due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> a senior inmate takes up rap. ♪ cool but you're living in sin ♪ ♪ robbing the pharmacies for vicodin ♪ >> an alleged gang member poses a threat. >> a lot of people don't know this. murder is one of the easiest crimes that you can get away with. easy. >> and another inmate makes the most shocking confession ever heard on "lockup." >> they say you're a psychopath murderer after three people. i done blown that one out of the water quite a few times.

♪ orange county, california, is well known for its sun-kissed beaches and family-friendly tourist attractions. but sometimes fantasy gives way to reality. and when crime is committed here, suspects will usually find themselves booked into the orange county jail. >> what are you in for? >> disturbing the peace. >> have you been in jail before?

>> no, sir. >> all right. look here at the camera for me. >> the orange county jail is comprised of five separate jail facilities. the largest of these is the theo lacey jail, with an average daily population of 2,800 male inmates. theo lacey alone dwarfs many state prisons. >> i have an assistant sheriff at theo lacey. he always likes to say we don't have andy of mayberry. we don't have otis coming into the jail tank. that's not the kind of county jail inmate we've got. we have 400 people in custody for murder today. we don't have people in jail for simple possession of marijuana, like some people might think. we have some very serious felony inmates in our custody. >> hands behind your back. >> unlike prison inmates, who have all been convicted of crimes, most jail inmates have only been accused and are being

held awaiting trial or the resolution of their charges. still, violence can suddenly break out in jail, just as it does in prison. >> when you're dealing with jails full of predators, there's always going to be prey. the inmates prey on each other, cause disturbances, cause big situations to occur. what happens is, the deputies that are on scene will try to control it. they do a great job. once they start to lose a little bit of control, what they'll do is they'll give us a call. >> sergeant hernandez is in charge of the orange county jail's emergency response team or ert. >> go ahead and grab your gear from the shelves. and then just take it outside. >> ert is used for the major disturbances. we're used to quell riotous situations. and we're used to gather intel. >> inside the armory at theo lacey, the emergency response team suits up to confront an inmate considered to be a

dangerous threat. >> i'm sending you guys into danger, i know. this is not a drill. this is an ad seg inmate. we all know what that means. correct? that means he's assaultive not only to other inmates but he's also assaultive possibly to staff. all right? that kind of amps it up a little bit. >> the inmate is albert briceno. he has been transferred to orange county from a maximum security state prison, in order to appeal his current sentence of more than 150 years on multiple counts of gang-related armed robbery. >> albert briceno is a gang member from hard times. that's a street gang out of the city of garden grove. he goes by the moniker of capone. he was mainly brought up into the gang life through his family. through his mom and surrounding family members. he was basically born into the gangs. >> i just grew up, like, angry. you know, so it wasn't cool showing your emotions and

crying. i channeled all that hurt into anger. i started gang-banging. you know? and i said, if i'm going to cry, then i'm going to let their blood be my tears, you know? >> what did you do to gain notoriety? >> point of word, blasting fools, you know? >> did you kill anybody? >> i mean, you know, i've been -- i've been -- it's been alleged, you know. >> through his years of coming in and out of custody, he has elevated his status within both the inmate population and the gang population to be considered a very violent inmate. >> all the things that i've been through, it's like i've been walking through hell wearing gasoline shoes.

>> i'm telling you right now you've got the green light to do what ert is known best for. >> nice and steady. nice and steady. >> the team is on its way to briceno's cell to launch a surprise shakedown for contraband. and they're taking no chances. >> get on the ground. get on the ground. get on the ground or we will use less lethal weapons against you. >> slide out. slide out. on your stomach. keep coming out. just like that's fine. start heading off to your left. that way. >> we do cell searches all the time. we don't always use this level of security. >> put your hands behind your back. >> we're doing this because these guys have information that either they're willing to fight

to protect or because, in briceno's case, he is such a high-level threat that we take these precautions just to protect ourselves. >> with briceno safely restrained, deputies descend on his cell searching for contraband, like weapons or drugs. and equally as important, gang intelligence. >> sometimes they will hide kites in between the papers. if it is legal mail or legal paperwork they think we can't search it. we can search it. but we can't read it. >> does that happen a lot to you? >> what, this? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> how come? >> just procedure, their jobs, you know. >> within minutes, the deputies make a hit and discover gang-related documents. >> i'm not really at liberty to say exactly how it could help us. it's sensitive material. but it's probably going to help investigations further down the road. this was a good one. any time we get decent intelligence, it's a good search. >> while authorities still consider briceno to be a powerful gang leader, his time at orange county has been spent trying to disassociate himself from that past.

