The First Degree cover art

The First Degree

The First Degree

By: Alexis Linkletter Jac Vanek
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About this listen

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!)Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek Politics & Government Social Sciences True Crime
Episodes
  • DEEP DIVE: SHEN YUN
    May 22 2025

    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).

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

    patreon.com/thefirstdegree

    📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree

    🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee

    👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree

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    53 mins
  • Episode 352: Lynn Schockner
    May 21 2025

    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 initially seemed like a burglary gone wrong soon unfurled into a murder for hire plot that crossed Southern California. In episode 352, Jac and Alexis dig into the shocking events that left one woman dead and three men in jail for life.

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

    patreon.com/thefirstdegree

    📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree

    🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee

    👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree

    Show More Show Less
    41 mins
  • DEEP DIVE: HOLLY MADISON RETURNS
    May 15 2025

    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???).

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

    patreon.com/thefirstdegree

    📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree

    🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee

    👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree

    Show More Show Less
    43 mins

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