The First Degree

By: Alexis Linkletter Jac Vanek
  • Summary

  • 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
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Episodes
  • Episode 341: Anastasia WitbolsFeugen, Part 1
    Mar 5 2025

    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 is not the only victim. Less than 72 hours later, someone close to the young woman then takes their own life. As the months drag on, the police investigation takes a series of twists and turns as suspicion focuses on a complex web of teenage relationships involving those closest to the victim. The case seems to stall until 3 years later a suspect is named. But is he The Real Killer? In episode 341, Jac and Alexis detail the haunting murder of Anastasia Elizabeth WitbolsFeugen.

    🎟 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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    51 mins
  • DEEP DIVE: DIDDY, FYRE FEST, & JUSTIN V BLAKE UPDATES
    Feb 27 2025

    We’re coming back at you with this week’s dark headlines! We’re talking Diddy’s lawyer quitting (saying “under no circumstances can I continue”), Kim K allegedly having satanic art in her house, and Fyre Fest is BACK BABY! And of course we’ve got the Blake & Justin updates, including how Jenny Slate somehow twisted being offered $15,000 into a bad thing????

    🎟 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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    41 mins
  • Episode 340: The Victims: Milwaukee Ave Massacre
    Feb 26 2025

    On November 26, 1981, four men were killed and two others were wounded in a shooting massacre on Thanksgiving night in Chicago, Illinois. The murders make headlines as being the worst multiple slayings in the city in four years. The son of one of the men whose life was stolen is our guest on this very special episode of The First Degree. Four members of his family were taken in foul swoop, and he takes us through the heart breaking aftermath of that loss and the continued injustice following the release of the men convicted of the murders.

    🎟 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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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.