Shows / 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…
Episodes
- The First Degree
Episode 130: The Swiss Cheese Pervert
A group of girls are driving home from a John Mayer concert when a man pulls up next to them. The man reaches out his hand, holding up a piece of Swiss cheese…
- The First Degree
Episode 129: DJ Fickey
DJ and Brandy fell in love. They got married and had three children. All seemed good until a guy named Mike entered the picture. A love triangle, physical…
- The First Degree
Episode 128: The Andrews Family Part 3
In the shocking conclusion to the Andrews family story, a man has been arrested for their murder—a man who had a motive. His girlfriend was sleeping with Mr…
- The First Degree
Episode 127: The Andrews Family Part 2
A husband and wife are found slain in their bedroom—him shot in the head, her beaten to death. Their two year old baby, with blood on his socks, is in the…
- The First Degree
Episode 126: The Andrews Family Part 1
The only sound on the 911 call sounded like an infant. Authorities entered the house and found a toddler. But where were his parents? It would take a search of…
- The First Degree
Episode 125: 2020 Is Almost Over
An extended Killin' Time episode where Jac, Alexis & Billy reflect and wax hopeful about 2021 Please support the show by checking out our sponsors! Chil…
- The First Degree
Episode 124: Festivus
Please support the show by checking out our sponsors! Chil Wellness: Visit Chilwellness.com and enter 25OFF at checkout for 25% off your order. Embark: Go to…
- The First Degree
Episode 123: Malcolm Burrows Part 2
Malcolm Burrows is dead. Adam Braseel has been sent to a maximum security prison for his murder. He maintains he is innocent, but no few believe him--Until the…
- The First Degree
Episode 122: Malcolm Burrows Part 1
A woman is attacked in her own home by a man wielding a baseball bat. The man, wearing a white cap, runs out of the house and escapes in a gold car. The police…
- The First Degree
Episode 121: Emma Walker
16-year-old Emma Walker and 18-year-old Riley Gaul had been together for two years and appeared to be the perfect couple, especially on social media. And they…
- The First Degree
Episode 120: Thanksgiving
🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon: patreon.com/thefirstdegree 📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree 🕺…
- The First Degree
Episode 119: Westley Young
In 2006, a Myspace post began circulating among a group of friends in Stevens point Wisconsin. The claims made in the post were sinister, horrifying and…
- The First Degree
Episode 118: Coach Scully
A high school pole vaulting coach doesn’t show up for practice. His car is then found on the side of the roads near the woods, door open, keys still in the…
- The First Degree
Episode 117: Stephen Perez
Imagine enlisting in the army before you even turn 18. You do two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, come back home to Boston and pursue a career in law…
- The First Degree
Episode 116: Dianne Hood Part 2
Diane Hood had been murdered in cold blood by her husband’s lover. That much is clear. But what everyone wants to know now is: Did she act alone, or did…
- The First Degree
Episode 115: Dianne Hood Part 1
Two women walk through a parking lot at night. They are accosted by a masked figure who demands their belongings. They comply. But as one of them runs away…
- The First Degree
Episode 114: Vicki Logan & Wanda Turner
Imagine being in college and getting a phone call--the police think one of your best friends from high school, a guy you thought of as a little brother--…
- The First Degree
Episode 113: Oklahoma City Bombing Part 3
In episode 112, Jac, Alexis and Billy conclude with part three of their series on The Oklahoma City Bombing. Please support the show by checking out our…
- The First Degree
Episode 112: Oklahoma City Bombing Part 2
Imagine you just got married six weeks ago. You’re both secret service agents. You work in Phoenix. She works in Oklahoma City, but you are planning your next…
- The First Degree
Episode 111: Oklahoma City Bombing Part 1
Depending on your generation, you have those defining moments of our childhood, where you can recall exactly where you were when it happened. For baby boomers…
- The First Degree
Episode 110: Mikey Keller
Imagine being one month away from going on your first plane ride. One month away from seeing the ocean for the first time...and then the opportunity is…
- The First Degree
Episode 109: Janet Downing Part 2
Janet Downing lay dying in her dining room. Dying from 98 stab wounds. The person arrested for murder was not an escaped mental patient. He was not the boogie…
- The First Degree
Episode 108: Janet Downing Part 1
It was the hang-out house in the neighborhood. All the kids would come by the Downing residence, visiting with 16-year old twins Ryan and Paul, chilling in the…
- The First Degree
Episode 107: Shannon Leigh Kos
When 12-year-old Shannon Leigh Kos disappeared on a Sunday afternoon, the police initially suspected that the rebellious 7th grader was just blowing off some…
- The First Degree
Episode 106: Pat & Bobbie McNeely
Can someone be born evil? Or is evil a product of your environment. The McFeelys had their hands full with their teenage grandson, Brian. The boy they had…
- The First Degree
Episode 105: Seath Jackson
When Seath started dating Amber, the 15-year-olds shouted their love from rooftops—and across social media. But as high school romances are want to do, the…
- The First Degree
Episode 104: Colleen Ritzer
Two people fail to come home after a day at high school. One is a 14-year old student and soccer player who just moved into town. The other is a 24-year-old…
- The First Degree
Episode 103: The BTK Killer Part 3
It’s now 2004, and BTK has been lurking in the shadows of Wichita, Kansas for 30 years. The murders have stopped, and it looks like he got away with his…
- The First Degree
Episode 102: The BTK Killer Part 2
After murdering five people, the killer known as BTK made his first contact with the media. But now he’s disappeared. For three long years would waits, before…
- The First Degree
Episode 101: The BTK Killer Part 1
A mother, father and their two children are found murdered in their Wichita, Kansas home. When a group of men falsely confess to the crimes, the real killer…
