh, yeah. And to hear that he not only abused her, but abused her mother too
before she was born and while she was gestating, like that's insane. >> Like I would say that it takes like a
like super [ __ ] up person to like hurt a pregnant person, but this guy literally chopped somebody's arms off.
>> Yeah, so it's like he is >> He has no low. >> He doesn't. I don't know where he would
have. It's it's shocking that he didn't start earlier and didn't rack up a higher
>> I sincerely hope that like there is a hell just for people like this. >> Yeah, just something something like
that. Um well, obviously his his daughter was very right to be concerned because
um when he got out, when he was paroled, California was like, nope. We don't want
him. So, they pros- they protested to not allow him to move into their communities. Literally one California
community after another told parole officials that they could not relocate him there.
>> Good. >> Um he was finally forced to live in a mobile home on the grounds of San
Quentin Prison until the end of his parole in 1988. So, wherever he was going next, he had to
register, which he went to the Florida. So, he had to register with the state of
Florida as a convicted felon. Uh his move to Florida, where he was originally from, was
uh not smooth. >> What happened? >> Um he was one of eight kids in his family originally, and that's where he
was from, like I said. So, he had a lot of siblings living in California or Florida still. And at first, he moved
into his brother's home, which soon became a target for people who were like, "This is a [ __ ] crazy person.
Why is he coming into our community?" They had a firebomb tossed into their front yard.
>> god. >> Um protesters showed up at court hearings where he appeared um because he ended up having some I think
it was like shoplifting charges in Florida cuz he just kept being a [ __ ] >> And of course.
>> he would go to court hearings for that, protesters would show up. [ __ ] cuz I
think between 1990 and 1991, he was arrested three times shoplifting. At one hearing for these, he described himself
as, quote, "a confused, muddle-headed muddle-headed old man." >> Yeah, you're more than that.
>> how he's just like, "I'm just confused." Like >> I'm just an old man. >> You don't seem confused.
>> No, you just seem like a giant [ __ ] >> So, after living with his brother, his
brother was like, "Yo, you got to get out of here because this firebomb's being tossed into my yard."
Uh so, he moved into another home that was owned by his family in Orient Park in Tampa.
His new neighbors thought he was a [ __ ] great guy. >> Oh god. >> Yeah. Um his next-door neighbor at the time,
Tom Bennett, said, quote, "We were scared of him at first, but every day he'd talk to you. He'd cook steaks and
bring them to you." Don't eat those. He fixed up his property really good. He was the neighbor you dream of. I started
to believe him. Maybe he was framed. >> Nah, he wasn't. >> Nah. Well, they find out that he wasn't. Uh
so, he I mean, he lived alone. He spent most of his time just remodeling his house and landscaping his property.
Several of his brothers and their wives visited often. He had a dog named Carla,
who was a Rottweiler that he apparently loved. Uh they said he was also solicitous, offering to repair a
neighbor's broken mailbox one day. Um he would go to see his neighbors like bands
play at bar like he was very much in the neighborhood. Like a part he was like one of those
neighbors that's like in with everybody. >> a townie. >> Yeah, exactly, which is crazy. So some
of the neighbors knew his the the whole Mary Vincent thing, but some didn't. The ones who did were just
like forgiving eventually, which is crazy to me. I would >> Insane. >> I just wouldn't be.
>> If you chop off somebody's arms, you're just not good in my book. >> No, it's like I just can't for I can't
be like, well, maybe he was friend like no, that's too much. >> No. >> So one of his other neighbors said,
quote, we didn't like the idea that something had happened. Like what? But you can't make a big
thing about it if you want to give people a chance. >> Yeah, I don't want to give that many
people a chance. >> that they're just like, we don't like that something happened. Oh, something
happened? He [ __ ] blunt forced trauma'd, brutally raped, chopped arms off and threw a woman off a cliff.
Something happened. >> That's that's not really like just casual behavior. >> just like, you know, we don't love that
about him, but we're giving him a chance. >> I'm like, yeah, we're not going to do
that. I don't know. I feel like it's like when somebody's like like, yeah, I've been arrested for shoplifting quite
a bit. You're like, all right, I don't like that that much. I don't come to my house, please. Yeah, like don't come
around my valuables, but like I don't like it, but we'll give you a chance. This not so much. So this is
interesting. 3 weeks before he ended up being arrested in Florida for something we will talk about in a moment. Uh
neighbors had to save him from his van because he attempted suicide in his driveway.
His neighbors said he was found breathing the van's exhaust through a dryer hose that he had attached to the
tailpipe. After this, he spent about a week in a psychiatric ward before returning back to his home. Uh Tom
Bennett, his neighbor that said before like we were scared, but he was good and he cooked steaks. He was great.
He said, quote, "He told me he was feeling sorry for himself, but he didn't give any more explanation for why he did
that." >> sorry for yourself? Why don't you feel sorry for the girl whose arms you cut
off? >> Exactly. Well, about 6:00 p.m. on a Wednesday night in February 1997, Hillsborough County Sheriff's officials
said a man who had done some renovation work for Larry dropped by his house and heard uh what you might say is a
commotion inside. >> Uh-oh. >> So, he was like, "What the [ __ ] going on?" So, he peered in through a window
and he saw Larry butt ass naked in the living room choking and punching a woman and
stabbing her repeatedly. The woman was nude and on the couch and was screaming for help.
>> Jesus Christ. >> And he was they said he was like maniacally just stabbing at her and like
and punching her and >> Unbelievable. >> Yeah. A deputy who responded to the 911
call says Larry answered the door completely covered in blood. >> And he was just like, "Hey, what's up?"
