unspeakably cruel ways, so perhaps it was no accident that the architect who designed the kentucky state penitentiary more than a century ago, built a structure that resembles a castle where dungeons might have served as torture chambers. for even the most hardened criminals in kentucky today, the first sight of the prison can be overwhelming. during the next hour, we'll take you inside kentucky's maximum security prison, known as the castle on the cumberland. ♪ the cumberland river winds through the western kentucky town of eddyville. looming around a bend is a virtual fortress. the kentucky state penitentiary, also known as the castle on the cumberland. >> i was really intimidated by this place. it's an intimidating place to walk into. >> this could be the worst place you have ever been in your life. >> the eddyville castle will get you. somebody will take your life from you if you come through here with that old chip on your shoulder, there's going to be somebody to take it off you. >> ksp is kentucky's only maximum security facility. a group of stone masons from italy teamed with inmates from var

a deal's a deal. >> back at kentucky state penitentiary, randy haight made it clear. he's not as eager to face death as holton. but he's ready for it, nonetheless. >> i'm extremely sad for what i've done. it hurts me knowing that i went to the level that i went. and if there was any way possible for me to be healed or correct it, believe me, it would be done. it's an impossible situation not only for me but for everybody involved, you know? and i'm not saying that to get out of an execution or -- because like i said, i'd ready. if you want to kill me, let's go. i'm ready to go. but i think that i have something i can offer somebody. and i don't think it's really time for me to die.

still there those inmates like alex bennett at the kentucky state penitentiary who don't always agreewho has been in the joint all my life. i am told i am pretty hard core. i need a certain type of environment. >> you got smug want to say to me now, we can get it on national tv here. >> everything about alex, his mannerisms and appearance and the words he spoke said convict. alex just embodied that. >> bennett was 54 years old when he met him and spent 33 of those years behind bars for armed robbery, kidnapping and murder. >> the system today is not like the system that i came into 36 years ago. the system today has the majority of their inmates programmed to do what they are told when they are told to do it. they get to the point where they expect that from everybody. there still a few old dogs around who like to do things their own way. >> bennett's way of doing things had horrifying results. after adapting to in a single person cell here, he was transferred to a lower security prison in 1998. he had more privileges there. but also had to share a cell. that's when things began to go

. >>> at kentucky state penitentiary, some inmates can apprentice in an auto body shop. at rikers island jail, a bakery churns out nearly 90,000 loaves of bread per week while teaching inmates how to bake. in many of the prisons profiled on "lockup," inmates have opportunities to learn skills that can help them find work on the outside. but all too many spend their time honing skills more suitable to mayhem and murder. >> i stabbed an inmate 12 times over some dope in front of the chow hall. >> i took a knife and stabbed him with it three or four times until he was dead. and then i butchered him with it. >> you find a piece of metal or something, file it down on the concrete. it ain't got to be sharp, it's just got to have a point. put your handle on it and do what you need to do. >> "lockup" crews are regularly exposed to the tools of a deadly trade. >> every prison we film in, there's always a shank museum, a place where the authorities display all of the weapons that are confiscated by staff. homemade weapons the inmates have made from bed springs or melted down plast

> when we met matthew campbell he was serving 12 years for armed robbery and assault at kentucky state penitentiary. but his troubles began much earlier. >> first time i've went to jail, i was 15 years old, at ferndale elementary school, and pretty much downhill from here. >> as an openly gay man, campbell's time behind bars has had its challenges. >> being gay in prison is really hard. it is hard enough. your time in here. but the fact that everybody knows that you are gay, it is constant pressure for, you know, sex. >> you have a lot of people here that now that they're in prison they resort to what they have to as far as sex. i have to say there is very few people here who are gay on the streets and gay in here as well. there is a lot of peep that say they don't mess around, but when they get you by their self, it's like, hey, man, what's up? one of the things that struck me about matthew how comfortable he was in his own skin. here is an openly gay inmate in a southern prison. and he didn't have any problems with it. when we went out to the yard to get roll with matthew playing a game, it was c