Feb. 17, 2025
The most unsettling true-crime cases …
Lawrence Bernard Singleton
Trigger warning: Mention of violence and sexual assault.
When asked about the most unsettling true-crime cases, most people tend to think of the more infamous ones like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and Ed Gein. While these are each disturbing in their own right, they’re unmatched in comparison to the case of Lawrence Bernard Singleton. Singleton was an American criminal who, in 1978, picked up 15-year-old hitchhiker, Mary Vincent from a freeway in Modesto, California. Once inside his van, Mary introduced herself, and the two began engaging in small talk before she eventually asked Singleton if it’d be alright if she “dozed off” as he continued to drive, to which he agreed.
Some time later, Mary awoke to see that Singleton pulled off the main highway and parked the van on the side of a desolate stretch of road surrounded by trees and woods. She confronted him about this, and he said that it was because he needed to relieve himself. At this point, Mary had a bad feeling about Singleton and knew she had
to escape, so she began thinking of a plan to get away. Just then, she looked down and noticed that her shoe was untied. At that moment, Mary decided that she’d get out and tie her shoe once Singleton got out of the van. So, when he stepped out, Mary did just that. … However, as she bent down, Singleton hit her in the back of the head with a small sledgehammer, causing her to lose consciousness. After coming to, she found herself tied up and pleading to be set free as Singleton repeatedly assaulted her inside the van.
Following the assault, Singleton exited the vehicle with Mary, who was still tied up, and led her to the back of the van before walking back to retrieve a hatchet he’d had with him. Quickly re-emerging behind Mary, he then came back, cut the rope restraining her, and grabbed her arm. Singleton raised the hatchet and, in one swift motion, brought it down hard on Mary’s left arm, severing it completely from her body. He then repeated the process with her right arm before throwing her body down a 30-foot culvert nearby and fleeing the scene. Now free, Mary forced herself to climb back up the culvert and was eventually able to flag down a passing vehicle after walking along the interstate for nearly three miles. The driver was then able to get to a phone and call 911.
Mary was transported by helicopter to the hospital where she was treated for severe blood loss and blood toxicity. Following this, she received two prosthetic arms, and from her hospital bed, began working tirelessly with police to help identify and locate Singleton. A composite sketch was released based on the description Mary gave to police, and ten days later, Singleton was identified and arrested at his home.
The rest of Mary’s heroic story told in great detail can be found in season 3, episode 1 of the television series I Survived, available free on Tubi, SlingTV and Pluto TV.