Singleton’s New Home Revealed, May Change

Parole authorities on Friday found a home, at least temporarily, for mutilation-rapist Lawrence Singleton. But their hope of a quiet ending to the case was dashed when police revealed that home to be suburban El Cerrito.

Department of Corrections spokesman Robert Gore announced at 3:30 on Friday afternoon that Singleton had been placed in an apartment somewhere between Bakersfield and the Oregon border.

But within 15 minutes, Sheriff Richard K. Rainey of Contra Costa County told inquiring reporters of the location--despite requests from state parole authorities not to do so.

“It’s something of utmost interest to the public and it is inappropriate for me to withhold that information from the people of the county,” Rainey said.

Will Live Alone

Gore said the former merchant seaman has no job, but is being supported with money from his family and will be living alone.

Gore, informed of Rainey’s disclosure, said the department has alternative locations, adding: “With a high-profile case like this, you never do anything without contingencies. If one location is disclosed, we’ll move him somewhere else.”

Rainey and other local officials said state parole authorities told them that the El Cerrito placement was to be “temporary,” though it might have turned into a permanent one if the locale had not been announced.

“He shouldn’t be out of custody, that’s my position,” the sheriff said.

Singleton was paroled April 25 from the state prison at San Luis Obispo after serving eight years for raping and hacking off the forearms of Mary Vincent, a 15-year-old runaway, in 1978.

In El Cerrito, a town of 23,000, authorities already had joined a suit against the Department of Corrections over its plan to place Singleton somewhere in Contra Costa County.

Similar Case Dismissed

The suit, brought by Contra Costa County, is pending before the state Supreme Court. An almost identical case brought by San Francisco was thrown out by the high court on Thursday.

Police in El Cerrito were told of Singleton’s expected arrival on Friday. “We’ll see that no one is harmed--not Mr. Singleton or anyone else,” said Lt. Lee Blevins of the El Cerrito police.

County Supervisor Tom Powers, whose district includes El Cerrito, said he has never seen a topic that has been “this electrifying” for the local population. “With a small police force and small town, he’s going to stick out. This is a bad man and people are extremely mad,” Powers said.

Briefly on Friday, Gore’s announcement, coupled with the state Supreme Court’s refusal Thursday to stop parole authorities from placing Singleton, seemed to put an end to the unprecedented drama.

However, with the latest location known, the department may be forced once again to escort Singleton from hotel to hotel in search of a place in which they can keep his arrival secret.

The odyssey began early last month when law officers in the Sacramento Delta town of Antioch were told that Singleton would be released there after his parole. Once local politicians were informed, they told reporters.

So intense was the outcry there that state authorities decided against placing him in Antioch, another Contra Costa County town, and looked out of state. But after Florida and Nevada refused to accept Singleton, authorities once again turned to Northern California, particularly Contra Costa County, where Singleton had lived off and on before his crime.

The terms of Singleton’s parole call for him to be under surveillance by state parole authorities as well as local police. Also, he is to remain on parole for a year and must remain indoors between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., submit to random searches and drug and alcohol tests and undergo counseling.