>> Yeah. Yeah, he was just like, "Oh, hey." And the woman was dead. The victim was
identified as Roxanne Hayes. She was a 31-year-old sex worker and a Tampa resident and mother of three.
>> Oh my god, that's awful. >> Nobody knows exactly, you know, what the whole scenario was if she was there for
some other reason or if she was a like there on business purposes. Either way, it's [ __ ] awful. So, the state of
Florida flew Mary down for this trial. >> Hell yeah. >> Because she didn't have to testify, but
she was like, "Oh, I'm going to testify." Which is like, "Oh my god." >> "Oh, by the way, Lawrence, I'm going to
finish this." >> Yeah, like don't >> She's like, you thought you were about to finish something?
>> Crazy. So, she didn't flinch when they asked to identify him, and she said she
didn't dare take a deep look, either. She was like, I don't She said, quote, "I wanted to see his eyes. Eyes are
important. When he was on top of me attacking me, I was looking at the ax trying to stay alive. I asked later if I
could look at him in the eye, but it didn't happen." >> Ugh. >> Which is like, ugh. It's like just so
blah blah blah. >> So [ __ ] up. >> Now, this time he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
>> Good. Die, [ __ ] >> Unfortunately, he died in 2001 on death row of cancer at age 74, which is a
bummer. >> Yeah, I wish that he actually got to be in >> I hope he suffered. >> Yeah, I wonder Do you know what kind of
cancer he had? >> No, I don't. I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find it. >> I hope it was the worst one. I hope it
was penis cancer. >> You know penis cancer? >> I don't know. >> That particular one.
>> he had it. >> Uh yeah. >> That's what you get for raping people. >> Yeah, I hope he just had all the
cancers. >> Yeah. >> So, the prosecutor Donald Enstall, who uh is now retired, but he said, quote,
"I'm not going to say he's Hannibal Lecter, but once a guy like that has a certain bend, he follows it for the rest
of his life. This guy has a personality that's bent in the direction of going after women." Um so, this case actually
helped Donald Stall, the prosecutor, get legis legislation in front of the people it
needs to get in front of that would make mandatory terms for most violent crimes.
And as a result, they can now say that at this time, the [ __ ] that he did to Mary Vincent would result in a life
sentence. Like, that would not happen again the way it happened. Because they're like they're like, "Look, we
gave him 14 [ __ ] years, which is nothing, and then he got out in eight, and he immediately killed someone else.
>> Right. Obviously, this is This is thing. >> Yeah. So, one of his neighbors said, quote, "When I found out about
what he had done, the first thing I thought was, should I have left that man in that van that day? If I had known, I
probably would have at least given it a second thought." >> Yeah, you should have.
>> Cuz that's the other thing. It's like now all these neighbors who like rushed
to help this guy were like, "Shit. We saved his life and he went on and killed someone."
>> Exactly. >> I I don't blame them for being like, "Should I have [ __ ] left him in his
van?" >> who knows if he like killed somebody else and that's why he was trying to
kill himself to get away with it. >> mean, we don't know. DNA it's in the '70s, it's so hard to pinch it on people
then. >> this guy killed other people. >> He could have done stuff before Mary, he
could have stuff done stuff, you know, in between. It's just crazy. So, as for Mary, who is the real star of
this whole thing, she says that she still has a lot of nightmares. Um she's still afraid to go to sleep and
can't sleep for very long when she uh when she actually does. >> She says, quote, "I've broken bones
thanks to my nightmares. I've jumped up and dislocated my shoulder just trying to get out of bed. I've cracked ribs and
smashed my nose. Every day I pray to God to make a space I can breathe in, and every day God gives it to me." And she's
now an artist. She doesn't have arms, and she's a [ __ ] artist. >> god. >> And this is a skill that she said she
just happened after this whole thing. She said she couldn't draw a straight line before this.
>> That's a miracle. >> Yeah, which is insane. >> So, she does she draw with like
prosthetics? >> Yeah, like she uses her prosthetic hooks, and that's the other thing. She's
like a tinkerer, so she makes her own prosthetics to like work with what she wants to do.
>> Wow. >> Yeah. She said and this I love this. She says she has entered the third phase of
this whole ordeal now. She says first she was a victim, then a survivor, and now she's an artist.
>> That's awesome. >> Which I love. I love that. Um and as an artist she focuses on she
says she focuses on powerfully upbeat women. She uses chalk pastels and she works in
a vein that kind of blends like the Vargas pin-up girl style and she creates her own basically like femme fatale
action figures which is I just think it's so badass. >> That is. >> And oh yeah, so like I said she's like a
tinker and she makes her own [ __ ] She uses spare parts from broken down refrigerators and old stereo systems to
modify them like her prosthetics to be what she needs them. Like the fingers turn in all directions like and she does
it herself. She said quote, I like to tinker. So did my grandfather. He was an artist too. I guess I get it from him.
>> Aw. >> There's all this stuff in the world that's been discarded. If you keep
working with it, it will work with you. >> Which I'm like I love that. >> that. >> And she
she started the Mary Vincent Foundation to advocate for teenage victims of sexual assault which
yeah. >> And she and I'll just end this with a quote from her. She said quote, I've
never indulged myself in anger and hate. I wouldn't be here if I had. >> That is so [ __ ] big of her because I
would be the most angry hateful person if this [ __ ] happened to me. >> thing. It's like how do you not come out
of that with so much hate, anger, just bitterness, like just so paranoid of everything right which I know she
probably was is paranoid at times but like for her to come out and just be like nope, like I'm not going to take
that. >> her life like the best that she can. >> And it's like and she >> remarkable way.
>> And she must be so [ __ ] annoyed that it's like they gave him such a lenient
sentence and he went out and killed a woman. >> because that was her main thing that she
