Mary McGriff (née Vincent; born 1963) is an artist and victims' advocate.[1] She became known to the public after surviving a violent attack in which her forearms were severed with an axe while hitchhiking in 1978.[2] McGriff has focused her adult life on her art,[3] and she generally avoids the public spotlight.
Vincent is one of seven children and lived with her parents in Las Vegas. Her father worked as a mechanic and married her mother, a blackjack dealer, while serving in the military.[2] Vincent's parents were going through a messy divorce, which caused her to run away from their home in Las Vegas. After a brief period living on the streets and inside unlocked cars, in September 1978 Vincent hitchhiked to her grandfather's home in Berkeley, California.
After arriving in Berkeley, California and staying with her grandfather, Vincent became homesick and decided to hitchhike back to the Los Angeles area. While traveling, Vincent grew tired and started flagging drivers down for a ride, eventually coming upon Lawrence Singleton, who let her into his vehicle. During the ride, Vincent grew suspicious of Singleton when he began purposely driving the wrong way. She attempted to escape, but Singleton knocked her unconscious with a sledgehammer before she could get away. When she regained consciousness, Singleton tied her up and violently raped her, then proceeded to chop both of her arms off at the forearm with a hatchet. He then threw her down a cliff, stuffed her in a cement cylinder, and drove off, leaving her for dead.[4]
Vincent survived the fall and climbed back up the cliff despite her injuries. She proceeded to dip the stumps of her forearms in mud and hold them up to slow the bleeding. She then attempted to flag down drivers for help. After trudging along Interstate 5 for nearly three miles, she got the attention of a couple who helped her get medical attention.[5]
In the hospital, Vincent immediately worked with police to help identify and find her attacker, insisting on postponing sleep to finish creating a composite sketch for investigators. She also testified in Singleton's trial, leading to his ultimate conviction.[6] Vincent won a civil judgment against her attacker and was awarded $2.56 million, but did not receive the payment due to her attacker's unemployment and inability to pay.[7] Also, according to Vincent, when she walked by Singleton in the courtroom, he surreptitiously told her that he promised to "finish her off" when he was released from prison.[8]
Singleton was freed from prison in 1987 after serving eight years of his fourteen-year sentence, despite massive public protests against his release. He moved back to Florida, where in 1997, he murdered a mother of three in Sulphur Springs, Florida. Vincent testified against Singleton during his subsequent murder trial in 1998, and he was sentenced to death; before he could be executed, Singleton died on death row in 2001 from cancer.
Vincent began using prosthetic arms within two weeks after the attack. As someone who likes to "tinker", Vincent has used spare parts from broken-down electronics to modify her prosthetics into custom designs. Among the changes in her life after the attack, she began a career in art. Vincent attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as an adult. She married and subsequently divorced a man named Tom and has two sons.[9] She currently lives in Vaughn, Washington, with her husband Tony McGriff.[10]
After her attacker was released from prison and attacked and murdered a woman, Vincent volunteered to testify against him again at his trial. She has spoken openly about finding healing by becoming a victims' advocate in support of victims' rights and delivering motivational speeches.[11]
Vincent works with chalk pastels to create "powerfully upbeat women" like "female action figures". She also draws family and individual portraits on commission. Her customized prosthetics are also self-creations, including a custom prosthetic for bowling.