Manson Family Member Granted Parole But Could Remain in Prison if Governor Overturns Decision
Former Manson Family member Bruce Davis has been granted parole from the California Department of Corrections but may not actually go free. He has been in prison since 1972 for the first-degree murders of Gary Hinman and Donald "Shorty" Shea in 1969 and is serving a life sentence.
Davis was a member of the Manson family devoted to following Charles Manson. He helped kill Hinman and Shea but did not take part in the murders of Sharon Tate or Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Davis was granted parole in 2010, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed the board's decision and kept him incarcerated. Now he is eligible for, and has been granted, parole, but there is still a 120-day waiting period in which the governor can overturn the decision.
Current Governor Jerry Brown reversed the decision to grant Davis parole last year and may do so again this year.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"When considered as a whole, I find the evidence … shows why he currently poses a danger to society if released from prison," Governor Brown wrote in his decision.
Manson was originally sentenced to death for the murders that occurred on August 9, 1969 but was spared execution after California's Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972. He is now serving a life sentence at Corcoran State Prison and has repeatedly been denied parole. Even though he has been behind bars for several years, Manson still has a devoted following.
Last year a woman claimed that she was marrying Manson, though he denied even knowing her. The young woman, only 25, was so devoted that she carved an "X" into her forehead in order to match Manson's swastika.
"I"ll tell you straight up, Charlie and I are going to get married," the woman named Star told Rolling Stone. "This is what I was born for."
Manson, however, had a very different approach.
"That's a bunch of garbage," he said. "That's trash. We're just playing that for public consumption."