>> i'm not involved in the gang stuff no more. that's when i was young, you know. i left all that behind. it's childish. you know? it's the reason why i'm here. >> but briceno might have a motive for distancing himself from gang life. his current armed robbery sentences come with gang enhancements that could keep him in prison for the rest of his life. he will soon be going to court in hopes of convincing a judge to drop them. >> we committed robberies, me and another individual. and that was it. got arrested. you know, and both of us being gang members, that's when they hit us with the gang enhancements. >> while briceno's most serious conviction has been for armed robbery, he later implied he might have gotten away with murder. >> a lot of people don't know this. but murder is one of the easiest crimes you can get away with. easy. yes. it is. what gets people in trouble is their mouth. they tell one person. one person.

that person turns and tells two. other people tell. next thing you know, boom. >> how many grieving families do you think you've left behind you? >> i left quite a few. i mean, i'm not one to keep track. i don't sit there and like put notches on my belt. i know it's more than my fingers on one hand, possibly almost completing the next. but hey, you know, that's part of that life that you live. coming up -- >> jeremy bowles to me is the ultimate chameleon. he truly is capable of doing just about anything, including killing people.

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the theo lacey jail is the largest of the five facilities that make up the orange county, california, jail system. but the heart of the system is three miles away at the central jail complex.

central is three facilities in one. there's the intake center where new arrivals are processed. the county's women's facility is located here, as well. but the largest section of central is reserved for high-security male inmates. jeremy bowles has been here for the past two years facing an array of very serious charges. >> when it comes to crime, it comes to different things, i don't have no boundaries. as long as it's not hurting kids, it's not hurting pregnant women, i'm up for all of it. >> have you seen a lot of people die? >> yes. that i can -- yeah. that's -- comes with the game. >> bowles has a long criminal and gang history and has served prior sentences, both in state

prison and at the orange county jail. two years ago, he was a free man for 16 days. an eventful 16 days. >> i went to the beach for the first time in my life. that was about the only thing i did positive out there. >> bowles allegedly spent much of the rest of the time on a crime spree that resulted in his latest arrest. the most serious charges include multiple counts of home invasion robbery and the attempted murder of a police officer during a shootout that followed a high-speed chase. >> it's over 60 counts. >> bowles has pled not guilty to all charges. but sorting it out could take years. >> i think 1 of my charges alone carries 25 to life. and that's just the orange county cases. there's cases in other states, other counties. i got myself in a world of courts for a long time.

>> jeremy bowles poses a huge threat because he's completely unpredictable. one minute you can be talking to him, and he can be laughing and just having a normal day. and the next moment, he can literally be attacking you or me. he's from this particular gang in l.a., sarzana. >> it means the city in hell. meaning cause as much mayhem, as much damage as you can. >> through prison and through other incarcerations, he's really made connections with people from the mexican mafia. >> them people to me are the same people as me, meaning mexican mafia. a lot of people live in fear of them. me, personally, i never did. it was something i kind of grew up with. >> jeremy bowles to me is the ultimate chameleon. he basically can fit in anywhere. and with the relationship that he's made with the mexican mafia, he truly is capable of doing just about everything. including killing people. >> while bowles has never been charged with murder, he freely admits that gang violence has been a significant part of his past.

