California governor to decide fate of ex-Manson follower Bruce Davis
(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - California Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to decide Friday whether Bruce Davis, a former Charles Manson follower, will be released on parole after serving more than 40 years in prison.
Davis would be only the second Manson related murder defendant to be granted parole since the group's murder spree began in 1969.
Davis was not involved in the notorious Sharon Tate-LaBianca killings but was convicted with Manson and others in the murders of a musician and a stuntman.
Steve Grogan, another participant in those murders, was released in 1985 after he agreed to lead police to where the bodies were buried on a remote movie ranch in the San Fernando Valley.
Davis was 30 when he was sentenced to life in prison in 1972, in the case that was a postscript to Manson's notorious reign as leader of the murderous communal cult known as the Manson family.
Davis long maintained that he was a bystander in the killings of the two men, but in recent years, he has acknowledged his shared responsibility
If freed, Davis would go to transitional housing associated a religious group in Los Angeles County.
Davis became a born-again Christian in prison and ministered to other inmates, married a woman he met through the prison ministry, and has a grown daughter. The couple recently divorced.
Davis also earned a master's degree and a doctorate in philosophy of religion.
Manson and three of his followers, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson, remain in prison for life in the Tate killings. Their co-defendant, Susan Atkins, died of cancer behind bars in 2009.