Their common bond was sharing a workplace sometimes known for its violence, but former Missouri State Penitentiary workers at a Sunday reunion were all smiles as they shared memories both good and bad.
The 10th annual reunion brought dozens of former MSP workers, from corrections officers to the superintendent, to reminisce over drinks and food at Prison Brews. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the closing of the prison.
"It was a dangerous place for offenders and staff," said Dave Dormire, the former warden who now is director of the Division of Adult Institutions, adding that the maximum security prison had lots of "nooks and crannies" that added to the danger factor.
The prison opened in 1836, and was home to both the famous and notorious. Boxer Sonny Liston served time there, as well as James Earl Ray, who escaped from the prison in 1967 and went on to kill civil rights leader Martin Luther King a year later.
Donald Cline served 37 years with Corrections, including six as deputy warden of MSP. He was Sonny Liston's case worker for more than a year, he said.
"He only grunted. He wouldn't answer you," Cline recalled. Liston, who learned to box in prison, wasn't uncooperative, simply a loner, he said.
He remembers Darryl Burton, who was exonerated in 2008 after serving 24 years in prison, as being a "model prisoner." He said Burton had success going through the Intensive Therapeutic Community (ITC) program for drug addition, and is now a motivational speaker and attends divinity school.
He recalls a large inmate nicknamed "Tiny" who had a mental defect but was strong enough to snap the chains binding a pair of handcuffs. Cline said he once avoided what could have become a dangerous situation with him. "Sometimes if you waited a little bit, things would cool down. You had to know when to push and when to pull," he said.
MSP was also where death sentences were carried out. Between 1937 and 1989, 40 inmates were put to death in the gas chamber. After that, death row was moved to a new prison at Potosi.
Fred Kennison worked at MSP from 1984-88. He remembers working on death row when inmates Gerald Smith and Frank Guinan killed another death row inmate for stealing a ring. Smith and Guinan stabbed the man 51 times, and have both since been executed.
"It was rough. There were stabbings every day," Kennison said, adding that there were also good memories from MSP.
John Bohling worked there as a corrections officer, recalling when he was working on Tower 3 when one of the prison walls started to come down after leaning for years. Fortunately, the wall wasn't completely compromised and there were no escape attempts that day.
"I've fired a couple warning shots before, but not that day," he said.
He now works at Jefferson City Correctional Center, which opened when MSP closed in 2004. The big differences between the two, he said, are from the design of the new prison.
"There are a lot more cameras and more visibility now," he said. "No blind spots and fewer fights. But there have still been murders."
Willis Keeth, a former Marine, worked at MSP for 22 years, the last 10 as as a captain. He remembers the friendships and camaraderie. Co-workers avoided calling in sick because they were afraid that they would expose other workers to dangerous situations and wouldn't be there to help them, he said.
He said workers there were able to gain trust and respect from inmates if they were "firm, fair and consistent."
"I got along better with the killers than the thieves or rapists," he said. "They were just more laid back and just wanted to know what they had coming."
Looking at a collage of 700 photos of MSP workers, former warden Dormire said: "There are some characters among them who did some amazing things none of us will ever know about."