>> how many people have you killed? >> oh, man. i'd like to just keep that to myself. a lot. enough. maybe i shouldn't be saying this on camera. just -- a lot. i didn't believe in drive-bys. i believe in knocking on people's door and walking in their houses. anybody can pull a gun, you can look the other way, pull the trigger. you wake up the next day you never seen nothing. but to actually get up in somebody's face and do something to them, that's where you become numb. once you do it once, you can do it for the rest of your life. >> jeremy bowles is a very sophisticated, very experienced, very dangerous individual. jeremy bowles is every volley. >> and a short time later, bowles would see an evolution in his charges, as well. along with the dozens he's

already facing, two new charges have just been filed. both for premeditated murder. >> never been charged with murder. and it's kind of funny because i've been charged with everything else but that. co-defendant severed from me, so he could testify against me. i understand what he's doing to save hisself. would i do it? i don't think so. but for each his own. what i don't understand is this is the life you sign up for. you want to go getting in trouble. and then all of a sudden, you can't take the heat and you turn around and you go tell on everybody. we take an oath. for this to happen is very upsetting. >> though his lawyer has entered a not guilty plea on the new murder charges, bowles seemed resigned to the likely end result, a murder conviction in at least one of the cases. he also made it clear that he had no feelings about the victim. >> you know, so many years of doing things and getting away with it, now getting caught with it. i look at it, i don't really feel it. you know.

to me, honestly, i mean, you want to be dead honest, the dude's a dirt bag. to me, it felt like he had it coming. you want it as real as it gets? that's as real as it gets. coming up -- ♪ my mind's not right i still got game ♪ ♪ i bet my dope put yours to shame ♪ >> the o.c. senior rapper. and later the most shocking confession ever heard on "lockup." >> i've used everything from bats to all kinds of -- zip ties are pretty devious. once you put it around somebody's neck, they can't get it off.

every year, nearly 70,000 people make their way through one of the five facilities that comprise the orange county jail. on any given day, up to 3,000 of them can be found at orange county's largest facility, theo lacey. one way to measure the challenge of managing such a large inmate population can be found in the theo lacey kitchen, where inmate workers prepare 9,000 meals per

day. >> i've actually heard that if an inmate had to be incarcerated they prefer to come to orange county jail because they are fed well. they are fed more colorfully. and our nutritional guidelines and standards are the same as the rest of the state. but we put a lot of care and energy into what we do. >> while lower security level inmates eat in the chow hall, the majority of inmates are confined to their cells. their meals are delivered by inmate workers, like robert mason. >> really helps that i used to work at denny's. it makes me thankful where i am at because at least we get to come out three times a day. it passes the time a lot quicker. these guys are locked down 23 hours a day, 22 hours a day. time goes by real slow up there. that's why we're kind of like their only contact. so, i mean, you can do little things for them and they act like they've known you a long time. how is your court case going? >> even though he's well past the hip-hop generation, mason

likes giving his younger customers something extra with their meals. a serving of rap. >> i'll do a short one. i'll do a short one. ♪ my mind's not right but still got game ♪ ♪ bet my dope puts yours to shame ♪ ♪ judges today have it all wrong ♪ ♪ they're far to late to try the bomb ♪ ♪ these crews are cool but they're living in sin ♪ ♪ they're robbing the pharmacies for vicodin ♪ >> when their shift ends, mason and other inmate workers make their way back to their housing unit. >> k-70, sir. >> better known as the workers barracks, it's still jail. but life in the barracks allows for more freedom of movement. and is one of the few housing units where daylight streams through the windows.

>> this is where we're coming into the projects here. as we get further down this section we come into the high-rent district. >> mason is serving nine months at theo lacey, convicted of an unusual shoplifting charge. >> caught stealing a flea collar and a pair of workout pants. >> you're here because you stole a flea collar and a pair of workout pants. >> yes. and i do have a dog. that day, i was actually out of my mind on methamphetamine. i'd been up for four days straight without sleep. i have no idea why i was even in that store. if there's anything that you could say is the devil's drug, methamphetamine fits that bill perfectly. it's a blessing i got caught stealing that stuff because i was praying to god to stop and i couldn't. so i guess this is his way of helping me stop. i can flex. >> inside jail, mason is an advocate for healthy living. >> my friends call me popeye because i work out a lot. and i'm pretty cut up for being 56 years old. pretty, as they say, ripped.

