on the west bank of the mississippi river is one of the oldest prisons in the country, iowa state penitentiary. there is a separate facility at iowa state penitentiary called ccu, the inmates who are considered mentally ill are housed here. lieutenant john fedler oversees the correctional staff at ccu. >> the staff have been through specialized training to be able to deal with the mentally ill inmates. >> up to 200 men can be housed in ccu. most of them reside in single cells in one of the four general population pods. >> i am here for depression. i was out on work release. i escaped from a work release center because i couldn't find a job. i robbed a bank in my hometown where the work release center was. i got in a high-speed chase with state troopers of missouri and local law enforcement. i hit one of the state troopers head-on, trying to commit suicide. and i killed the state trooper. i got 20 years fed, and 5 years for escape. i got a detainer in missouri for -- >> open 11. 22-year-old caleb etter's physical appearance is a testimony to his many crimes, beginning with an addiction to metha

at iowa state penitentiary, we found that the most brutal violence is sometimes against oneself. >> open 11. 22-year-old inmate caleb etter, suffered severe burns over two-thirds of his body when the methamphetamine lab he was running exploded. when we interviewed etter, he was also serving time for both sexual assault and for attacking a peace officer. >> i push everything to the limit, because as you can tell, i think i'm unstoppable. i think nothing will stop me. nothing will ever kill me. i thought i was god. reality check, i'm not. >> in spite of his calm demeanor, a few hours after this interview, etter got into a verbal confrontation with a female correctional officer that quickly escalated. c.e.r.t., the correctional emergency response team, was called in to extract him from his cell. >> he's been banging his head on

>> we met murray at iowa state penitentiary serving ten years for stealing cars. he spent the last two years as cell house 220 also known as the hole. >> this is your maximum security unit inside of a maximum security prison. here's where we house all the inmates that couldn't be handled at another institution or couldn't be handled in our general population area. now we have to deal with them over here. >> during his time in prison and especially in the hole, murray has found a coping device in self-mutilation. >> i've been in here so long it kind of releases stress. >> how do you cut yourself? >> i was on razors but they put me on razor restriction and i find stuff in here, staples, plastic from deodorants and stuff like that. >> when was the last time you cut yourself? >> about two weeks ago. >> the next day on their way to

met joseph gilchrist, the openly gay inmate was locked up in administrative segregation at iowa state penitentiaryawaiting judgment for his latest transgression. >> what's the charge? >> sexual misconduct. >> inmate gilchrist allegedly involved in a situation in the chapel involved in sexual activity with another inmate. he has a history of this. it's not a great surprise. >> there is a lot of sex in prison. the officers try to deter it as much as possible because of the fact that, it is iowa, it's not the most openly gay state. >> any type of sexual activity between inmates is against our rules. >> it's here. it goes on. >> but sex has been a source of trouble for gilchrist. only 20 years old when we met him, he was serving a 40-year sentence on 4 counts of sexual abuse. >> it was just a mistake i made when i was a kid and i was only 16. but, you know, stuff happened. >> navigating the gay scene behind bars has been another challenge for gilchrist. >> if we hang out together, it's easier for us because we all have that big major thing in common, even though a lot of time it draws more heat to us

>> when we met dante bullock at the anamosa state penitentiary in iowa, he was spending his third day in ad seg, the administrative segregation eye unit, also known as the hole. authorities say he stuffed this padlock inside of a sock and brutally attacked another inmate with it. >> do you think that you have a violent past or angry or what is your situation? >> i am violent when i am provoked. >> bullock is already serving a life sentence for kidnapping, but if the padlock assault charges stick, he could spend the next year in ad seg, locked in his cell 23 hours a day. >> i was in the wrong place at the wrong time. the inmate had been assaulted and my defense to them was telling them i was in the area and pushed out of the way as the inmate was trying to get away from the person that assaulted him. >> bullock was anxiously awaiting a hearing with the prison's administrative law judge to plead his case. in the meantime, he let us know that while ad seg meant losing

