Bruce Davis dies at 83 in prison after governors blocked 8 parole bids

California correctional authorities confirmed that Bruce Davis, a longtime follower of Charles Manson, died on September 11, 2026, at 11:03 p.m. inside the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. Mary Xjimenez, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, verified the 83-year-old inmate’s death based on documentation signed by institution nursing staff.

Davis spent more than five decades in continuous state custody under a life sentence. Incarcerated without ever securing formal release on parole, he died in a bed located in the medical division of the prison.

Convictions in 1972 for Gary Hinman and Donald Shea homicides

Judicial authorities convicted Davis in 1972 on two counts of first-degree murder involving musician Gary Hinman and Hollywood stuntman Donald Shea. Both crimes occurred near Spahn Ranch in Chatsworth, the commune headquarters where Manson established his followers, and Davis served the vast majority of his confinement at San Quentin State Prison.

The group targeted Hinman to seize his assets to fund a planned relocation from Los Angeles to the desert. When Hinman refused to cooperate, Davis held him at gunpoint while Charles Manson slashed the victim from the ear to the chin. Followers later attacked Shea after Manson declared him a police informant, leading Steve Grogan, Charles Watson, and Davis to take him to a secluded area and inflict fatal stab wounds.

Prosecutors and corrections staff repeatedly described Davis as occupying a senior lieutenant rank within the group. Davis eventually acknowledged his participation in cutting Shea, admitting in a 2014 parole hearing that he sought approval from Manson. Throughout his hearings, Davis maintained that he had no advance knowledge of the Benedict Canyon murders of actress Sharon Tate and four others until the following morning.

Gubernatorial vetoes repeatedly blocked parole board recommendations

Beginning in 2010, the Board of Parole Hearings found Davis suitable for conditional release eight separate times. Despite those administrative findings, successive California governors intervened to exercise their executive veto and prevent his return to society.

Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown, and Gavin Newsom repeatedly reversed the parole panel’s recommendations. In his 2021 veto, Newsom determined that Davis minimized his own culpability and lacked sufficient empathy for the victims. The governor stated that regardless of who delivered individual blows, participating in the conspiracy directly enabled torture and slaughter.

Parole commissioners halted review proceedings in 2024 after discovering that Davis took part in unapproved telephone interviews for a podcast covering serial killers. Hearing commissioner Julie Garland reprimanded him for attempting to write a memoir and pursue speaking arrangements based on his cult history.

Defense attorney Ananda Hart stated to the panel that Davis did not seek financial compensation or past glorification, but sought only to discuss his past mistakes. Davis earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees during his five decades in prison while maintaining a record free of disciplinary write-ups. Former defense counsel Michael Beckman also urged the state to grant release, calling Davis the most rehabilitated client he had ever represented.

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Authorities investigated unsolved deaths in London and Venice Beach

Prosecutor Stephen Kay previously characterized Davis as having the most dangerous propensity for violence among Manson’s inner circle. The prosecutor noted that Davis readily armed himself with weapons during commune operations.

Police investigators also examined potential connections between the Manson group and multiple unresolved deaths in California and overseas:

• The slaying of Joel Pugh, whose body was discovered with a severed throat and cut wrists at the Talgarth Hotel in London.
• The death of John Haught in Venice Beach, which local police originally classified as an accidental shooting during Russian roulette.

Pugh had been in a relationship with Manson follower Sandra Good, a connection that drew explicit hostility from Manson and cast suspicion on Davis due to his recorded stay in London. Davis was also present at the Venice residence when Haught died in November 1969, an event that drew continued scrutiny after investigators found no fingerprints on the firearm recovered from the scene.

Custody outcomes among former Manson cult members in California

Charles Manson died in prison in 2017 while serving life terms in the California penal system. California continued to enforce strict custody conditions on his surviving associates, though Leslie Van Houten secured parole in 2023 after state appellate judges overturned the governor’s veto against her release.

Gavin Newsom exercised his executive veto again in 2025 to block a parole recommendation for Patricia Krenwinkel. The decision reaffirmed California’s ongoing policy of maintaining life incarceration for participants in the group’s historic homicides.