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Bruce Davis — a former Charles Manson lieutenant who spent more than five decades behind bars on murder charges — has died.
He was 83 years old.
Davis passed at 11:03 p.m. on September 11 at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, where he was incarcerated, according to sources and the Solano County Coroner’s Office (per TMZ).
A cause of death has not been released.
Although Davis was a prominent member of Manson’s inner circle, he was not present during the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders that left seven people dead, including actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski.
Instead, Davis was convicted for his involvement in the murders of Manson Family associate Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea.
Davis admitted to police that he attacked Shea with a knife. He also told investigators he was armed with a gun when Manson attacked Hinman with a sword.
The crimes eventually landed Davis in prison for life. Like other Manson Family members, he was originally facing a death sentence, but California’s abolition of the death penalty resulted in his sentence being commuted to life imprisonment.
And while Davis repeatedly sought parole over the years, his attempts ultimately went nowhere.
His most recent parole bid was denied in 2022. According to his attorney, Michael Beckman, a parole commissioner cited Davis’ “lack of empathy” when explaining the decision.
Davis also made headlines in 2024 when a scheduled parole hearing was postponed after he appeared on the podcast “The Lighter Side of Serial Killers.” He had previously written to host Keith Rovere in a 2023 Christmas card that he was “looking forward” to his upcoming parole hearing.
That hearing was ultimately moved to August 2024, when Davis was again denied parole. Manson himself died in 2017.
Debra Tate, Sharon Tate’s sister, offered a restrained response to news of Davis’ death.
“I always say a prayer upon their passing,” she told TMZ, referring to other Manson Family members who have died behind bars.
Tate added that her prayer asks that the deceased members “finally have clarity” about the actions they committed and that God have mercy on their souls.
Davis spent the final decades of his life incarcerated for crimes committed nearly 60 years ago.
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