>> what are you doing, popeye? >> we are setting some chairs up to do dips. since we don't have a dip bar, we have to make do with this. so these chairs work pretty good. we get the right level we want. and just make do with what we have. it's probably one of the best exercises to do. if you can just do one exercise, dips are probably the best thing you could do. i try to stay in shape all the time. i surf a little bit. these guys come in here, the youngsters, they ask me for advice on how to work out. >> that's a good dip. you're going all the way down, coming up. see it working his chest, his shoulders, his lats. most of them, if you look around, you can see, they're not in that good of shape. seems like they've been sitting on their butts too long, watching video games and working on computers. they have to get busy working out. because they're actually in pretty sad shape for their ages. let's do a few pushups. >> oh, man. >> one, two, three. >> but not all inmates find camaraderie in jail. due to his classification by the

state prison system as a gang member with a violent past, albert briceno is locked in a single cell 22 hours a day. >> here we have albert briceno and he's down here on appeal for his 150 years, the eight counts of robbery. >> right, right. he's the one that's trying to get some of the gang enhancements dropped so he can get some time shredded off. >> yeah. my guess is the gang enhancements are probably going to stick because it was found true during the jury trial. >> a lot of new tattoos, too. >> yeah. he got those up at delano. because he didn't have them back in 2001 when he was with us. >> he didn't have the horns. he didn't have the star. he didn't have any of his neck work done. wow. almost looks like a different guy in those two. >> you take a look at the two pictures. it's definitely a difference. but, then, again, when you get accustomed to that lifestyle, it's only a natural progression. >> down for the cause.

>> both his mom and dad no longer are alive. and his son is in juvie right now. >> we are looking at potentially a third generation. >> it's very close. depending on which route the son ends up going. >> i was busted when jesse was born. >> though his 15-year-old son, jesse, is only a short distance away in the county's juvenile facility, brecino can only communicate with him through letters. they write to each other frequently. >> said what's up, dad. said he's working out. he wants me to make him a list of exercises so he can get healthy. he requested some legs and some arms. i think in juvenile hall they still got weights to work out on. >> briceno says he hopes jesse will follow his workout routine but not his life as a gang-banger. >> you know, everybody wants your children to be successful and succeed in life and be

somebody. you know? but, you know, he's young. he's a teenager. sometimes he don't make the best decisions, you know? you can't force it. you know, it's like you can bring a horse to the water. but you can't make it drink, you know. ultimately, they're going to make their own decisions. >> though he has never been charged with murder, briceno made it cheer that when he was jesse's age, some of his decisions ended in violence. >> i was just treacherous. you know? i was just a gunner. when fools hear my name, i wanted my name to bring fear, you know, to the depths of their soul, you know. but as far as, like, when i was going on hits, your intentions is to go and spray as many rounds as you can and bring -- you know? and bring the rain. just delivering a metal rainstorm, you know. coming up, jeremy bowles receives devastating news.

>> my uncle, he's just everything to me. >> and then confesses to the shocking magnitude of his murderous past.

look at all that. look at all that money. >> yeah, buddy. >> look at all those chips. >> that's why i don't have commissary left. i play poker like crap. >> this is the first grab in the toilet tomorrow. >> that and a bag of chips, i got your number. >> inmates housed in theo lacey jail are ready to bunk down for the night. >> oh! >> what you got, what you got, what you got? >> three of a kind right there. >> all right, hold on. let me go mortgage my house. i want to play again. >> but they're in for a surprise. >> so what's going to happen is we're going to have about a hundred inmates from this location move to another location. >> to make room for a new group of inmates, the workers will be transferred to a new barracks. >> they're going to grab their blankets and all their personal belongings. they're going to roll it all up into a bundle. and we're going to watch everyone very closely to make sure they don't hide anything. >> any large inmate move poses a potential security breach. so, to give deputies the upper hand, the move is not announced

ahead of time. it is planned for 9:00 p.m. when most other inmates are locked down. >> all right, you guys, listen up. we're going to make this move real smooth. get your sheets. roll all your stuff up. i want two lines on each side. one right here. one right here. >> one of the inmates involved in the move is the workers' father figure, personal trainer and resident rapper, robert "popeye" mason. >> looks like we're moving. moving out here to another barracks. so i think we've got a few minutes to pack up, i guess. we've kind of been kept in the dark. we knew something was coming. but we didn't know exactly when. so, looks like now is the time to get busy and get packing. >> ready to make this move? i didn't think we was moving this soon. but they made it fast. so, hey. >> do you want your popeye stickers? >> i'm leaving my mark here. >> all right. let's go. this line first. left side. go out that door and follow him around.

