Bruce McGregor Davis entered UT in fall 1961 and attended for six quarters over a year and a half. In 1965 he began taking LSD. In 1968 he met Charles Manson who treated him well and welcomed him into his commune where Davis became one of his chief lieutenants, being in charge of the Spahn ranch when Manson was absent.
In 1972 Davis was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for the 1969 slayings of Gary Hinman and Donald Shea. While he did not actually commit the murders, he was present and did nothing to stop them. At his 2010 parole hearing, he acknowledged that he “was as responsible as anyone there.” While in prison, Davis earned a master’s and PhD degree in religion, became a born-again Christian, and ministered to other inmates. He also married a woman he met through the prison ministry (they were subsequently divorced), and they have a grown daughter. The California Parole Board recommended that he be paroled in 2010, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed the decision. A June 2012 parole hearing (the 27th) was postponed because Davis was feeling ill. In March 2013 Governor Jerry Brown overturned the parole board’s recommendation that Davis be paroled. In March 2014 the parole board again recommended parole, and Governor Jerry Brown again reversed the parole board.