Manson family member Bruce Davis found eligible for parole

[FLPanhandle]

Source: LA Times

Bruce Davis, an associate of Charles Manson who was convicted in two of the nine killings tied to the cult, was found Thursday to be eligible for parole, corrections officials said.

The finding is now subject to a 120-day review and could still be blocked by Gov. Jerry Brown, according to a statement released by the state corrections department. Sitting governors have stopped three previous attempts to grant parole to Davis, 72. In blocking Davis' release in 2013 and 2014, Brown said he is "still dodging responsibility" for his role in the Manson family's gruesome crimes in 1969.

Though he wasn't involved in the Tate-LaBianca killings, Davis was convicted in 1972 for the murders of Gary Hinman, an aspiring musician, and Donald "Shorty" Shea, a stuntman and employee at the Chatsworth ranch where Manson and his followers lived. Hinman's body was found in Davis' home, with the words "political piggy" drawn in blood on a nearby wall.

In the 40 years he has spent in prison, Davis has married, fathered a child and earned a doctoral degree in religion.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-manson-bruce-davis-20150827-story.html

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IMHO, life in prison should really mean life in prison.

[ripcord]

1. I don't know if life in prison should always mean life in prison

But in this case it should, I was in LA through the Manson family killings and they terrified so many people. The killings were so strange and so random that no one knew what was going to happen next.

[NV Whino]

2. I was actually out at the Chatsworth ranch two weeks before the murders happened

Met Shorty and the old man who ran the ranch. My friend, who was looking to buy a horse, took a ride into the canyon and saw a bunch of "hippies" camped there. Guess who that was.

The atmosphere in that place, at that time, was so thick you could cut it with a knife. And this was before any of the murders. Once my friend returned from her ride, we hightailed it out of there as fast as we could. Bad ju ju abounded.

[C Moon]

4. Weird! Thanks for sharing that. Creepy stuff.

[NV Whino]

5. It was creepy indeed.

I've never been in a situation like that before or since. Overtly, nothing seemed out of place. But man, our skin crawled with the overall feeling. The experience is forever etched in my memory.

Also, I learned much later (when Helter Skelter came out) that Manson used to hang out at a small ranch where we would stop to water our horses after coming down from a ride on the fire trails. A friend of our group had owned the ranch, but sold it to The Iron Butterfly. They remained amenable to us watering the horses, so we did. Never saw any evidence of Manson there, though. Still, the thought that he may have been there sent shivers down our collective spines.

Close encounters of the creepy kind.

[PasadenaTrudy]

6. My sister

did some time for drugs back in the late '60s, early '70s. She was in a cell next to Squeeky once

[NV Whino]

7. Maybe we should play 6 degrees of Charles Manson.

[ZombieHorde]

3. I hope he's released.

45 years of punishment is enough.

[EL34x4]

8. At 72, I don't see where he's a threat to society.

I do question what he's going to do. Get a job at Walmart? After nearly a half century in prison, he's thoroughly institutionalized.

[ZombieHorde]

13. Getting him a small apartment and on SNAP would be cheaper than keeping him in prison.

Prison is expensive. If he's no longer a threat, then the tax payers would be better off just paying for him to live his last few years in an apartment than in prison.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. Agreed

It's ridiculous.

Beausoleil should also be released. Probably Van Houten, too. Krenwinkle and especially Watson should stay in prison. Obviously, Manson should never be released.

It's ridiculous that people like Davis and Beausoleil are treated differently from other offenders simply because of their connection to Manson. They should have the same eligibility as other offenders with the same records.

[yardwork]

11. He murdered two people.

[ZombieHorde]

12. Yeah, and that's a fucked up thing to do, but he's in his 70's now.

I really doubt he's a threat, and I only support prison as a method of removing threats. I don't support prisons being used as punishment, even though that seems to be their main usage in our culture. I don't like the idea of the state using strong, physical punishment against people. Fines don't bother me, but imprisonment does bother me. Some people are extremely dangerous, and we need to protect ourselves, and prison may be the best way we have to protect ourselves from some people, but I think protection should be the goal we always keep in mind.

[tavernier]

10. Probably unlikely that they will commit crimes

but also unlikely that family members of murdered sons, daughters, etc. will ever forget the horrible way they were murdered. Forgiveness is one thing, but the ability to forget is near to impossible.

If it was my loved one I would choose to release them because that might be a harder road for them to go. They've lived in the safety of the system, but adjusting to freedom and the loss of relative safety in the confines of prison would be a struggle.