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
DEEP DIVE: BIG ASS WIGS
Get in loser we’re going to reveal the bleak, disgusting truths about your favorite fashion trends (hint: they all originated as ways to hide disease in the…
- The First Degree
Episode 370: Brown's Chicken Massacre, Part 2
For nearly ten years, investigators had no clue who killed seven people in the Palatine Brown’s Chicken on January 8th of 1993. They followed more than 4,800…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: DEEP IN OUR EELINGS
Move over octopuses, eels are the REAL alien in town. Jac accidentally fell into the Bermuda Triangle and she’s sharing all of her eel facts with the class…
- The First Degree
Episode 369: Brown's Chicken Massacre, Part 1
Shortly after 9 p.m. on January 8th of 1993, seven people begin the closing routine for the Brown’s Chicken & Pasta restaurant located in Palatine, Illinois…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: SHOW ME DEM ALIENS
This week we’re going all over the place, so buckle up for the ride. Starting off with a dead body being found in a TikTok star’s Tesla trunk (but he’s been on…
- The First Degree
Episode 368: Zahra Baker
On the afternoon of October 9, 2010, police in Hickory, North Carolina, receive a report of a missing 10-year-old girl. Everyone in her life is desperate for…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: UNKNOWN CALLER, THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH
The title says it all. This week we are deep diving Unknown Caller: The High School Catfish documentary, because we’ve got THOUGHTS. We analyze every moment of…
- The First Degree
Episode 367: An Arrest: Nikki Cheng Saelee McCain
When we first covered the disappearance of 39-year-old mother of four, Nikki Cheng Saelee McCain, in episode 330, her case was still classified as a missing…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: BASED ON A FAKE STORY
It’s a variety show kinda week, and we’re covering all ends of the oddity spectrum for you. From Will Smith’s AI concert promo fail, to forensic otters, to…
- The First Degree
Episode 366: The Kalamazoo Uber Murders
It began as an ordinary night in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Families were out, friends gathered, strangers hailed rides to get across town. But beneath the surface…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: DIZZY GLIZZY
It’s a week full of replacing eyeballs with teeth, con men “suicides”, and thousands of hotdogs flying through the air. Plus, Jenna Miscavige is officially on…
- The First Degree
Episode 365: Carrie Lepak
Homicide detectives are trained to speak for the dead. They build cases from silence, piecing together fragments of lives they never truly knew. Rarely do they…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: TOUR DE EPSTEIN
Have you ever wondered what the inside of Jeffrey Epstein’s New York brownstone looked like? Well have no fear! The photos have been leaked and we are going…
- The First Degree
Episode 364: Just Outside the Line
She did everything right. She kept the records. Filed the reports. Changed her routines. But none of it mattered. Because the man tormenting her stayed just…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW
This week we’re deep diving into Matt Rife buying Ed & Lorraine Warren’s haunted house (AND the Annabelle doll WTF?!), Dave Franco x Luigi Mangioni…
- The First Degree
Episode 363: Jennifer and Adrianna Wix, Part 2
Even with a young mother and her toddler missing, investigators don’t seem to push for answers. Instead, they accept her boyfriend’s version of events and…
- The First Degree
KILLING TIME: EEL OSMOSIS
You asked, we delivered! Killing Time is back (for a limited time only) and our very own Jared is back to guest host with us. Things got weird pretty fast…
- The First Degree
Episode 362: Jennifer and Adrianna Wix, Part 1
On March 25, 2004, a 21-year-old mother and her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter vanish without a trace from rural Robertson County, Tennessee. Their family is…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: WELCOME BACK OZZY OSBOURNE
Have you ever heard of the Trisha Paytas Reincarnation Theory??? Well now you have. This week we’re discussing the Amy Bradley documentary (and her brothers…
- The First Degree
Episode 361: Brian Schaffer
In the spring of 2006, 27-year-old Ohio State medical student Brian Shaffer walked into a popular Columbus bar called the Ugly Tuna Saloona, and was never seen…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: RELEASE THE LIST
This week we literally cannot get over the gaslighting that’s happening with Jeffrey Epstein. Tin foil hats are staying on until further notice. We also dive…
- The First Degree
Episode 360: Jessica Gutierrez
On June 6, 1986, a single mom of three awakes to find her 4-year-old daughter has been abducted from her bed near Lexington, South Carolina. The family is…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: JEFFREY EPSTEIN DIDN’T KILL HIMSELF
This week we’re diving into the absolute joke of the justice department declaring that “Jeffree Epstein DID in fact kill himself in prison and there is no…
- The First Degree
Episode 359: Megan Trussell
In February 2025, a college freshman is reported missing from her dorm at CU Boulder. Days later, her body is discovered in a canyon miles from campus, an area…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: RULES FOR THEE, NOT FOR ME
It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good very bad week, and we’re here to talk through all of the BS: Diddy being found not guilty of his most serious crimes…
