GREAT FALLS — Morris Davis’s life was cut short in Great Falls 41 years ago, on April 5, 1985, when he was only 23 years old. His murder is still unsolved, something his family still lives with every day.
Delnita Davis, Morris’s mother, still remembers the day her son was killed. She said the day started out as any other. “He left here in the morning, went to work at Bison Ford,” she recalled. “He got off and went straight to Howard’s Pizza.”
Marian Davidson reports - watch the video here:
Morris worked part-time as a delivery driver for Howard’s Pizza. That night, he was sent to drop off a pizza at 1015 6th Ave. NW after 9 pm.
Morris didn’t know it, but the house was vacant, a VA foreclosure. Investigators say the murderers removed the “for sale” sign from the front of the house, ordered a pizza, broke into the back of the house and turned out the light to make it appear occupied. Then, they waited.
When Morris arrived, he was ambushed.
“Not only was he shot, but he was getting away and fell out the door and was brought back in and executed,” retired Great Falls Police Department Detective Sgt. John Cameron said.
When Morris didn’t return from his delivery, his coworkers at Howard’s began to worry. Another driver went to check his last delivery address. Cameron said what the driver saw made him uncomfortable, so he went back to the restaurant, and police were called.
At around 11 pm, shortly after police arrived on scene, an ambulance was called—on that ambulance was Cliff Davis, Morris’s younger brother.
“I saw boots sticking out of the entryway,” Cliff recalled. “That’s not an unusual thing in Montana, but for whatever reason, I recognized them, I got him those same boots for Christmas just before that, and it just clicked in my brain then. That’s when I knew who it was.”
The victim was Morris, who was shot multiple times.
“I can’t tell you how many, but I can tell you it was many times,” Cameron said.
His delivery money from that night, less than $500, was gone.
“If they asked him for his money, he would have given it to them,” Delnita said. “I don’t know why they had to shoot him.”
In the beginning of the investigation, there was no shortage of leads.
“There were so many suspects, people started calling in so many suspects,” Cameron said. “We interviewed hundreds of people.”
There were also false leads, including a gun misidentified as the murder weapon.
“The bullet expert was wrong,” Cameron said. “He said it was the gun that killed Morris, they spent years chasing the lead, they found the guy that owned the gun, and then it turned out he had made a mistake—he had been comparing the same bullets to the same bullets.”
Cameron was with the Great Falls Police Department when Morris was murdered, and about five years later, he became the lead investigator on the case. Cameron began going through the boxes and boxes of evidence, interviews and police reports, following up on leads and interviewing new people.
All of his work led him to identify one man he suspects as the triggerman.
“Every investigation I did in that case, everything I read, everyone I interviewed led me to that man,” Cameron said.
Cameron said that man is Donald Dubray from Browning, a convicted murderer and rapist.
Dubray died in prison in 2016. He never confessed to killing Morris and police never had enough evidence to charge him, but Cameron doesn’t believe Dubray acted alone.
“I really believe there are two people alive out there right now that could provide information,” Cameron said. “I wish they would.”
There could be another way to find answers—DNA technology. Cameron said the killer would have grabbed Morris by the collar to drag him back into the house, and their DNA could be on his clothes.
“If they could have that genealogical testing they’re doing now on the clothes, I know they’re still in evidence,” Cameron said.
After 41 years of not knowing for sure, answers in this case would mean a lot to Morris’s loved ones.
“It would be everything,” Delnita said.
Delnita shares a favorite memory:
“You know, really who deserves answers is my brother,” Cliff said. “His life was worth something, was worth a lot, and he deserves to have this brought to a conclusion.”
Cliff said the pain of losing his brother never goes away, but it’s something he has learned to live with.
“You have a choice to be bitter, and angry, and mad, or you have a choice to not be,” he said. “Life is a whole lot better when you choose not to be.”
Delnita still lives in the house Morris and Cliff grew up in, and she still thinks about Morris every day.
“Different seasons, when I hear the stock cars running—he used to spend every Friday night over there—hunting season, when it’s time for everybody to go skiing, there’s always something to remind you,” Delnita said.
Morris wasn’t just stolen from his family, his life cut short—he was also robbed of his future.
“I just wish he got a chance to finish out his life,” Delnita said.
If you have information about Morris Davis’s murder on April 5, 1985, call Detective Patrick Levitt at the Great Falls Police Department at 406-455-8509.
