. >> wabash valley correctional facility, a maximum security prison on the western edge of indiana, theenterpiece of the rural town of carlisle. the inmate population of nearly 2,200 outnumbers local residents 4-1. many of indiana's most violent offenders are sent here. >> the approximate breakdown for offenders that have committed serious offenses against a person, which may be murder, voluntary manslaughter, battery, assault, is approximately 35% to 40% of our offender population. >> the most violent of these offenders are housed in single-person cells, 23 hours a day in the secured confinement unit. >> 1205. >> few, however, are more notorious than lenard mcquay who has spent 16 years here. >> he still is escorted anywhere he goes by staff. a two-man escort. he'll be cuffed behind the back. his recreation is in solitary, by himself. he doesn't get rec with the other people. his activities are kind of limited. it's all just by himself. that unit is designed for people like mcquay. everybody in there knows his history. >> the most infamous chapter of mcquay's history occurred when he w

. ♪ ♪ >>> on the western edge of southern indiana is the wabash valley town of carlisle where main streetjures images of a bygone era, and except for the daily passing of the csx freight line, this one-light town might be all but forgotten. just a couple miles down u.s. 41, however, is evidence that carlisle is anything but forgotten. >> it's 2 1/2 hours away from everywhere. it's just the middle of nowhere. what goes on out here? prison. that's what goes on out here. >> surrounded by little else but big skies, the wabash valley correctional facility houses more than 2,000 convicted felons, including some of the highest security prisoners in the state. it is a fortress among farms. >> we have a total of seven towers blanketing the entire facility, including one tower that's in the center of our south yard. we've got the two sets of fences all the way around the facility. the inner fence is a stun fence, it's a nonlethal stun fence. the outside fence another 14-foot fence covered with razor ribbon. shaker alarms on the inner fence. motion detector in between the fences. we think our perime

rural towns of america's heartland, it's changed the face of the inmate population at prisons like wabash valleyrectional facility in southwestern indiana. but wabash also houses men doing time for far more serious crimes. men like jeremy blanchard. >> i have never been a drug abuser. i've never been a drunk. i knew what i done when i done it. i knew the heinous nature of what i done. i can still to this day remember nearly every blood spot that was in that house. i can remember the wallpaper, the way the bodies were laid. i can remember nearly everything that happened that night. >> blanchard has served a little more than one year of a 195-year sentence, but his facial tattoos will forever commemorate both his crime, triple murder, and the moniker the local media gave him, kokomo slayer. >> it's telling you that's what i've done. that's who i am. that's what i'm about. yes. >> blanchard tracked down his former girlfriend, jessica berg, her mother and her mother's boyfriend when they traveled to kokomo, indiana, to attend a funeral for jessica's grandmother. blanchard broke into the house they w

now he's one of more than 2,000 inmates at the wabash valley correctional facility in southwestern indiana. >> yeah, i had a great home, a great mother. you know what i mean? but by the same token, when i step outside my front door, it's the jungle. coming home from school, you may get into a fight, you may get jumped, you may get shot, you know what i mean, may get harassed by the police, but when you grow up around that, it becomes normal. you get accustomed to it, and some may make it out of the neighborhood, if you can see an alternative lifestyle. but so many get consumed in a lifestyle that leads to prison or death. the street don't give you too many bright endings, man. i ran the streets, man. i did the street life. i'm in here washing clothes by hand and eating bull [ bleep ] chicks like that on the street. i wear my white t-shirt one time and throw it away and buy a new one. you make do with what you've got in prison, you know? the things you think you'll never do out on the street is like a luxury in here. this is everything, your kitchen, your bathroom, your laundry room, your b

menagerie to match that of philip stroud, who was serving three life sentences for murder at the wabash valley correctional facility in indiana. >> basically making origami figures. you've got the lion, you've got the swan, you've got the rabbit, little puppy, dinosaur, flower. my niece, she loves the little goldfish. this is my favorite one because it turns into like a kaleidoscope-type thing. the hardest one to make was probably the elephant because it got a lot 6 folds. i'm an artsy fartsy type of guy, i guess you could say. it's basically a way to spend my time, use my hands to make something that really means something that can bring a smile to somebody's face, instead of using -- using my time or using my hands to hurt somebody or to destroy something. i even sent some to nursing homes and stuff. the different animals remind me of when mom used to take us to the zoo or, you know, cartoons or stuff like that because in here, it's easy to grow cold. it's easy to become desensitized. and i was like that for a while. and i'm still trying to come out of that. so this is a part of me trying to

we had a lot of creative submissions from talented students across southern indiana and the wabash valley. the winning art piece recognized the 100th year anniversary of bossyville in evansville, a baseball field. it's the third oldest ballpark in the country and still in regular use for professional baseball. it was also featured in the popular film in 1991, a league of their own, a lot of that was filmed at bossyville in evansville, indiana. i'm also proud to say that communities in indiana's eighth congressional district were exceptionally involved in the bicentennial legacy project. the bicentennial legacy project showcases the best of indiana and pro-- to promote and support important community projects and programs across the state. it's really the best of the best for what the hoosier state has to offer. there are nearly 300 officially sanctioned bicentennial legacy projects undertaken in counties and communities in the eighth congressional district. the eighth district is also home to premiere places of historic, cultural and national significance. lyle station in gibson county, a