Bruce Davis, Charles Manson's Right-Hand Man, Has Died In Prison At 83
Bruce Davis died on September 11 at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where he had been incarcerated since his 1972 conviction for first-degree murder. He was 83. The Solano County Coroner's Office confirmed his death Monday.
Davis was convicted of participating in the 1969 murders of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald "Shorty" Shea, two killings carried out by Charles Manson's cult that are less remembered than the Sharon Tate murders but equally brutal.
Davis was not involved in the Tate slayings. He told his own 2014 parole hearing: "I wanted to be Charlie's favorite guy."
He became one of the most unusual cases in California criminal history, a convicted murderer who was repeatedly found suitable for parole by the Board of Parole Hearings and repeatedly denied release anyway by three successive governors.
Arnold Schwarzenegger blocked his first parole grant in 2010, calling the murders "especially heinous." Jerry Brown reversed subsequent recommendations. Gavin Newsom blocked multiple more. Davis came before the parole board more than 30 times. He never left.
He became a born-again Christian during his imprisonment and expressed a desire to become a minister. Manson died in prison in 2017 at age 83. Davis outlived him by nine years before dying at the same age.