do you understand? >> yes, sir! >> we basically moved about 200 yards away from their previous location, to the "f" barracks, which is another barracks that we have. >> it's like motel 6. they left the light on. >> is there a lump here? that's a pillow built into the mattress. that's style right there. that's style. >> i was really debating on the aquamarine. but i think i'm going with the convict gray. >> i like this better. we've got a big window. we can watch the sun go down. we can go outside and get fresh air once in a while. >> this is okay. this will work. i mean, we got no choice in the matter anyway. so, i mean, this has got to work. you're in jail. it is not like you expect the biltmore. i mean, no big deal. >> the next group is bravo "q." pierce. >> inmate moves are not uncommon in most jails. as thousands of men and women check in and out of jail, classification officers are

constantly analyzing the population in order to house them in a manner that will help avoid conflict. >> next group is echo cube. hawkins. >> albert briceno is the latest inmate on the move. he has been transferred from the theo lacey facility to the central jail, three miles away. >> most inmates within the county jail are continuously on the move. we do have to screen and rescreen these inmates all the time. basically, how i look at it is, who can play with who. >> shortly after moving into his new cell, briceno discovered his neighbor was an old childhood friend, jeremy bowles. >> i recognized the tattoos. and then when he got up, i said, man, what's up, "g"? he looked at me. and his eyes got all big. the recognition set in. the star threw him off, the tattoos that i got. he got all excited, you know? >> me and albert briceno have

been around each other for like the last 22 years. we were neighbors in juvenile hall. >> briceno and bowles are not only old friends. they share long criminal histories. they are considered among the most dangerous and violent inmates in the entire jail. because of that, they will never have physical contact. they are housed in a unit where only one inmate at a time is allowed into the common area. >> we laugh at it now. we look at each other door to door. we're just laughing like, dude, what the hell are we doing? we're 34 years old. we're still like we're 10 years old in the heart. >> come on. come on. >> inside their cells the sinks provide the best sound transmission and serve as low-tech intercoms. >> good to see you again, though, man. >> yeah. >> we're getting old, huh? >> [ bleep ], dude. >> [ bleep ]. >> we ain't changed since we

were kids. that's the scary part. >> stuck like chuck. >> stuck like chuck. >> i'm telling you he's got a big old smile on his face. he gets all happy every time he sees me. like one of the little dogs you leave home and when you come home, he's all excited, wagging his tail around, peeing all over the place. that's my buddy, though. >> what's up, we going to play chess or what? >> want to play some chess? >> they are both very happy that now that they're housed together and they've seen each other and can reminisce just like if we were seeing an old friend. >> 6 to 34. check. go ahead and move that way. >> they have a very good relationship. good rapport with each other. >> queen takes knight. let's see where you go with this. >> they're relatively happy and comfortable with each other. >> that's it, dog. [ bleep ]. that's game, fool. >> facing more than 60 charges along with two new charges for premeditated murder, bowles has found some comfort in being

reunited with his old friend. >> good game. >> all right. >> that friendship is about to grow even more important. though bowles has implied that he has brought death to others, two days later, death would pay him a visit. coming up, from behind the walls of the orange county jail, a stunning confession of mass murder. pressure. i feel it every day. but at night, it's the last thing on my mind. for 10 years my tempur-pedic has adapted to my weight and shape, relieving pressure points from head to toe. so i sleep deeply but feel light. and wake up ready to perform. even with the weight of history on my shoulders. find your exclusive retailr at tempur-pedic.com

so, this is every day. i do this two times a day. one time in the morning, one time after i work out. just keeps you busy. keeps the mind going. anything to keep the mind busy, keep it occupied. >> after receiving tragic news from his family, jeremy bowles'