like went to trial for so that he wouldn't do it again. >> Exactly. And that's the whole reason she
survived. Her whole mindset was I have to survive so he doesn't do this to someone else. And then the system let it
happen again. After she [ __ ] survived all that [ __ ] and like used every fiber
and cell in her body to survive that whole thing just so not for herself but for her him not to do this for someone
else the system allowed him to just walk out and do it again. >> So messed up. >> And it's like the poor family of you
know Roxanne this could have been avoided this dude shouldn't have been out in the [ __ ]
>> Yeah. >> Her three children it's like this dude shouldn't have been out loose and I'm
sure his neighbors cuz I know I read a lot about his neighbors being like this dude should not have been allowed to
live near us like this into interact with us and become part of us like this is crazy.
I'm so glad that this case which is I mean this is all like because of Mary. Like that this case changed
things so that this kind of attack is not seen as something that you get a max of 14 years and serve 8 years
for you know like now you're getting life for this kind of [ __ ] >> Because if you're capable of doing this
you're not going to be rehabilitated it's just not something that's going to happen.
>> no no >> It makes so much sense. It's like that and pedophilia. Pedophilia you can't rehabilitate it.
>> No. >> Like those people need to be like away from the rest of society and I have no
[ __ ] qualms saying that. >> No it's true. >> But yeah so that is the [ __ ] bonkers story of Mary [ __ ]
Vincent. >> That is I can't even. >> The patron saint of badass [ __ ] Like she needs her own you know those
true crime candles? >> Oh my god yeah. >> Which also like someday I hope our faces
are on one of those that's like my goal that's the goal that's the dream. >> Oh my god.
>> Like just putting that out there true crime candles someday someday someday we'll earn it someday.
>> But she needs to be on one of those. >> one. >> But, you have a duck face. >> I wouldn't.
>> I But, Mary Vincent needs to be one of those. >> Yeah, she does. She needs an I survived
candle. >> She needs to like she needs to be a candle that's like the patron saint of
bad assery. >> I want that. I'd buy that. >> Yeah, I want that. >> I'd buy that for a lot of money.
>> That's just our little, you know, pitch true crime candles. So, yeah. So, that
was At least that one was a good one. It had It had a real bummer in the beginning. It had a real bummer in the
middle. But, I You know, in the end >> He died. >> At least he's dead. And >> beautiful artist.
>> Yeah, and Mary's just this beautiful [ __ ] wildflower just floating through. And
>> She is a wildflower. >> So, that's a great one. And uh we hope you enjoyed that one. We'll do some more
of these like fun survival ones sprinkled in every now and then cuz they're nice to like have to die. Yeah,
I mean it it definitely gives the grizzly [ __ ] But, like it's nice to have that every once in a while to have
an end that's like, "Yeah, all right." So, we hope you guys enjoyed this. Like I said, we want to start getting out
some more content. We just have to kind of like make it work for us. >> Yeah. >> Uh
but, I promise we have so many cases we want to get to. So, we really do want to
just give you as much as we can. Um eventually we'll try to do two a week. We're definitely going to try to
do that. I think we can make it work sooner than later. We just kind of have to We'll We'll get it We'll get it
together. >> up. We'll get it together. >> it up. We'll We'll figure it out. Cuz I
know you guys will um be psyched to get more. So, we want to give you that cuz you're so amazing.
>> him anymore. >> And yeah, so uh we'll do another bonus episode uh very shortly. I think we In
fact, I know we are going to hit House of a Thousand Corpses. >> Woah. Woah. >> Cuz I'm very excited to show Ash that
for the first time. >> I have not seen it. >> And that I love doing that. I love
giving you like a first a first run. >> Yeah. >> It was like Freddy versus Jason. Yeah.
So, I love it. I love being the one to introduce you to this like [ __ ] up [ __ ]
>> Ew. >> So, we'll do House of a Thousand Corpses. Our next case is not going to
be a survived one. It's a one that I remember reading about like early in my true crime fascination. Not in right in
the beginning, but it's one that I just remember like constantly coming up when I was reading. So, we won't tell you
about it yet. >> We'll give Let's do Yeah, let's do the teasing. >> Yeah, we'll tease We'll tease it out.
So, we'll see if anybody any of you true crime aficionados can snag which one it
is. >> If you guess, you win. >> Yeah, if you get You know what? If you guess it right
>> You win a >> We'll give you a sticker. >> Yeah, you get a sticker. >> Yeah, we'll get If you guess it right
>> You're going to want to >> you a Morbid sticker. So, we'll put out some teasers and we'll see if anybody
can get it. >> The first person to guess it right. >> Yeah, the first person to guess it
right. >> Yeah. >> Cuz if everybody just repeats the same one and then we're going to have like
400 stickers. >> realized that. >> So, the first person to get it right, we'll give a sticker to.
>> You get a sticker and you >> You get a sticker. Everybody gets a sticker. >> Look under your chair.
There's a sticker. >> There There's a sticker. Enjoy it. Imagine if that was part of
Oprah's like thing when she's like, "And you get it. Look under your chairs." And
they were like, "It's a sticker." And she was like, "It's a sticker." >> It's just Oprah's face.
>> Thanks, [ __ ] Oprah. Uh so, yeah. Oh, um so, make sure you guys rate and review and uh it really helps us out.
And you know, hit hit that subscribe button. >> Find us on Instagram. >> At Morbid Podcast.
>> Email us. >> morbidpodcast@gmail.com. We hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it [ __ ] weird.
>> You threw in the [ __ ] I like that. >> I felt like I wanted to make it aggressive.
>> be weird, be [ __ ] weird. >> weird, man. And don't sleep on the couch. >> And fresh air's for dead people.
>> And don't hitchhike. And don't hitchhike. And if you do hitchhike, don't fall asleep. Yeah, definitely
don't fall asleep. Mary Vincent, you the [ __ ] Mary Vincent. Mary Vincent. Mary
Vincent. Mary Vincent. Mary Vincent. Mary Vincent. Mary Vincent. Mary Vincent.

