Hey gang,

Well Justin has posted an article which brings into question whether or not Dave Davis may be innocent of killing his wife Shannon in 1980. I'm sure you all remember the segment from special #4 about the young couple from Michigan who went on a horseback ride only with Shannon Davis to end up dead.

Dave has always claimed his wife's death was due to a fall from a horse, however upon further investigation prosecutors were able to prove to a jury that Dave Davis had injected his wife with a drug that caused her death. They alleged Davis' motive was to collect insurance money. There is also some question regarding Dave Davis' character as Shannon's family alleges that they had caught him in several lies over the years.

That not withstanding I was wondering what you all think of the case now given the article. While I still lean towards his guilt, I will say that if the man is truly innocent it has to be one of the most heartbreaking miscarriages of justice I've ever seen given the circumstances. Imagine that you meet the love of your life and that love is reciprocated, you marry and then ten months into your life together - she dies in a freak accident and you are accused of murdering her so you can profit from her death. Finally you are convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. I just hope the man is guilty more for the sake that I can't stand to see any person who is innocent have to go through all of that.

Justin's article can be found in this thread: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=161314&page=2

If Dave Davis is innocent, then he certainly didn't do himself any good by being a wanted fugitive for eight years.

Well, if Davis were innocent it would make sense that he would run if he thought that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. Wouldnt you run if you were going to spend the rest of your life in prison, innocent or not? Davis I am sure knew that he was going to be convicted regardless of the truth. That is how the American justice system works more often than not and it is rather unfortunate.

I dont know if Dave Davis is innocent or not, after watching the UM segment I thought he was guilty. However I watched the Shannon Mohr/Dave Davis case on American Justice a couple of weeks ago. The American Justice case I felt was very well down, it revealed things about Davis that both could help and harm him. Like I didnt know that Davis graduated from the University of Michigan in 1967 with a degree in psychology. I also didnt know that Davis had went to graduate school for pharmacology but had dropped out after one year.

Apperantly the method for the test that they supposedly found the chemicals is flawed. However it is interesting how she would have injection marks. I just dont know what to think about it. Clearly he had the motive in the insurance money, actually Davis I think would have walked on this crime and never even been charged with a crime IF he had been honest from the get go about his having life insurance on Shannon.

The authorities may have zeroed in on him, so he escaped to Pago Pago, the capital city of American Samoa. Is the previous information correct? or the fugitive who escaped to the South Pacific is an entirely different case.

The article was good but I still think he's guilty. Remember Dave Davis is what some would consider a conman and at the very least an excellent liar so thats why he sounded good in the article. I don't see why he felt the need to lie in nearly every aspect of his life if his intentions for Shannon were to marry her and live happily ever after. Plus I was a bit curious why he didn't explain more about why her shirt was unbuttoned. I did hear in another documentary on the case that they were known to be quite "amorous" outdoors being newlyweds and all but according to Dave's story they were riding their horses immediately before Shannon was rendered unconscious. It sounds more plausible that he was able to persuade Shannon to join him on the ground and then hit her head on the rock and possibly inject her with the drug.

Well, if Davis were innocent it would make sense that he would run if he thought that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. Wouldnt you run if you were going to spend the rest of your life in prison, innocent or not? Davis I am sure knew that he was going to be convicted regardless of the truth. That is how the American justice system works more often than not and it is rather unfortunate.

Well, regardless of the flaws in the legal system, running from the law doesn't make any problems disappear. It only delays or prolongs them. If Davis is not guilty, then he should have stayed and fought to prove his innocence, rather than run off and be a coward. (Maybe he will one day be turned into an icon, just like Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, or Tookie Williams. :rolleyes: :lol:)

However, if Dave Davis were on the run to find the real killer or killers (as Dr. Richard Kimble did in the Fugitive TV series and movie), then maybe I could understand why anyone denying guilt would run from the authorities. I just don't see any other truly logical explanation for that. But as far as I'm concerned, Davis is right where he belongs.

