Charles Manson's second banana Bruce Davis dies after 57 years in prison
· Toronto Sun
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For Charles Manson acolyte Bruce Davis, the 1960s have finally ended in a California prison.
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Davis — a one-time devout follower of the hippy fanatic — reportedly died Friday at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, the Solano County coroner’s office told ABC News on Monday.
A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Described as Manson’s right-hand man, Davis was 83. On eight occasions, he was determined suitable for parole, but each time his release was blocked by governors from across the political spectrum.
Davis was a fanatical follower
“(Davis) does not understand that it was his agreement to participate in Mr. Manson’s plans that resulted in the torture and murder of his victims, regardless of whether he ultimately inflicted the fatal blows,” Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in 2021 in torpedoing Davis’ release.
Former prosecutor Stephen Kay, who sent Davis to prison, told the Los Angeles Times that the killer was the “family” member “most willing to kill.” Davis was suspected of a slew of murders at Manson’s behest.
One of the murders occurred in the United Kingdom.
Davis was convicted in the 1969 murders of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea. However, he was not involved in the bloody slaying of starlet Sharon Tate and six other people during a two-night orgy of carnage in August 1969.
Didn’t know about Sharon Tate murders
He later said he was unaware of the murders at Tate’s Benedict Canyon home until the morning after.
The cult killer told cops that he cut Shea with a knife and held a gun while Manson slashed Hinman’s face with a sword. Afterward, other members wrote on the walls of Hinman’s home, “political piggy.” The missive was scrawled in the dead man’s blood.
In 2024, he told his California parole hearing: “I wanted to be Charlie’s favourite guy.”
Davis had been sentenced to life in prison for the Hinman and Shea slayings. Most of that hard time was served at the infamous San Quentin State Prison.
It later emerged that Hinman was murdered because he refused to help Manson move his family from Los Angeles to the Mojave Desert. Shea was killed because Manson told his groupies he was snitching to the cops.
Manson secrets lost forever?
But with Davis’ death, more Manson Family secrets may be lost forever. Cops have long suspected that the hippy cult killed many more times.
Months after the August massacres, Joel Pugh, 29, a boyfriend of cult member Sandra Good, was found dead in London’s Talgarth Hotel. His wrists and throat had been cut, and UK cops listed it as a suicide.
Davis slipped out of London at the time of Pugh’s demise. Manson hated Pugh.
“He had no reason to commit suicide, and Manson was very unhappy that Sandy was with Pugh,” Kay told The Times in 2019.
Wherever the Manson family went, murder followed. Davis was a witness in the November 1969 gunshot death of John “Zero” Haught. Authorities put his death down to a game of Russian roulette gone awry.
Russian roulette gun had no fingerprints
The problem was, the recovered gun did not have any fingerprints on it. One witness later said he entered the room where Haught was mortally wounded to discover a female family member holding the gun.
In custody, Davis obtained a master’s degree and completed multiple self-help programs. His lawyer Michael Beckman called Davis “the most rehabilitated inmate I’ve ever represented.”
There is only a handful of cult members still behind bars — or alive. Only Leslie Van Houten has been released.
Patricia “Katie” Krenwinkel is California’s longest-serving female inmate. She was recommended for parole in 2025, but the decision was torpedoed by Newsom.
Charles “Tex” Watson, a direct participant in the Tate-LaBianca killings, remains caged at Mule Creek State Prison after multiple parole denials.
Bobby Beausoleil was convicted for the July 1969 murder of Hinman. Though recommended for parole by a board panel, his release was blocked by Newsom, and he was denied parole again last July.
Charles Manson died in 2017.