Local author's book taught at WSU

THORNTON– Walls of Secrecy, Stories of Prison Life 1971-1981 a book by local author Kelley D. Messinger, 75, of Thornton is being taught in a corrections class at Washington State University.

Messinger’s book is about the history of the Washington State Penitentiary. Messinger didn’t write the book until three years ago, he stated, noting that he served 10 years in prison, “I was wrongfully convicted in the early 1970s,” exonerated by Governor Dixie Lee Ray, Messinger was released.

At the request of Governor Ray the book addresses deviant behavior, and gang behavior within the prison system. T...