Update:The murder trial of Lawrence Singleton in FL,man who chopped off forearms of 15 y.o.girl in 1978
Joe1orbit
Hello,
Here is an update on good old Larry Singleton, the fellow who kidnapped,
raped, chopped off the forearms, and left a 15 year old girl to die by the side
of the road, way back in 1978. He served 8 1/2 years in prison for that attack,
which the 15 year old victim, Mary Vincent, did survive, although she lost both
of her forearms, courtey of Larry's ax.
Last year, Larry, at the age of 70, killed a 31 year old female prostitute
who was inside of his home. He is currently standing trial for this murder, and
trying to avoid a death penalty sentence. Yesterday, Larry took the witness
stand and testified on behalf of himself. He told the jury that he accidently
stabbed Roxanne 7 times, killing her, during a struggle over a knife. I think
Larry did VERY well on the witness stand, although the odds of you pathetic
humans accepting or appreciating the fact that Larry MIGHT indeed have been
acting in self-defense, are virtually nill.
We learn that both Larry and Roxanne were totally nude as the incident
unfolded. Larry says that Roxanne initiated the conflict by first grabbing at
his wallet, then picking up a knife that Larry owned, and that he had laying on
a living room table. "I was afraid for my life", declared Larry on the witness
stand yesterday. Roxanne STATED that she would 'chop off his head", if Larry
did not give her more money than the $20 that they had agreed upon, for the
oral sex that they had. Larry tried to take the knife away, a struggle ensued,
and Roxanne was stabbed 7 times. As she lay dying on the sofa, Larry says that
she asked him to hold her tight. They were embracing as Roxanne did die. That's
a pretty tender story, and I tend to believe it. If it is totally true, then
Roxanne absolutely INITIATED this incident, and Larry should be found Not
Guilty of the murder, IMO.
After "accidently" stabbing Roxanne 7 times, Larry says that he: "I sat there
and cried and rubbed her face and tried to talk to her". Again, this is good
testimony that hopefully will result in the jury at the very least not
sentencing Larry to be legally murdered, via the DP. It is important to note
that Roxanne was a LARGE woman, 6 feet tall and 171 pounds, who was the
physical equal of 70 year old Larry. I certainly hope the jury takes that fact
into account as well.
The fact that Larry was ALL ALONE in the house with Roxanne allows him to
tell his side of the story without any risk of other witnesses contradicting
the facts, since there are NO other eye or earwitnesses, which is a good thing
for him. But of course the prosecution is still allowed to present OPINIONS
like "Roxanne was a professional prostitute and never violent". There is NO WAY
that the policeman who testified to this in court could KNOW whether Roxanne
was violent or not. But still, this type of PREJUDICIAL testimony is allowed to
be presented to the jury.
This trial is just about over, and closing arguments are expected to be made
today. I don't think there's much of any hope for an acquittal, but it can't
hurt to hope that the pathetic jury will somehow find the rationality to not
impose a death penalty upon Larry.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of yesterday's Associated Press news wire:
Slay suspect testifies prostitute's stabbing accidental
February 19, 1998
By Lisa Holewa, Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lawrence Singleton testified Thursday that he struggled with
a prostitute for control of a knife when she was accidentally stabbed seven
times.
As Roxanne Hayes lay dying on his sofa, "She put both her arms around me and
asked me to hold her. So I held her tight. We were embracing,'' he said.
Both were nude at the time.
The 70-year-old Singleton, who is on trial for murder in the slaying, said he
was also depressed, drunk and over-medicated. He said he didn't realize Hayes,
31, was mortally wounded.
Singleton, a retired merchant seaman, made headlines in 1978 in California when
he raped a teen-ager and chopped off her forearms, leaving her for dead. He was
paroled in 1987 and several towns refused to take him in. He served his parole
on prison grounds and later moved to his home state of Florida.
He had been released from a psychiatric hospital for a suicide attempt nine
days before Hayes was killed.
Singleton said the 30-second struggle began when Hayes tried to grab his wallet
out of his hand. He said she picked up a knife he kept on the living room
table.
"I intended to take the knife away from her as fast as I could,'' he said.
"Probably each time I pulled her, the knife was going in.''
Hayes was stabbed six times in the breast and stomach and once in the face.
Singleton testified he meant to call 911, but picked up the remote control
instead and threw it down.
"I sat there and cried and rubbed her face and tried to talk to her,'' he told
jurors.
Asked by his attorney if Hayes responded, Singleton replied: "Not at all. She
was dead.''
Singleton said he had taken several doses of a medication to control
manic-depression, followed by an over-the-counter cold medication and
prescription sleeping drugs. Then he said he started drinking cheap wine.
At some point, he said, he decided to pick up Hayes, a prostitute and mother of
three whom he had met several months earlier. He brought her home and paid her
$20 for oral sex.
Police found the body after a house painter walked in and saw Singleton
standing over a woman, his hands clutching her throat as she weakly cried for
help.
To spare him the death penalty, Singleton's lawyers are trying to portray the
slaying as an accident.
Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday. Closing arguments were scheduled to
begin Friday.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 2/20/98 online edition of The Tampa
Tribune newspaper:
`I was afraid for my life'
By LADALE LLOYD of The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - Lawrence Singleton takes the stand in his own defense. He is the last
witness in his first-degree murder trial.
As Roxanne Hayes sat weak and bleeding after a violent struggle with Lawrence
Singleton, he said she put her arms on his shoulders and asked him to hold her.
``I held her tight,'' Singleton said of an oddly tender moment. ``We were
embracing.''
The 70-year-old former merchant mariner was lucid and at times articulate as he
recounted his version of how Hayes was fatally stabbed at his Orient Park home
Feb. 19, 1997.
Singleton said Hayes, a 31- year-old prostitute, was upset and wanted more
money from him for her services. She grabbed his wallet and a struggle ensued.
She then grabbed a knife off his living room table and threatened to chop off
his head.
``I was afraid for my own life, and I was trying to control the knife,''
Singleton said. ``I wasn't aware the knife was going in and out [of Hayes] . I
was trying to get it down.''
Hayes was holding the knife in her right hand as Singleton held her hand, he
said. She was stabbed by their combined force.
She kneed Singleton in the groin and fell back on the couch, and he fell on top
of her, causing the knife to plunge into her.
``You and her are combining rather forcefully to put the knife into her,''
prosecutor Michelle Peden said, mocking the story as implausible.
Hayes' chest and abdomen were riddled with six stab wounds. Her left cheek had
a 2- inch-deep gash.
Singleton testified for most of the day Thursday. The testimony came as his
nine-day trial wound to an end. Jurors will begin deliberating after lawyers
make final arguments this morning. He faces the death penalty if convicted of
first-degree murder.
Singleton's attorneys are trying to save him from the electric chair by using
an intoxication defense. They say he was drunk and overmedicated when he killed
Hayes in an emotional outburst, not with the premeditation required for
first-degree murder.
Singleton is notorious for the 1978 rape and mutilation of a California
hitchhiker, whose forearms were cut off. He was released from prison after
serving eight years of a 14-year sentence.
Singleton frequently used hand gestures to demonstrate how Hayes was killed. He
occasionally stammered during cross- examination, at times telling the
prosecutor she was confusing him.
He said the struggle between the 6-foot, 171-pound woman and 5-foot, 11-inch,
195- pound man lasted 30 seconds. Neither he nor Hayes muttered a sound until
he stuck his finger in her mouth to try to retrieve his money. He said he
screamed when she bit him.
He also said he didn't realize how serious her injuries were until she put her
arms across his shoulders and he saw blood.
``I immediately thought of calling 911 but I didn't have the ability,''
Singleton said. ``I picked up the [television] remote control [thinking it was
the telephone] . I told her we had to get to the hospital.''
He said he helped her walk as far as the dining room when she collapsed and
died.
``I fell down beside her and I was crying,'' Singleton said.
But a deputy who arrived at the scene testified Singleton told him everything
was all right.
``That was the last thing that I wanted to do was explain having a dead woman
on my floor,'' Singleton said of the reason he tried to get rid of the deputy.
Events leading to that fatal day began in December 1996 when Hayes approached
Singleton near Hillsborough Avenue and 50th Street. She worked that end of
Hillsborough as a prostitute.
He said he took her back to his house for oral sex. He gave her his telephone
number, and three weeks later she called back to ask if he would like her
services again.
It was their third meeting when she was killed. He said she became surprisingly
belligerent and demanded more money because she said the price of her cocaine
had increased.
``She was a lovely person, nice to talk to. I never seen her in a mood like
that,'' Singleton said.
But a Hillsborough sheriff's vice detective who had arrested Hayes numerous
times testified Thursday that she was known for not being violent with her
customers.
``She was absolutely passive, nonviolent,'' sheriff's Corporal Donald K.
Bowling said of Hayes. ``She was a professional prostitute as part of her
business. I've never known her as a violent person.''
Ladale Lloyd covers criminal courts.
George Byrd
Speaking of "Update:The murder trial of Lawrence Singleton in FL,man
who chopped off forearms of 15 y.o.girl in 1978"
in <alt.true-crime> on 20 Feb 1998 15:56:42 GMT,
<joe1...@aol.com (Joe1orbit)> said:
[ snip ]
> The following appears courtesy of yesterday's Associated Press news wire:
>Slay suspect testifies prostitute's stabbing accidental
>February 19, 1998
>By Lisa Holewa, Associated Press
>TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lawrence Singleton testified Thursday that he struggled
[ snip ]
>Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday. Closing arguments were scheduled to
>begin Friday.
[ snip ]
ABC radio news reported today, 2/20/98 at about 2 p.m. PDT, that the
jury convicted Singleton of murder.
--
Opinions above are NOT those of APAN, Inc.and are NOT legal advice.
"I am not arguing with you -- I am telling you."
<< J. McN. Whistler, _The_Gentle_Art_of_Making_Enemies_ >>
Joe1orbit
Hello,
Here's a quick update on the Larry Singleton trial in Florida. After just
four hours of deliberations, a jury has found 70 year old Larry to be guilty of
first degree murder in the stabbing death of a 31 year old female prostitute.