- The First Degree
Episode 100: John Getreu
Two young women, their bodies beaten and strangled and found less than a mile from each other in the hills near Stanford University. For 40 years their killer…
- The First Degree
Episode 99: Margaret Williams
A teenager is getting ready for a school dance. She’s quiet and shy but tonight, her friends are making her look and feel like a million bucks. It’s the summer…
- The First Degree
Episode 98: The Short Family
You drive past a lakefront mansion, see kids playing in the yard under the watchful eye of a smiling couple and you wish you could be that happy. They have it…
- The First Degree
Episode 97: Jayme Closs
In the middle of the night, a man bangs on the door of a suburban house. A mother and daughter huddle in the bathroom. A father goes to the front door to…
- The First Degree
Episode 96: NXIVM
The story of how Keith Raniere became an international self-help guru — and, later, a convicted sex-cult leader — is one of those cautionary tales that’s not…
- The First Degree
Episode 95: Listen
This week, we are handing our mic over to our Black listeners to share their experiences of living in this country as a Black American. To everyone who sent…
- The First Degree
A Message To Our Listeners
🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon: patreon.com/thefirstdegree 📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree 🕺…
- The First Degree
Episode 94: Lorena Bobbitt
The story of Lorena Bobbitt drew media attention in 1993 for being one of the most and disturbing domestic dispute stories to ever hit the news. Lorena was not…
- The First Degree
Episode 93: Jim & Sandy Melgar
You get a call that your father is dead. You rush home and find he has been murdered. He was tied up, stabbed 31 times and beaten over the head. What could be…
- The First Degree
Episode 92: Jodi Arias Part 3
It was a trial that seduced, consumed, and horrified the nation— Jodi Arias, facing the death penalty for the murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. Over…
- The First Degree
Episode 91: Jodi Arias Part 2
Travis Alexander was found Murdered in his shower—shot in the face, stabbed in the back, his throat slashed ear to ear. Many of his friends pointed a finger at…
- The First Degree
Episode 90: Jodi Arias Part 1
Jealousy. Suspicion. Rage. And a calculated murder. You may think you know everything about Jodi Arias, the woman who killed Travis Alexander. But in episode…
- The First Degree
Episode 89: Serial Killer Bruce Mendenhall Part 2
A Detective is trying to solve a murder at a local truck stop. His only lead is a grainy image of a yellow truck. One day, When a yellow long haul truck passes…
- The First Degree
Episode 88: Serial Killer Bruce Mendenhall Part 1
A woman is found murdered at a truck stop in Nashville Tennessee. She is nude, displayed grotesquely, and a chunk of her flesh is missing. Was it to hide her…
- The First Degree
Episode 87: The Ramirez Murders
Jose Ramirez frantically called the police. He told them that his house had been ransacked, his parents were missing—and there was dried blood on the floor…
- The First Degree
Episode 86: Sheila Bellush Part 2
Sheila Bellush had been discovered brutally murdered in her home, her four quadruplet babies covered in her blood after being left alone with their mother’s…
- The First Degree
Episode 85: Sheila Bellush Part 1
Sheila Bellush is found dead, her throat slashed and shot in the face in the laundry room of her Florida home. The only witnesses to her murder? Her 23 month…
- The First Degree
Episode 84: Alexander Ernandes
In true crime, the story always seems to start like this: they had a perfect life, a loving family, a great home. Then we talk about how everything goes to…
- The First Degree
Episode 83: Mackenzie Cowell
Do you think you can always guess who the killer is just from a few details? The husband did it. The boyfriend did it. But sometimes, it’s not so simple. When…
- The First Degree
Episode 82: Tara Grinstead
In 2005 a 30-year-old pageant queen and teacher named Tara Grinstead went missing. The community, her family and law enforcement were baffled- but all of that…
- The First Degree
Episode 81: Mr. Anime
"Welcome to the house of fun. I'm Trey.” This is how teenager Trey Sessler introduced himself to the world on his Facebook profile. What was so fun about…
- The First Degree
Episode 80: Megan Metzger
What if you were at a party and someone looked through your purse? What if they found something that to you was completely innocent—but to them was a threat?…
- The First Degree
Episode 79: A Biker and a Murderer
You’re awakened at night by a prowler entering your home. What do you do? In the case of Kinney Glasson, you grab your gun and investigate—to devastating…
- The First Degree
Episode 78: The Black Dahlia Part 2
He was an eccentric doctor in charge of fighting VD in Los Angeles. He held lavish parties at his Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home, entertaining famous artists…
- The First Degree
Episode 77: The Black Dahlia Part 1
The body of a woman is found in a vacant lot in suburban Los Angeles. She has been mutilated, cut in two with surgical precision, and her face has been slashed…
- The First Degree
Episode 76: The Runaway Murders
A mother and her two children seemingly disappear from their home in rural Missouri. An officer searching for them from the air spots something strange…
- The First Degree
Episode 75: Melissa Duran
Aurora Duran was busy getting her children ready for school when she heard a commotion at her front door. When she went to investigate, she saw two men…
- The First Degree
Episode 74: Father Eric Freed
On New Year's Day of 2014, the parishioners of St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church were waiting patiently for morning mass to commence in Eureka, California…
- The First Degree
Episode 73: Polly Klaas
On today’s very special New Years Day episode, Jac, Alexis, and Billy revisit one of the nations most infamous child abduction cases. On October 1, 1993, s…
- The First Degree
Episode 72: Kenny Ratzlaff
On episode 72 of the first degree, Jac, Alexis and Billy discuss Alexis' most recent first degree connection which acts as a chilling reminder for the fact…