The First Degree

The First Degree

Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be friends with a murderer? Or escape a kidnapping? Or have a father who was a serial killer? Join Jac Vanek and Alexis Linkletter on a chilling ride into the darkest corners of your worst nightmares. Murders, cults, kidnappings, and conspiracies—all told through the eyes of a guest who is one degree of separation from the story itself. From infamous serial killers to the unbelievable unknown murder in your own backyard, The First Degree delivers a new perspective to the already fascinating true crime landscape. And who knows... you may be our next guest. (Plus, join them every Thursday for Killing Time, the light-hearted, true crime-adjacent aftershow!)

Episodes

June 12, 2025 42 mins

There’s a lotttt that happened last week and we’re covering it all: JP Miller (the creepy abusive pastor) married his mistress just a year after his wife mysteriously took her own life, Justin Baldoni’s lawsuit was dismissed (but is it really what it seems??? We’re breaking it down for you), new info leaning towards Ocean Gate being a suicide mission, and of course the latest Diddy updates. 

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Over a span of 39 years, at least 14 aliases, 17 arrests, and nearly a dozen imprisonments, Robert Spears had lived a con artists' life of unparalleled adventure and intrigue. His crimes culminated in an ultimate act of evil, when he downed a crowded aircraft to fake his own death. This is a tale of one man who became obsessed with this story and the dichotomy of the man at the center of it.  

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It’s part two of our Diddy trial coverage, and this week we FINALLY learn wow and why the infamous tape from The Intercontinental hotel was covered up for so long (hint: $100k). We go through the rest of the highlights from this week in trial, plus Blake drops her emotional distress claims against Justin Baldoni, and Celine Dion has a satanic children’s clothing line???

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June 4, 2025 43 mins

In the early morning hours of July 18, 2021, a 23-year-old woman is standing in line at a food truck outside a Phoenix nightclub when gunfire erupts. She is struck in the chest and later dies at the hospital, leaving her family devastated. As police investigate, they uncover very little evidence—aside from a grainy video of a dark-colored car speeding away. To this day, her case remains unsolved. In episode 354, Jac and Alexis revi...

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May 29, 2025 44 mins

We’re back and (almost) live, giving you the latest updates of the Diddy trial.  This week, Lex is bringing Jac up to speed on everything that has gone down the past few weeks at trial, including details about Kid Cudi’s car bombing, Cassie’s bombshell testimony, and the insane stories that Diddy’s numerous personal assistants had to share.  We will be back next week for more!

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May 28, 2025 40 mins

A 911 call brought firefighters to the home of Melissa Lamesch in November 2020. Melissa was only days away from being induced and delivering her first child, a son. Instead, first responders would find her unconscious on the kitchen floor. What seemed at first to be an accidental fire soon turned into a murder investigation. And the suspect? Melissa’s on-again, off again firefighter boyfriend and the father of her baby.  In episod...

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May 22, 2025 52 mins

IT’S TIME! This week, the girls are finally deep diving into Shen Yun. And this time, it’s personal. Jac and Lex went to a Shen Yun show themselves to see what all of the fuss was about. They’re diving into the bizarre history of Shen Yun itself, what going to a Shen Yun show is REALLY like, and figuring out once and for all if Shen Yun is actually a cult (spoiler alert: it is). 

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May 21, 2025 41 mins

Around 11am on the morning of November 8th, 2004, a resident of the Bixby Knolls neighborhood in Long Beach saw what looked to be a prowler hoping the fence into the backyard of Lynn Schockner.  Concerned, the neighbor immediately called the police. Within minutes, police were at Lynn’s front door, asking her to open her side gate. In the span of minutes, with police outside her house, Lynn was stabbed to death by an intruder. What...

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May 15, 2025 42 mins

The bitch is back! This week Jac and Lex are joined by their fav, Holly Madison to gossip about all of the latest dark news. We get her hot takes on Blake vs Justin, the disgusting slew of female teacher predators, and of course Diddy (and was there really a tunnel connecting his house to the Playboy Mansion???). 

