By City News Service, Patch Poster | Mar 1, 2013
Gov. Jerry Brown Friday reversed a state panel’s parole recommendation for former Charles Manson follower Bruce Davis, finding he “poses a danger to society if released from prison.”
Followers of Charles Manson lived at Chatsworth’s Spahn Ranch.
In a six-page document, Brown wrote, “As our Supreme Court has acknowledged, in rare circumstances, a murder is so heinous that it provides evidence of current dangerousness by itself. This is such a case.”
The governor noted that Davis has “made efforts to improve himself while incarcerated” and commended him “for taking these positive steps,” but found they are “outweighed by negative factors that demonstrate he remains unsuitable for parole.”
Davis, now 70, was convicted of the two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and robbery in connection with the July 25, 1969, stabbing death of musician Gary Hinman in his Topanga Canyon home and the stabbing and beheading of Spahn ranch hand Donald “Shorty” Shea some time between Aug. 16 and Sept. 1, 1969. Shea was last seen alive Aug. 27, 1969.
“Davis played a central role in these murders. He was a part of the (Manson) Family’s discussions to rob and kill Mr. Hinman,” the governor wrote, noting that Davis “now admits that he pointed the gun at Mr. Hinman while Manson mutilated Mr. Hinman’s face.”
“... He was also a part of the family’s discussions to kill Mr. Shea. Davis and the others surrounded and viciously attacked Mr. Shea. Davis now states he sliced Mr. Shea from his armpit to his collarbone while his crime partners repeatedly stabbed and clubbed Mr. Shea. He later bragged about how Mr. Shea’s body had been dismembered and decapitated,” the governor wrote.
Davis had previously stated that he made a “token cut” to an already-dead Shea under pressure from Manson, according to the governor’s decision. ...”
So sad that no report of his death today. On the happy side, maybe he is suffering horrible pain.