True Crime Collection

Donald Shea

Donald Shea was born in Massachusetts on 18th September, 1933. He moved to California to pursue a career in acting, but mostly worked at Spahn's Movie Ranch. Donald was a former stuntman whose dream was to pursue a film career in Hollywood, a dream which, according to many friends, he never gave up. He was almost 6 ft 4inches tall. He worked as a bouncer, a ranch hand at Spahn Ranch, an old Hollywood movie set that had become a horse riding stables. His autopsy report identifies him as "foreman" of the ranch.

Donald reportedly got along with the other ranch employees. When the Manson Family moved into Spahn Ranch, Donald initially co-existed with them peacefully but, in time, Charles Manson began to look down in him because he had married a black woman by the name of Magdalena. Charles hated and mistrusted black people, and had been disgusted when Magdalena's friends showed up at the ranch. She stayed for only a few weeks before leaving Donald and returning to Las Vegas. According to Donald's autopsy report, Magdalena eventually settled in Lexington, Kentucky.

Eventually Donald planned to help George Spahn remove the Family from the Spahn Ranch when their brushes with the law grew out of control.

Donald was murdered on 26th August, 1969. Charles had decided to have Donald killed because he believed Donald had reported them to the police, resulting in a raid on the ranch on 16th August where the family were taken into custody on suspicion of car theft. Family member Bruce Davis claimed that the decision to kill Donald came from Charles because he considered him to be a "snitch". Charles told Bruce, Tex Watson, and Steve Grogan to ask for a ride to a nearby car parts yard on the ranch. According to Bruce, he sat in the backseat with Steve, who then hit Donald with a pipe wrench and Tex stabbed him. They brought Donald down a hill behind the ranch and stabbed and brutally tortured him to death. Bruce recalled at his parole hearings:

I was in the car when Steve Grogan hit Shorty with the pipe wrench. Charles Watson stabbed him. I was in the backseat with...with Steve. They took Shorty out. They had to go down the hill to a place. I stayed in the car for quite a while but what...then I went down the hill later on and that's when I cut Shorty on the shoulder with the knife, after he was...well, I don't know...I...I don't know if he was dead or not. He didn't bleed when I cut him on the shoulder.

When I showed up, you know, he was...he was incapacitated. I don't know if... you asked if he was unconscious, I don't know. He may or may not have been. He didn't seem conscious. He wasn't moving or saying anything. And it started off Charles handed me a machete as if I was supposed to... I mean I know what he wanted. But you know I couldn't do that. And I... in fact I did touch Shorty Shea with a machete on the back of his neck, didn't break the skin. I mean I just couldn't do it. And then I threw the knife... and he handed me a bayonet and it...I just reached over and...I don't know which side it was on but I cut him right about here on the shoulder just with the tip of the blade. Sort of like saying "Are you satisfied, Charlie?".

And I turned around and walked away. And I...I was sick for two or three days. I mean I couldn't even think about what I... what I had done.

Another motive for the murder could have stemmed from a fight between Charles Manson and Donald at the Gresham Street home in Canoga Park, California, that Charles shared with Bill Vance and several Manson Family Members. Windy Bucklee, the wife of Spahn Ranch ranch hand Randy Starr was beaten by Charles Manson for her refusal to loan her truck to Charles and Bill for robberies. In the days prior, law enforcement questioned Windy for a string of robberies that her truck had been identified in. She realised that Charles and Bill had been borrowing her truck to commit these robberies and decided to quit loaning it to them.

When Donald found out about Charles assaulting Windy, he went to the Gresham Street home and assaulted both Charles and Bill with threats to stay away from Spahn Ranch. After Charles moved into Spahn Ranch, Larry Bailey, one of the newer members of the Manson Family, was spying on Donald for Charles and was quickly caught. As a result, Donald, Windy and others stripped Larry naked and tied him to a tree facing the main road to send a message to the others.

According to participants in Donald's murder, Bruce Davis and Steve "Clem" Grogan, both Bill Vance and Larry Bailey also participated in the killing.

In a grand jury testimony, Family member Barbara Hoyt recounted hearing the screams which terrified her so much that she left deciding to escape the family, frightened that she might be next. "It was about 10:00pm when I heard a long, loud, blood curdling scream," she said, "Then it went quiet for a minute or so and the screams came again and again, it seemed to go on forever, I have no doubt that Shorty was being murdered at that time." When Donald was dead, Steve buried him, and the rumour was that he had been "dismembered into nine pieces."

Barbara's testimony of the approximate time of Donald's murder contradicts the official stories given by participants Bruce and Steve at their parole hearings. Windy was recently interviewed and confirmed that Donald was not the type of person who would scream and beg, and would have gone to his death fighting.

On 9th December, 1969, Donald's 1962 Mercury was found with a footlocker of his possessions and a pair of bloodstained cowboy boots belonging to him. A palm print of Bruce was found on the footlocker.

Donald's skeletal remains were discovered on a nondescript hillside near Santa Susana Road next to Spahn Ranch in December 1977 after Steve Grogan, one of those convicted of the murder, agreed to aid authorities in the recovery of Donald's body by drawing a map to its location. According to the autopsy report, his body suffered multiple stab and chopping wounds to the chest and blunt force trauma to the head.

Sgt. Bill Gleason, LASO Homicide, Deputy Coroner John Mossberger and Deputy Sheriff Barry Jones, LASO Homicide, were on the site when Donald was exhumed in 1977. Bill had been the officer who obtained the Spahn Ranch Raid search warrant in August 1969.

Donald was 35 years old when he was murdered. He is buried in a community plot in Angeles Abbey Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.