Exclusive Interview With One of Texas 7

Feb. 1 -- The “Texas Seven” escaped from prison only to start new lives, says one of them, Randy Halprin, and no one was supposed to die.

In the end, a police officer was killed in a confrontation Halprin acknowledges was "cold-blooded."

In an exclusive interview with ABCNEWS' Chris Wallace, Halprin, who is awaiting extradition from his Colorado prison cell to Texas, explains the group believed they could start their lives over. That, as well as observed weaknesses in security at the Connally Unit of a state prison in Kenedy, Texas, gave the group of convicted felons confidence.

"I had honestly believed that maybe I was gonna get my own second chance to show that I could, you know, possibly survive in the world without being looked at as a monster, a felon or just a criminal in general," Halprin says. "There were a lot of weaknesses [in prison security], and mainly what we did is we capitalized on how sloppy the procedures were, as far as security."

"It was a joke, the way everything was run, the way the guards treated the inmates, the way the inmates treated the guards, the whole system," Halprin says in an interview airing on PrimeTime Thursday.

Halprin and five fellow inmates — George Rivas, Michael Rodriguez, Joseph Garcia, Donald Newbury and Patrick Murphy — were captured after a monthlong nationwide manhunt. A sixth, Larry Harper, killed himself inside an RV as police outside urged him to give up.

Halprin was serving a 30-year sentence for child abuse when he and his associates escaped the maximum security prison on Dec. 13. Authorities believe the group stole at least one automatic rifle, 14 .357-caliber Magnum pistols and 238 rounds of ammunition during their escape, and numerous guns from a sporting goods store while on the run. They are also charged with killing Irving, Texas, police officer Aubrey Hawkins during the store robbery.

Halprin says that Hawkins' slaying was "a mess" that was not supposed to happen and insists he and Murphy were not involved.