Today we are revisiting episode 27 with an incredible tale of survival! Mary Vincent survived something so horrifying that most of us couldn't even conjure it up in our nightmares. Her attacker, Lawrence Singleton, could have never imagined that Mary would walk away from where he left her to die in a canyon as a symbol of strength and resilience in the face of insurmountable odds. This is a story of survival, but also one of a justice system that is in desperate need of fixing.

RESOURCES

https://morbidology.com/left-for-dead-mary-vincent/ https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/A-victim-a-survivor-an-artist-1106335.php

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Listener Tale Theme Music licensed from https://www.purple-planet.com Main Theme: Matti Paalanen — Trick or Treat — Provided by Jamendo Ad Music: Title: Artist: BlueJay Studio — Spooky Waltz — Provided by Jamendo

Brief Summary

Mary Vincent survived a brutal attack by Lawrence Singleton, who cut off her arms, and later became an advocate for victims.

Key points

The Case of Mary Vincent. A harrowing tale of survival against unimaginable odds, featuring a young girl's resilience.
Samuel Little's Confession. The chilling revelation of a potential serial killer who confessed to 90 murders.
Mary's Incredible Survival. After being brutally attacked, 15-year-old Mary Vincent climbed a 30-ft cliff to escape.
The Shocking Courtroom Encounter. After testifying against her attacker, Mary faced a chilling threat from him.
Larry's Controversial Release. Larry received a mere 14-year sentence for his horrific crimes, serving only 8 years.
The Disturbing Aftermath. Mary struggled with anxiety and depression after her attack, living in fear of her attacker.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I can stop him from doing this to someone else.

Mary's determination to survive and protect others.

16:21WatchMay 18, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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