life inside of the orange county jail has been focused on cleansing. >> i found out for the first time my mom died of a brain aneurysm on monday. i also found out that my uncle passed away of heart failure yesterday. my uncle was my best friend. he was always trying to help me, trying to get me to go down a good path. my uncle was like, he was just everything to me. >> i send my condolences. i'm here for you. you know that. you know, if you want to talk, you know. i'll let him -- i don't want to intervene in that little private part of his life that he's going through, you know. but it's messed up, you know. >> the thought that goes through my head is i wish i could just take his place. he was a good guy. you know, it's like -- you know,

after doing all the [ bleep ] in life, and you -- you go out there, you're hurting people, you're doing all the [ bleep ]. you don't think about other people's families. you don't think about nothing. because it's not in your face. you're sitting here and it happens to you and you're like to push things out of your mind. and you try to push them into a

corner. it's like, i don't have any more corners to push anything away anymore. >> not only did bowles run out of corners to push away the cripes of his past, he's decided to come to terms with them. though he had earlier alluded to having committed murder, he decided to reveal to us the stunning magnitude of his homicidal past. >> i remember 29 murders in detail. from times, dates, places. from caliber of weapons, methods used. i remember the sounds of people begging for their lives. i remember people saying no. i remember the smell of blood. i mean, they say you're a psychopath murderer after three people, a serial killer. i've blown that out of the water quite a few times. >> bowles says his first murder occurred at age 13 and that he used a variety of methods to kill. >> i used everything from bats to all kinds of -- zip ties is pretty devious. once you put that around somebody's neck, they can't get

it off. >> bowles not only spoke to us about the 29 murders, he spoke to jail officials, as well. >> after spending some time with jeremy bowles, he's basically confessed to my partner and i that he has committed numerous murders in numerous different ways. one murder was described to us -- he used some form of a liquid from "the anarchist's cookbook." and he was able to basically burn somebody so bad that they died. >> bowles says the victim was a childhood friend who his gang accused of being an informant. >> we went to the funeral and all that. and i'm just sitting in the funeral and nobody in the whole funeral -- i felt like the grim reaper just sitting there, looking at the person i just killed sitting in a casket. >> he's also described to us most recently that he has swum victims bodies and/or parts to a lake. and he's disposed of them that way.

>> most people, they -- as long as there's no air in them, they'll sink. get them out there, get them in the lake. whatever is at the bottom feeds. >> he's also told us that he has disposed of weapons that way. he would just go for a little midnight swim. and he'd come back without the parts and/or the weapons. jeremy bowles has also described to us that a different way he has disposed of some of his victims was during a time he worked in a mortuary via cremation. so while he was working in the mortuary, he was able to cremate at least one or more of his victims. >> i think the most gnarly [ bleep ] ever is just having to cut somebody up, doing it like that. that's not -- now that i look at it, i think it's kind of [ bleep ] me up in the head. now, i have to relive that and understand why i did it or what i did it for. >> 29, that number just keeps popping in my head. i mean, we know all these guys

that come through. i'm iceman this or iceman that for monikers. this guy should be the true iceman at that point. >> by what he's admitted to, i would definitely have to say so. >> definitely. iceman bowles. >> hey, bowles, is now a good time to talk? about what we were talking about earlier? okay. step back for me. at this point in time, i don't know what the motivation is for jeremy to confess all this. i don't know if his conscience is finally weighing on him. if the loss of his family members is weighing on him. or if the fact that his kids are out there running around without a good father figure. i'm not sure what his motivation is to confess at this time. do you feel that part of this and part of the reason you may be talking about these things that haven't been talked about or discussed or even known by law enforcement is part of a sense for you to bring some closure to some things? >> yeah. i just, you know, dealing with all this and just everything

period is just taking its toll on me. i think it's just better off that i do this, get this done with and get it out of my system because it's something that has been eating at me for a long time. you know, like other people's families. they have kids and they have moms and they have dads. i don't think a lot of them people have closure on a lot of things that have happened. >> right. >> i just feel that by clearing the air with certain things it puts me at ease. also helps me deal with my own demons in my own head. gives a chance to have closure and say sorry to a lot of people i've never had a chance to. >> kind of like your experience with the closure with your losses. >> yeah. >> okay. >> some things i wish some people would have said sorry to me or said bye before they left. and they never got a chance to. >> all right. well, we'll talk about it a little more a little later. if at any time something doesn't feel right and you're not able to deal with it, please, please, i encourage you to follow through with that. >> okay. >> all right? >> thank you. >> all right.