Larry showed no emotion as the verdict was read.
The sentencing phase of this trial begins Monday, and Mary Vincent, who was
15 years old when she was raped & had both her forearms chopped off by Larry,
back in 1978, will be allowed to testify during the penalty phase, in which the
jury will decide whether to sanction the legal MURDER of larry. Larry does
face the possibility of receiving a death penalty sentence, and it is
absolutely OUTRAGEOUS that Mary will be allowed to testify and unfairly
PREJUDICE the jury and the judge, with regard to the issue of whether Larry's
life will be oreserved, or whether he will be MURDERED, by your pathetically
irrational society.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of today's Associated Press news wire:
Singleton Found Guilty of Murder
By LISA HOLEWA
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Lawrence Singleton was found guilty of first-degree murder
Friday for stabbing a prostitute in his home a decade after his controversial
parole in the mutilation-rape of a 15-year-old California girl.
Singleton could face the death penalty for killing Roxanne Hayes, a 31-year-old
mother of three, in his living room on Feb. 19, 1997.
Singleton, 70, showed no reaction when the verdict was read less than four
hours after jurors began deliberating.
The children and longtime boyfriend of the victim sat in the second row of the
courtroom. Her boyfriend, Clifton Tyson, breathed heavily.
Mary Vincent, the California hitchhiker whom Singleton was convicted of
mutilating, planned to testify during the sentencing phase, which was to start
Monday.
Earlier Friday, prosecutor Jay Pruner wrapped up arguments by mocking
Singleton's testimony that he and Ms. Hayes were struggling for a knife when
she somehow stabbed herself.
``If you are to believe Lawrence Singleton, this lunatic Roxanne Hayes ...
became enraged and threatened to decapitate him,'' Pruner said in his closing
arguments.
Singleton testified Thursday that he and Ms. Hayes were fighting for control of
a knife when it plunged seven times into her face, chest and stomach. Pruner
said Singleton's testimony that Ms. Hayes remained silent each of the times the
knife entered her body is not credible.
``If you are to look for credible evidence, don't look at the defense's
testimony,'' Pruner said.
At the start of its presentation, the defense said the wounds were inflicted
during a ``spontaneous eruption of emotion'' and that Singleton never meant to
kill Ms. Hayes.
``We have never attempted ... for even one moment to say that Larry Singleton
was not responsible for what happened to Roxanne Hayes and I'm not going to
insult your intelligence by doing that now,'' defense attorney Jill Menadier
said. ``(But) Lawrence Singleton never at any time made a decision to kill
Roxanne Hayes.''
Singleton told jurors he was depressed, drunk and over-medicated when he
decided to pick up Ms. Hayes, a prostitute whom he had met several months
earlier.
The retired merchant seaman was convicted of raping Ms. Vincent, chopping off
her arms with an ax and leaving her for dead on the side of a road in 1978. She
survived to testify against him.
When he was released on parole in 1987, several California towns refused to
take him in amid police and prosecutors' predictions he would try to kill
again.
He returned to his native Tampa.
CBofGDALE
You don't know much about this dirt-bag's previous crimes do you Joe?
Mark Denman
CBofGDALE wrote:
>
> You don't know much about this dirt-bag's previous crimes do you Joe?
No - Joe figures that the 15 yr old girl consented to sex with Singleton
and also consented to having her arms chopped off, but our narrow minded
society refused to believe that a 15 yr old girl (sorry, that should
read SLAVE) has the ability or desire to give consent to be brutally
raped and maimed.
--
Mark Denman ~stranger in a strange land~
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Joe1orbit
cbof...@aol.com (CBofGDALE) Wrote:
>You don't know much about this dirt-bag's previous crimes do >you Joe?
Hello,
You must be joking. I am more knowledgable about true crime than 99.999999%
of all humans. Of course I know all of the details of Larry Singleton's
criminal history. Just read the subject header.
I stand behind all of the comments I make about this case, knowing full well
exactly what Larry's criminal history is.
Take care, JOE
Joe1orbit
CBofGDALE wrote:
>> You don't know much about this dirt-bag's previous crimes do >>you Joe?
Mark Denman <mde...@pacbell.net> Wrote:
>No - Joe figures that the 15 yr old girl consented to sex with Singleton
>and also consented to having her arms chopped off, but our narrow minded
>society refused to believe that a 15 yr old girl (sorry, that should
>read SLAVE) has the ability or desire to give consent to be brutally
>raped and maimed.
Hello Mark,
Do not try to guess what I feel or believe. Virtually nothing you have said
above represents ANY aspect of my philosophy or opinions, with regard to the
above case.
I do respect Larry Singleton's right to have acted as his True Reality
dictated, and I certainly do not pass any negative judgement upon his rape and
mutilation of 15 year old Mary Vincent.
Other than that, nothing you have said above represents my viewpoint on this
case. The 15 year old girl did not consent to sex. She did not consent to
having her arms chopped off. That has no bearing upon Larry's True Reality
right to have claimed violent vengeance as he, and he alone, deemed
appropriate.
Take care, JOE