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

>> shortly after "lockup" arrived at kentucky state penitentiary, officers had to extract harper from threatened us with throwing feces on police officers, spitting on us through the door, he threatened our families. >> a lot of the older ones like lieutenant gill, all of them, they know me from when i was a youngster. back down here. so we have a different type of communication level and understanding. >> every night you are going to go through this. you hear me? every night you work, honky, you racist, redneck, no good [ bleep ], [ bleep ]. >> harper will serve at least two more years in segregation. >> i made things hard for myself. i been in segregation three years. i don't blame nobody else. because i had an opportunity to get out of here. i let my anger and things get to me that i shouldn't have. and as a result of that, i'm still here. >> i can't say i'm sane. i'm pretty off balance, but i keep it in a certain amount of control. >> another inmate at kentucky state penitentiary who is no stranger to cell extractions is victor hiatt. prior to interviewing him, our producer was du

still, there are those inmates like alex bennett, at the kentucky state penitentiary, who don't always agree with or abide by the rules. >> i'm a person that's been in the joint all my life. i've been told i'm pretty hard-core. and i need a certain type of environment. you got something you want to say to me now? we can get it on national tv here. do you? >> everything about alex's mannerisms, his appearance and the words that he spoke said convict. alex just embodied that. >> bennett was 54 years old when we met him and had spent 33 of those years behind bars for armed robbery, kidnapping and murder. >> the system today isn't like the system that i came into 36 years ago. the system today has the majority of their inmates programmed to do what they're told when they're told to do it. and so, they get to the point where they expect that from everybody. well, there's still a few old dogs around, who like to do things their own way. >> bennett's way of doing things, however, has had horrifying results. after adapting to life in a single-person cell here, he was transferred to a lower sec

." >> 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 i stabbed him with it three or four times, until he was dead. 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 hand on it, do what you need to do. >> "lockup" crews are regularly exposed to the tools of a deadly trade. >> in every prison we film in, there's always a shank museum, a place where the authorities display all the weapons that are confiscated by staff. ♪ homemade weapons the inmates have made from bed springs or melted down plastic.

as a group of inmates at kentucky state penitentiary explain to us. >> i fear none of these guys outfear the worse is my clique. it's not a clique, my friends i hang with, these 10, 15 people. i probably fear them the most. i know who they are. the rest of these guys, i don't fear none of them. i hope they watch this, so they all know, the ones that don't can all know. they probably do anyway. >> the only thing i fear is them. >> just because i don't fear them doesn't mean they can't take me out of them, though, you don't have to fear a man to get killed or hurt by them. if he fears you, that's when you have to worry. >> in here, especially, he'll sneak up on you with a knife, a rock, a choke. whatever they want to do, they will get you because they fear you. >> to me a coward will hurt you. he's more dangerous than a stone-cold killer is because he's scared. he's going to put himself in a situation where he's in a corner. >> that's his only way out. >> yeah. >> no group of inmates feels no cornered than sex offenders. rapists and child molesters are the pariahs of the prison yard. >

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 went to jail was 15 years old. i burned elementary school down. it's pretty much downhill from there. >> and as an openly gay man, campbell's time behind bars has had its challenges. >> being gay in prison is really hard. it's hard enough to do time in here. but the fact that everybody knows that you're gay, there's 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's very few people here that are gay on the streets, and gay in here, as well. there's a lot of people that say they don't mess around. but then when they get you by yourself it's like, hey, man, what's up? >> one of the things that struck me about matthew was how comfortable he was in his own skin. i mean here's an openly gay inmate, in a southern prison, and he didn't have any problems with it. but when we went out to the yard to try to get some b-roll

." >> 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