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May 14, 2025 42 mins

On August 21, 2023, a 53-year-old husband and father fails to return home from work not far from Oakland, Maryland. News eventually reaches his family that he’s been involved in a terrible incident. While driving home, the crane operator’s vehicle skids off the road and ends up in a ravine, his life hanging in the balance. The man is taken to the hospital, where he tragically dies. But it’s not injuries from the car crash that have...

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May 8, 2025 46 mins

This week Jac and Alexis dive into the long awaited start of the Diddy trial (and why haven’t we seen ANYTHING about it on the news???), bringing the latest updates including the complexity of jury selection, celebrity names mentioned we’ve never heard before, and what will or will not be included during trial.  Then, the latest with the Blake and Ryan cringe machine, and finishing it off with the weirdest “realistic 3D model” of M...

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On July 30, 2000, an 85-year-old man and his 78-year-old wife are taken hostage and soon after killed in a home in Concord, California. In the following days, three more murders are committed as a trio of offenders seek to leave minimal witnesses behind. When the perpetrators are apprehended and their motivations revealed, the truth behind the bloodbath is as bizarre as it is frightening - a dark and elaborate plan so disconnected ...

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May 1, 2025 41 mins

This week Jac and Alexis unpack their recovery from Stagecoach and dive into the latest headlines: from Katy Perry’s tour flop (why was she fighting an HVAC tube???) to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ Time 100 Gala outing (why was she on the list???), and the Elizabeth Moss sighting at L Ron Hubbards bday party (why is a dead man still throwing birthday parties???). Another weird, wild week

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April 30, 2025 38 mins

Molly Frequemont’s family wants answers and they refuse to stop advocating for her.  Their determination and unwavering commitment to Molly is what ultimately unearthed the existence of a serial killer who had likely been operating under the radar for decades. Which begs the question, how many more victims could this predator be connected to? In episode 349, Jac and Alexis conclude with part 2 of the story and search for Molly Fran...

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There’s a lot to talk about this week! Since the Blue Origin fiasco, people have been digging up Katy Perry’s past of stealing a house from a convent of nuns and one of the nuns dropping dead IN COURT, plus we dive into a dead guy making music with his brain cells post mortem, the conspiracy theory of cemeteries (where are all the bodies ACTUALLY buried), and Prince Charles playing a carrot harmonica. Plus Blake & Ryan updates (spo...

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April 23, 2025 40 mins

In March 2013, a 37-year-old California woman suddenly stops calling her mother and daughter, who live on the East Coast. Her family has no idea that just weeks earlier, she had moved in with a man she’d quickly grown afraid of. When her phone stops working and a check from her mother goes uncashed, concern sets in. As detectives begin looking into her disappearance, they uncover a disturbing pattern involving other women who died ...

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April 17, 2025 50 mins

This week we were blessed by the cringe gods for giving us the gift of the absolute disaster of the Blue Origin trip!  We dive into the nitty gritty of the controversies, dive deep into the conspiracies, and have a little chuckle at Jess Bezos eating shit.  Who knew it was possible for celebrities to be THIS tone deaf!

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Four days after Megan Barroso disappeared, another woman was attacked. This time in broad daylight. Then came a break—an arrest that had nothing to do with murder or rape. A petty burglary. A bag in the trash. A call to the police. And suddenly, everything changed. In Part 2 of our coverage on the Simi Valley Rapist,  Jac and Alexis follow the unraveling of the mystery: the evidence hidden in plain sight, the roommates who unknowin...

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April 10, 2025 44 mins

This week we are deconstructing Chris Watt’s new letters to God blaming his mistress for him murdering his wife and children, the return of the Direwolf (can we bring back the T-Rex next??), Russel Brand blaming his new allegations on an attack from the Deep State, and can Mountain Dew actually predict the future??

🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:

patreon.com/thefirstdegree

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Between 1996 and 2001, a series of violent attacks terrorized the seemingly idyllic community of Simi Valley, California. Women were being terrorized in their homes. Families were jolted from sleep by the sounds of screams—and silence. There was no pattern. No suspect. No name. In episode 346, Jac and Lex  trace the early crimes of the man the press would eventually dub the Simi Valley Rapist.  And just when the community began to ...

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