Lawrence Singleton (July 28, 1927 - December 28, 2001) was an American criminal. He first gained notoriety in the late 1970s when he was arrested and convicted of raping and mutilating 15 year old Mary Vincent of Las Vegas. He picked her up hitchhiking in Berkeley, California in 1978, raped her, and then hacked off her arms with an axe, dumping her in a remote ditch outside of Modesto, California. She survived to testify against him at his trial. Along with the particularly gruesome and callous aspects of the crime, the case became even more notorious after Singleton was paroled after serving only eight years in prison. The outrage at this sentence resulted in legislation which prevents the early release of offenders who have committed a crime in which torture is used (Harrower, 1998). He returned to his native Florida, where he was later convicted of murdering a prostitute in 1997. He died in prison of cancer.
