Walls of Secrecy: Stories of Prison Life 1971-1981

How Politicians Turned a Correctional Institution Into the Top Drug-Trafficking, Gang-Controlled, Murder Capitol of Washington State.

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Pressure Punks. Bikers. Kids. Lifers. Dings. Girls. Dealers. Everyone fit into one prison group or another, sometimes more than one group. In 1971 I had to figure out where I was going to fit, and becoming a Biker had a huge impact on my survival. My name is Kelley D. Messinger and I lived a decade in maximum security at Washington State Penitentiary. This is my story.

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Twenty-three-year old Kelley D. Messinger was convicted in Washington in the early 1970s of killing his teen-aged wife. This book is his memoir of his decade in prison and the maximum-security unit at Washington State Penitentiary. Chronicling a ludicrous prison governance system, this book captures the life of prisoners including social hierarchy, survival rules, violence, rape, murder, and defense tactics. The book’s characters, his fellow prisoners as well as prison administration and staff, are in many cases, stranger than could be invented by a fiction writer. However, Mr. Messinger’s undefeated will to survive in this environment colors the tone of the book with his humorous, witty and grounding perspective.

Ultimately Mr. Messinger’s case was brought to the attention of Washington Governor Dixy Lee Ray, who happened to be touring a Washington State Trooper’s Academy. Her interest in Mr. Messinger’s conviction was piqued when she heard the investigation used to convict him was used as a case study for how NOT to investigate crimes. When she inquired as to the outcome of the criminal trial, she learned Mr. Messinger was then serving a life sentence in maximum security. Before Governor Ray left office, she exonerated Mr. Messinger.