In 1987, the small community of Rodeo, California, was at a boiling point. A 59-year-old man sat trembling inside a small trailer, protected by a wall of police officers who were hurriedly strapping him into a bulletproof vest. Outside, a mob of 500 people—parents, neighbors, and strangers—screamed for his blood.
The man was Lawrence Singleton, and the government was desperately trying to find a single square inch of American soil where he could live in peace. They failed. In town after town, the message was the same: Not here. Not ever.
To understand why "mostly peaceful folks" were ready to lynch an elderly man, you have to go back to a deserted stretch of Interstate 5 in 1978.
The Crime That Broke a Nation’s Heart
On September 29, 1978, a 15-year-old runaway named Mary Vincent was hitchhiking near Berkeley, California. She accepted a ride from Lawrence Singleton, then a 50-year-old merchant seaman. What followed was a crime of such singular depravity that it fundamentally changed California law.
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The Assault: Singleton drove Mary to a secluded canyon, where he beat her unconscious with a sledgehammer and spent the night raping and torturing her.
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The Mutilation: The next morning, when Mary pleaded for her life, Singleton told her, "You want to be set free? I'll set you free." He took a hatchet and chopped off both of her forearms at the elbows.
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The Abandonment: Believing she would bleed to death, he threw her naked body off a 30-foot cliff into a concrete culvert.
The Impossible Survival
Mary Vincent did not die. In a feat of superhuman willpower, she packed her bloody stumps with mud to slow the bleeding and crawled back up the cliff. She walked nearly four miles, holding her severed limbs upright to prevent herself from bleeding out, until she reached the road.
Six months later, wearing prosthetic arms, she walked into a courtroom, pointed a silver hook at Singleton, and identified him as her attacker.
Why Was Rodeo So Angry?
The source of the 1987 mob's fury wasn't just the crime—it was the sentence.
In 1979, the maximum sentence allowed under California law for Singleton’s crimes was only 14 years. Because of "good behavior" credits for working in a prison classroom, Singleton was released on parole after serving just eight years.
The Community Response
When the government tried to resettle Singleton in Rodeo, the community viewed it as a death sentence for their own children.
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The Protest: 500 residents surrounded the apartment where he was being held.
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The Bulletproof Vest: Police had to escort him out in a vest because of credible threats that snipers were waiting for him.
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The Banishment: Wealthy residents actually offered to pay for a one-way flight to any country on earth, provided he never returned to North America.
Eventually, the pressure was so great that Singleton had to live in a trailer on the grounds of San Quentin State Prison because no civilian community would allow him within their borders.
A Recurring Nightmare
The people of Rodeo were right to be afraid. After his parole ended, Singleton moved to Florida. In 1997—nearly 20 years after his attack on Mary—he murdered a mother of three named Roxanne Hayes, stabbing her multiple times in his home.
Mary Vincent, now an adult, traveled to Florida to testify against him once more. This time, there was no leniency. Singleton was sentenced to death, though he eventually died of cancer in prison in 2001.
The Legacy: The Singleton Bill
The outrage over Singleton’s early release led to the passage of the "Singleton Bill" in California. The law now mandates much harsher sentences (25 years to life) for crimes involving torture or aggravated mayhem, ensuring that a "Mad Chopper" can never again be released after only eight years.
Do you believe that some crimes are so heinous that a person should lose their right to live in a community forever, regardless of their time served?
🔗 Sources & Further Reading:
▪️ Wikipedia: The Criminal History of Lawrence Singleton
▪️ People Magazine: How Mary Vincent Survived Lawrence Singleton's Attack
▪️ SFGate: The Death of a Despised Rapist - Lawrence Singleton
▪️ Time Magazine Archive: A Recurring Nightmare (The Murder of Roxanne Hayes)
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