Although I am not entirely convinced as I once was, I tend to think that Dave Davis is guilty.

Maybe I'm letting my emotions do the talking, but the comment in the article by Shannon Mohr's father really moved me. Dave Davis lied about a lot of things from the start, so why should we believe him now?

A couple points worth mentioing from the UM segment -

Fact: Davis was really pushing to have Shannon's body cremated, even though her parents insisted that they (and presumably Shannon too) didn't believe in cremation.

Fact: Prior to marrying Shannon, Davis was involved in other property related insurance claims that resulted in payoffs, and that were alleged to have been fraudulent.

Like I said, I'm not entirely convinced. However, I believe there is more evidence (mostly circumstantial) pointing towards his guilt.

I should also note that I remember reading/hearing that just prior to meeting Shannon Mohr, Dave Davis had approached other women with the intent of marriage or a long term relationship.

So it it could have been that Davis's master plan was to hitch his wagon to any woman who would agree to marry him and then several months down the line, murder her and attempt to collect on death benefits. This would make Shannon Mohr somewhat a victim of circumstance.

I don't mean to interject another case in this thread, but I remember a case very similar to this where two women went horseback riding and only one came back. The two women had been with their two boyfriends/husbands (I don't remember) and the men were waiting back at the house on their return, or so the story goes. The police ruled that the dead woman had been stepped on by her horse. The only witness (the girlfriend riding alongside her) backs up the ruling of the coroner. She claims that something scared the two horses and that the dead woman's horse threw her off, then stepped on her. The girlfriend further claims that as she tried to go and get help, she couldn't find her way back. She claims she got lost.

Is this the same case? Or is it another? It seems like I remember the family of the dead woman not liking the new man in the daughter's life. However, if he did it, how could he convince the friend to go along with his plan? The only thing I could think of is if perhaps he and the girlfriend had a secret affair going.

All of the dead woman's riding friends claimed that she was a great equestrian, had been riding her entire life, and that there was no way the horse would throw her off and step on her.

If anyone could help me out with this one, I'd much appreciate it. :)

If anyone could help me out with this one, I'd much appreciate it. :)

You're thinking of Shelly Malone.

Shelly Malone! I WANT to see this segment again! Anyone have it? Suggestion for Vol. 10 perhaps?

As for Davis... I was intially taken by the article Justin posted... but I still think Davis TOTALLY did it. I believe, as DarkDante pointed out, that Davis was looking for a woman, ANY WOMAN, to marry and murder for the insurance money. Shannon was just in the wrong place at the wrong time wtih the wrong man.

And Crystaldawn's point is also very valid-- Davis is a KNOWN con man. Of course he's going to interview extremely well, making it seem as if the victim in the whole thing was himself.

Verdict is in, at least for me: Guilty.

Shelly Malone! I WANT to see this segment again! Anyone have it? Suggestion for Vol. 10 perhaps?

Yeh I have it in TV quality if you want a copy I don't mind but you might want it from someone closer to home as it'll take at least a week to get to you.

Shelly Malone! I WANT to see this segment again! Anyone have it? Suggestion for Vol. 10 perhaps?



If you don't get it from SI I can put it on volume 10. I already had someone else request in on there as well.

Well Davis probably did do it, but I do have some doubts. I used to think he for sure did it, but American Justice as well as the article did some good pieces on the case and it created some doubts for me.

Regardless if he did it or not, while Davis was a con man that doesnt make him a murderer. Bugs me when people think someone is a murderer because they faked injury to get disability claims or because he lied about being in Vietnam. Lots of people have done both, doesnt make them all murderers.

However he did have the motive certainly to kill Shannon, he had over 300 thousand dollars in life insurance on her which in 1980 would be huge money. Also him and Shannon were alone so no one really knows how it went down. The cops say Davis did it, Davis not surprisingly says he did not do it. He had the means, motive and opportunity to kill Shannon. But this case should be looked at more, and the case should have been moved out of Hillsdale County where the jury pool was tainted.