we'll talk more. coming up, two fathers with uncertain futures. reach out to their sons. >> i love you, jeremy. don't ever think different.

drew a picture for me. he says, can you send me a picture of you so i can see memories? send me a picture and i also want a drawing of something cool so i can show it off. i miss you, dad, a lot. >> one of the few things albert has to look forward to from his segregation cell at the orange county jail are letters from his 15-year-old son, jesse, who is currently housed in the county's juvenile facility. >> my son, he writes more. i send him drawings. i send him a little workout list. because he was asking me for the workout list. he tells me that the workout list was whack.

i was like, man. so i wrote him a hard one. i haven't heard him yet. he's always telling me, write me back, dad, write me back fast. i'm probably the only one that's keeps in constant contact with him, you know? they don't know that, you know -- i still support him from in here, you know. >> his days at the orange county jail could be coming to an end. a judge will soon decide whether or not to grant his appeal to have the gang enhancements dropped from his armed robbery charges. the decision could be the difference between ever seeing freedom again or not. >> i was childish back then. i couldn't fathom the consequences and the people i was hurting. basically i threw my whole life away, you know. if i knew that i was going to go through all this, you know, when i was getting sentenced? i would have rather just, you know -- if i could, i'll just go out to the firing squad or something, you know, just end

it. in reality, all i'm doing is dying a slow, painful death, you know? >> the victim was shot four times, face and chest area. >> briceno's childhood friend, jeremy bowles, will likely never see freedom again either. >> one more time in the head. >> after confessing to 29 murders, bowles has been asked by jail officials to detail the killings in writing. >> as the details come forward, our chain will basically be to gather all the information from him as much as possible, document it on paper. and then what we'll do is we'll start contacting the law enforcement agencies that it concerns. from there, those agencies will probably get ahold of the district attorney's office. and they'll probably have a sit-down with inmate bowles and they'll discuss each individual

crime as related to jurisdiction. and prosecution will start forward from there. >> what i'm asking in return is the death penalty. and to go. and just get it out of the way. >> i think that jeremy bowles actually wants to go to death row because he has a higher chance of dying of natural causes on death row rather than being executed by the california department of corrections. it's also a very comfortable place to live. i have talked to several inmates that have come from death row back here to orange county custody, and they have no qualms whatsoever being there. they say they're actually treated very well. >> i won't die here. i'll die of falling off a bottom step before this place executes me. so, i don't see that really, you know. i already know that i can live out a long life up there, just exhaust the appeals and do

everything else and just die of natural causes. >> regardless of whether bowles receives life in prison or the death penalty, he will leave six children behind. one of his sons has just turned 13. the same age bowles was when he began his life of crime. >> i don't write him very often, because we don't have very good communication. and it's his birthday. i figure at 13 years old you gives a kid advice and see that he runs with it. this is to my son. it says, hi, son. how are you? how's it going? how is life treating you? i want you to know i'm proud of you. very proud of you and you're growing up so fast. the time passes so quick. i hope your birthday's the best. you're such a great son. keep school and sports. that's number one. i know right now it might not seem like it but keep out of trouble and stay focused on life. i think of you and your brother all the time. i have a picture of you and him on the wall right next to where

i sleep. life is rough. and then it gets more rough. but you've got to stay open-minded an understand life is a test. you're the student. i love you, jeremy, don't ever think different. i know i have a funny way of showing it. and it seems even harder when you don't talk to me. but i know you're growing up and you need your space to see life for what it is. but if you ever want to talk or see me, let mom know. i know there will be a time when -- and i just stopped. like i was explaining to my neighbor earlier, it's like, you know, i love my kids. i do.

but i'm not a good dad. all because i didn't take the chance to actually step in and be somebody in their life. it's too late. >> too late for what? >> it's just too late to change. it's too late.

in jail for less than half an hour, one inmate launches a near-fatal attack. >> i was trying my best to kill him. kind of like willing him to die. >> a father accused of murdering his daughter admits to keeping her corpse with him for two years. >> the bible says heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead. jesus was raised from the dead. a lot of people were. that is kind of the basis of christianity.