California’s governor on Friday reversed a decision to grant parole to a follower of notorious mass murderer Charles Manson, saying he was still a danger to society.
Bruce Davis, 70, was recommended for parole in October, more than four decades after he took part in the torture, murder and mutilation of two people as part of a plot by Manson’s apocalyptic “Family” cult to ignite a race war.
Governor Jerry Brown acknowledged that Davis had “made efforts to improve himself while incarcerated,” such as earning a doctorate degree in religion, holding jobs and volunteering with counseling groups.
But he said the murders in which Davis took part displayed “an exceptionally callous disregard for human suffering” and said the Manson follower had not been forthright in past descriptions of his role in the killings.
“In rare circumstances, a murder is so heinous that it provides evidence of current dangerousness by itself. This is such a case,” Brown wrote in his order reversing the parole ruling.
Davis was recommended for parole once before in 2010, but Brown’s predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected the recommendation for similar reasons.
Davis won a new release recommendation in October at his 27th California Parole Board meeting since his conviction over the 1969 deaths of musician Gary Hinman, who was stabbed, and stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea.