- The First Degree
Episode 358: Anatomy of Betrayal
When a woman made the life-changing decision to anonymously donate her kidney, she did it out of pure compassion for a total stranger. But what happens when…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: THE YELLOW DELI
You’ve been asking us to deep dive The Yellow Deli (and the Twelve Tribes cult) for months now, and the day has finally come. We’re diving into their “communal…
- The First Degree
Episode 357: Terence Freitas
On February 25, 1999, a 24-year-old environmental and Indigenous rights activist and two Native American advocates disappear from Arauca, Colombia, after…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: EVERYONE IS CRASHING OUT
Everyone seems to be crashing out this week, and we are here to cover it all for you! R Kelly’s “alleged” murder attempt in jail, Kanye showing up at Diddy’s…
- The First Degree
Episode 356: Christy Giles Cilliers & Hilda Cabrales-Arzola
On November 13th of 2021, two young women, aged 26 and 24, head out for a night on the town that finishes up near Beverly Hills, California. They dance the…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: DEEP SEA DRAMA
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 355: Vanishing Act
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…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: DIDDY, BLAKE, & CELINE DION?
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 354: Destiny McClain
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…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: DIDDY TRIAL
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 353: Melissa Lamesch
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…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: SHEN YUN
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 352: Lynn Schockner
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…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: HOLLY MADISON RETURNS
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 351: Slanz Bilello
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…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: DIDDY IS BACK
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 350: Holly Madison: Kerissa Fare
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…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: IS SHE CURSED?
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 349: Molly Franquemont, Part 2
Molly Frequemont’s family wants answers and they refuse to stop advocating for her. Their determination and unwavering commitment to Molly is what ultimately…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: WHERE ARE THE BODIES BURIED?!
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 348: Molly Franquemont, Part 1
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…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: TAKING UP SPACE
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 347: The Simi Valley Rapist, Part 2
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…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: MOUNTAIN DEWS, BABY!
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…
- The First Degree
Episode 346: The Simi Valley Rapist, Part 1
Between 1996 and 2001, a series of violent attacks terrorized the seemingly idyllic community of Simi Valley, California. Women were being terrorized in their…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: UNDERGROUND TUNNELS IN MIAMI?
We’re back again breaking down this week’s wildest headlines. From new Diddy claims implicating Gloria Estefan, Beyonce, and LeBron James, to Virginia…
- The First Degree
Episode 345: Crystal Deniece McCrory Jones
On February 9, 2023, police conduct a welfare check at a home in a neighborhood of Oak Grove, Louisiana. Inside the residence, they find a 43-year-old business…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: DON’T DIE
This week we’re diving into the dark side of AI, technology, and the existential dream of trying to live forever. We’re talking about implanting memories into…
- The First Degree
Episode 344: Janice Lillie
On the morning of November 12th of 1991, 41-year-old Janice Aschraft Lillie left her volunteer work at Belle Chasse High School to go to her office in Gretna…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: SHE'S A BELIEBER
This week we’re talking about the Ghost Adventurers murder for hire plot that just got 10x wilder, Ryan Reynolds throwing Blake Lively under the bus, and we’re…
- The First Degree
Episode 343: Jonathan T. Schwartz
On May 8th, 2016, a successful 46-year-old business manager and CPA is sitting an FBI polygraph test in Los Angeles, California. The well-respected executive…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: A NOT SO SIMPLE FAVOR
This week we’re diving the murder for hire plan to kill the star of Ghost Adventurers, the sad truth of Gene Hackman’s death, Blake Lively being cringe as hell…
- The First Degree
Episode 342: Anastasia WitbolsFeugen, Part 2
Rumors and conflicting information are rife in what appears to be an unsolvable case. But years later, when the killer is finally identified and convicted at…
- The First Degree
DEEP DIVE: A LITTLE THIS, A LITTLE THAT
This week we’re diving deep into the weeks dark headlines: Luigi Mangione’s alleged sex tape scandal, Gene Hackman’s bizarre death, Blake Lively hiring an…
- The First Degree
Episode 341: Anastasia WitbolsFeugen, Part 1
On October 22, 1997, an 18-year-old high school graduate is shot to death in a cemetery near Independence, Missouri. Her family is heartbroken, but sadly, she…