serving time for murder at animosa state penitentiary in iowa. >> i was never incarcerated with him. when i found out he was getting incarcerated, what he did time for, what he's charged for, they asked if there are any problems if we're in the same prison. i told them, yeah, i would probably end up killing him. i just cannot condone that. >> "lockup" has profiled many inmates who spew hatred to sex offenders. but we've also introduced viewers to those on the receiving end. thomas headley is serving a 15-year sentence at utah state prison. and like many sex offenders says his punishment is unjust and his crime misunderstood. >> i was charged with kidnapping somebody that was under 14. i am a man that is attracted to young women, god forbid. 99% of us are. >> when we interviewed him, headley was serving his time in solitary confinement as a punishment for being uncooperative. but he explained to us that he had his own motives for being in the hole.

>> our visit to the anamosa state penitentiary in iowa led us to a memorable pair of siblings michael and brad love whose lifelong allegiance drove them to kill. >> growing up i wanted to be him, you know. he was almost four years older than me. i see him running around drinking. breaking into stuff. doing whatever he is doing. i'm like i want to be like him. that's my big brother. that's my idol. so i kind of followed in the same footsteps. >> but as the love brothers revealed to our crew, those footsteps led down a bloody path that ended at a holiday party in the trailer park. >> christmas night, 1992, me and my brother went to a party with what we thought were friends. but they tried to rob us. take the liquor that we brought. >> they started beating me up. four of them. >> they hurt brad. i couldn't let them get away with that. they threatened his life. and i just couldn't handle that. so we left went to my trailer. i got a shotgun. my brother got a knife. machete. we went back out there and did what we did.

. >> when we visited iowa state penitentiary, we found the prison attempts to provide services for aa lot of the religions are a just quieting, mellowing, peaceful type of thing. and so for them to pray, to see god answer something is to have something answered is empowering. >> then we met an inmate named travis wolfkill. >> in the name of satan, the ruler of the earth, the king of the world, i command the forces of darkness to bestow the infernal power upon me. >> i'm in the satanic group here. there are only about four of us. it's a real small community. the church of satan is about enjoying life. it's about doing what you want to do. we believe in indulgence rather than abstinence. we believe in doing what makes us happy and what improves the quality of our life. >> such an attitude may have been what led wolfkill to a life sentence without the possibility of parole for murdering his grandmother over a $300 tax refund check. but he told us he has found a salvation of sorts in his religion. >> this has what's called the 11 satanic rules of the earth. and if you look at number nine

. >>> james "t-bone" taylor was one of the most respected inmates among inmates at iowa's anamosa state penitentiary good but for being a two-time cop killer. but when a survivor of one of his victims forgave him, taylor claims to have grown a conscience. in response, he and some other inmates were inspired to start a group they called s.a.v.e., seriously acknowledging victim's emotions. >> not enough attention is paid toward the victim. this group here is like after okay. it gives guys a chance to come and sit down and understand and find out why they have the behaviors that they have. >> our cameras rolled as inmates involved in the program met with families of victims. >> our past action implied that we held no regard for human life. today we know what it is to feel, see and hear all the insanity an destruction we've caused. this whole thing is not about us coming up here looking for pity. because we're not looking for pity. what we're looking for is an understanding that we know we did wrong. >> well, it affects me in a sense because i know the impact in these later years what i done. i don't do

>>> at the anamosa state penitentiary in iowa, dante bullock faces one year in the hole for allegedly assaulting another inmate with a homemade weapon, a lock in a sock. >> anything you say may and can be used against you in this hearing and can be held against you in criminal prosecution. >> our cameras were with him as he was about to plead his case in a prison discipline hearing. >> your number? >> after addressing procedural matters, administrative law judge william supeen reads the correctional officer's account of the assault. >> rights determined by the investigation that inmate bullock assaulted with a [ bleep ] weapon and sustained injuries to the head above the right eye and required stitches and broke his right hand trying to block the weapon that required a cast. i have here photos of the scene, of the incident that i will share with you. this is the victim of the assault, and injuries. also before me i have the sock with a padlock and combination lock inside. i have a statement from the staff member that located that. >> i ain't got nothing do with the assault. when the a