Some of the world's most notorious criminals have been put to death at San Quentin prison, including 'Night Stalker' serial killer Richard Ramirez.
"The Arena", as inmates call it, is the oldest prison in California and the largest death-row in America where 421 condemned men have been executed by gas, noose or needle since 1893.
Since 1996, executions have been carried out solely by lethal injection; although it is worth noting that there has not been such an event since 2006.
And while its 737 residents are all still technically under sentence of death, they are being moved away from the condemned cells of San Quentin following an executive order from Governor Gavin Newsom.
He put a stop to executions in California, which means inmates such as wife-killer Scott Peterson will be transferred into the general prison population.
The prison, which has been featured on film, hosted concerts and been the subject of many books, will be converted into a "positive, healing environment".
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San Quentin first made a merciless name for itself back in 1893, when the first of 215 prisoners were hanged from its gallows.
Since then, the likes of infamous serial killer Charles Manson have stalked its hallways, as well as William Bonin who murdered at least 21 men and boys.
Murderous 'Night Stalker' Richard Ramirez was caged in its unforgiving cells after he was convicted of raping, torturing and killing at least 13 people.
He also was convicted of sodomy, oral copulation, burglary and attempted murder and sentenced to death in 1989.
However, Ramirez was never executed.
He died from complications of B-Cell lymphoma in 2013 after spending 23 years on death row.
The prison has been a home for some of the world's most notorious criminals, but none have served for as long as convicted murderer Douglas Ray Stankewitz.
He has lived at the prison for more than 43 years in a roughly four-by-10-foot cell, convicted of kidnapping and murdering a young woman named Theresa Greybeal in 1978.
Stankewitz suddenly shot the 21-year-old girl in the head after he and his friends had stolen her car and driven around with her as a captive.
He has pleaded not guilty throughout the course of his sentence.
The most recent execution took place in 2006.
Clarence Ray Allen, 76, lost his vision and was confined to a wheelchair when guards prepared him for the lethal combination of drugs.
They restrained his arms and legs to the table before giving him the fatal injection.
Clarence, who was already serving a life sentence for one murder, was convicted again for organising the killing of three more people from within prison.
He spent 23 years at San Quentin.
Scott Peterson, 49, was caged in death row for killing his pregnant wife on Christmas Eve in 2003.
He killed 27 year old Laci before dumping her body in the San Francisco Bay.
Her baby's fetus, which was also recovered later in 2003, was mutilated.
Peterson was transferred to San Mateo County jail last November after his death sentence was overturned.
In April 1967, condemned cop killer Aaron Mitchell slashed his forearm with a piece of metal and reopened his wounds right before his execution, proclaiming the blood to be that of Jesus Christ.
He smeared blood on his palms and stood naked in the crucifixion pose, saying he was "going to save the world."
Then, 25 years later, Robert Alton Harris was executed by poisonous gas in the nicknamed “smokehouse”.
He had murdered two 16-year-old San Diego boys after robbing a bank, telling them to "stop crying and die like men" before flicking their flesh off his gun.
The biggest killer within the prison walls was, however, not a man.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, at least a dozen death row inmates passed away from the virus - more than the state has put to death in about 30 years.
