Post by Ryu XiangWith great sorrow I've got the information that chess master Mark Willey has
been convicted to 35 years prison back in 2006. I have often played chess
with him cca. 20 years ago, but since then I haven't seen him again. In my
opinion, he was a very nice and intelligent guy. Is there any chance that
this conviction is a mistake? Has anybody visited him in prison? How is he?
Please send any information.
The guy from Iowa? Holy shit. What was he convicted of?
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Rematch of sorts
Free of courtroom constraints, Jackson County (Iowa) District Attorney
John Kies and Mark Willey are taking their strategic moves to a new
arena - a chess board.
As he does when researching many of his cases, Kies ran Willey's name
through the Google Internet search engine to see what he could find.
Turns out Willey's claim of being an Iowa grand chess master was true.
Many of the Maquoketa man's former matches, and even specific moves,
were still posted online.
"They still have his matches from Europe. I just thought it was
interesting," Kies said.
As a chess player himself, Kies' curiosity was piqued, so he
challenged Willey to a game, and Willey accepted.
Kies said his chance of victory is lower in this match than it was
when he prosecuted Willey recently.
"I have no doubt that Mark would probably beat me," Kies said.
Willey was found guilty of assault and burglary and was sentenced July
28 to up to 25 years in prison for a knife attack on his sister,
Emelie Harmon, of Maquoketa.
The chess match likely will be played via computer since Willey is
currently being held at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center at
Oakdale.
A time and date for the match have yet to be set.
- Rob Kundert and Eileen Mozinski contributed
Copyright 2003 by Telegraph-Herald, All rights Reserved.
Copyright 2006 Telegraph Herald
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