Growing whispery and weepy, Jimmy tells me his story. He murdered his wife and two daughters, aged 14 and 9, with an axe. "I don't want to live," he moans, "I'm a monster." In 25 years of making prison films I've never seen an inmate crack open this way. Most killers I have encountered rarely show real remorse.

I used to visit Kingston pen -- which is now shutting down -- throughout one summer about 20 years ago to visit the late Clifford Olson, Canada's most notorious serial killer of 11 young people. Olson fit in well at Kingston. He had a bounce in his step, eyes probing every direction, cheerfully greeting people, gesturing and not the slightest subdued. The contrast with other inmates was startling.