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The Mad Chopper

Page 19

by Fred Rosen


  Epilogue

  There’s an old saying: you can’t keep a good man down. The same might be said for the opposite of the breed.

  Three days after Singleton’s death sentence, he was back in the news. It seemed that Larry, ever the avuncular sort, had made a good friend in prison: Willy Sexton, the son of Eddie Lee Sexton.

  The elder Sexton, the subject of Lowell Cauffiel’s recent book House of Secrets, was an Ohio man accused of incest and charged with ordering a family killing. Sexton listed Singleton as a witness for his July 13 trial.

  Eddie Lee Sexton had previously been convicted in 1994 of ordering his son, Willie, to strangle another family member. An appeals court later overturned Eddie Lee’s conviction and death sentence, maintaining that the jury should not have heard specific testimony regarding the bizarre life of the Sexton family.

  Willie Sexton had only recently made a deal with prosecutors. He would plead guilty to second-degree murder and testify against his father.

  Singleton and Willie had gotten tight while spending time together in the Hillsborough County Jail. “We believe that [Singleton] has information that will support our position that Eddie Sexton is not guilty of first-degree murder,” said Sexton’s attorney, Rick Terrana. Singleton “developed a close relationship with Willie in jail,” Terrana continued. Terrana had talked extensively with Singleton but would not disclose what he had to say.

  So with it all, Lawrence Singleton may have found a get-out-of-jail card—albeit a limited one—and another shot at the spotlight.

  Image Gallery

  A dissipated Lawrence Singleton at the time of his arrest for the murder of Roxie Hayes. Police noted that there was blood on his chest.

  Courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

  Roxanne “Roxie” Hayes, career prostitute, 1996.

  Courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

  The Tampa house where Singleton stabbed Roxie to death.

  Author’s collection

  The driveway of his Tampa home where singleton tried to commit suicide just prior to his brutal murder of Roxie Hayes.

  Author’s collection

  Mary Vincent, 15, just before her forearms were hacked off by Singleton in 1977.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  Police drawing of Singleton’s Bay area home, created from description given by Mary Vincent under hypnosis.

  Courtesy of Richard Breshears

  Amazingly accurate police sketch of Mary Vincent’s attacker as described by Vincent.

  Courtesy of Richard Breshears

  The forensic x-rays of both parts of Mary Vincent’s severed arm. The bone breaks matched almost exactly.

  Author’s collection

  Aerial shot of the barren area and the culvert where Singleton left Vincent for dead.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  The culvert where Singleton stuffed Mary Vincent after he cut off his forearms.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  The coast in the San Francisco Bay Area where Vincent’s severed forearm was found.

  Vincent’s severed hand and forearm as found by a fisherman.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  The air strip where Todd Meadows drove Mary Vincent to call the police after her vicious attack.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  Lawrence Singleton’s mug shot, taken at the time of his arrest for the attach on Vincent.

  Courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

  Vincent’s family on their way to visit her during her recuperation from the assault.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  Singleton arrived under heavy security for his arraignment in 1978.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  Detective Richard Breshears (left) helping to convey evidence confiscated in Singleton’s home.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  Singleton on his way to trial in San Diego for his vicious assault on Mary Vincent.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  Mary Vincent holds up her newly fitted prosthetic arms in triumph.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  Lawrence Singleton, 1986, after his release.

  Courtesy of The Modesto Bee

  The living room of Singleton’s Tampa home where Police found the dead body of Roxie Hayes. Investigators speculated that the rope would have been used to drag the body out of the house.

  Courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

  The autopsy revealed the deep wounds on Hayes’s fingers from trying to protect herself from Singleton’s deadly knife attach.

  Courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

  Mug shots of Roxie Hayes for various counts of prostitution from 1986–1995.

  Courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals connected to this story.

  Copyright © 1999 by Fred Rosen

  Cover design by Gabriela Sahagun

  ISBN: 978-1-5040-2270-5

  This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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