American Notes CALIFORNIA

The crime was so stunningly brutal that the years have done little to calm public outrage. Lawrence Singleton, 59, was convicted in 1979 of kidnaping and raping a 15-year-old hitchhiker, then chopping off her forearms with an ax. He left her to die in a culvert beside a rural Northern California road. But the girl survived the attack, managed to seek out assistance and later helped convict her tormentor. When Singleton was paroled two weeks ago, after serving nearly eight years of a 14-year, four-month sentence, local officials across the state took court action to ensure that he would not settle in their communities.

After corrections officials assigned Singleton to parole in Antioch (pop. 48,000), some 40 miles northeast of San Francisco, nearly 10,000 town residents signed a petition opposing his presence. Fearing vigilante violence, county officials got a temporary court order to block the plan. San Francisco County quickly followed suit, citing similar public safety concerns. Nearby San Mateo County also raised objections to having Singleton living within its borders. At week's end Singleton's ex-wife Mary Collins stated that she was not afraid of him and offered to take him into her home in Lake County, north of San Francisco. But noting the potential for vigilante revenge, Collins said that if Singleton moves in, the two of them would have to find a new place to live.