By A.S.
Charles Manson was a notorious killer whose followers killed multiple people on his “orders”, including the gruesome murder of a Hollywood actress Sharon Tate. For the last 40 years, whenever one of his convicted followers would come up for parole, a Los Angeles county prosecutor would join the victim´s relatives to argue against the release.
But as NBC News reports, when Kay Martley, a family member of a victim tortured and killed by Manson´s follower Bruce Davis, joined a California Board of Parole Hearings video conference she was stunned when she realized that she would be making the case on behalf of her murdered relative alone.
“I had no one to speak for me,” said Martley, 81, whose cousin Gary Hinman was tortured and killed by Manson followers, adding that “no one cares about the victim’s families anymore. We are totally forgotten.” Although this move probably won’t have an effect on Davis´ fate, and he won´t be paroled, the family member of the victim felt abandoned by the state.
This happened due to the change of policy. The Los Angeles County prosecutors will not attend parole hearings anymore but will support in writing the grant of parole for anyone who has already served their mandatory minimum sentence. Underlying the argument is the idea that state parole officials, not prosecutors, are best equipped to make judgments about whether or not to release inmates.
Manson and his followers carried out a series of gruesome murders in Los Angeles in 1969. Davis, now 78 years old, was sentenced to life in prison in 1972 for the killings of Gary Hinman and Donald Shea.