

The First Degree
Alexis Linkletter, Jac Vanek
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
Mentioned books

Nov 2, 2023 • 46min
BONUS: KILLING TIME: HALLOWEEN HANGOVER
This week the girls and the ginger return with a chilled out episode of Killing Time. That’s right, we’re going off the rails this week. 2 Days post-Halloween, and we’re just embracing the hangover. On the stand this week: sleeping while sitting shotgun, knocking on doors at night, small talk while in a hurry, and early flights! Then! A worstie plays the blame game! Also, how is it November?🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 1, 2023 • 43min
Episode 271: Huong Nguyen
On March 13, 2020, 42-year-old Huong Helene Nguyen is reported missing to the New Orleans Police Department. By 8:10 p.m. that day, the authorities discover her body less than a mile from her home. Huong’s killer shot her multiple times, shoved her body into the trunk of her own car, drove the car to a remote parking lot, and abandoned it. Investigators interview Huong’s family members and friends, but it seems as though no strong leads turn up. A week later, on March 20, Huong’s funeral services are held. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only a limited number of Huong’s immediate family can attend. But Huong’s younger brother whom she lived with, 37-year-old Hoa Phong Nguyen, is conspicuously absent. Hours later, the NOPD announces that they have a warrant for Hoa’s arrest. He is being charged with his sister’s murder — and he’s on the run. In episode 271, Jac and Alexis examine the complicated path that the Nguyen family is forced to take as they navigate the physical and emotional loss of two children.🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 26, 2023 • 47min
BONUS: KILLING TIME: MEMEOWEEN
The girls and the ginger return for a VERY spooky edition of Killing Time! We’re diving into the ominous origins of everyone’s favorite holiday! But first! On the stand: eating at the gym, meme costumes, the 12 foot Home Depot skeleton, and hosting a non spooky event around Halloween. Then! Another worstie with some roommate retaliation. Can’t we all just get along? Happy Halloween!🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 25, 2023 • 51min
Episode 270: Rita and Colleen, Part 2
On November 3rd of 1993, 31-year-old Rita Marie Tangredi’s body is discovered on Long Island’s East Patchogue. Her cause of death is determined to be blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. Only 18 days later, 28-year-old Sandra Costilla is found in a nearby location and in a similar fashion. Two months later, 20-year-old Colleen McNamee’s body is recovered from a nearly identical crime scene, as well. All three women were beaten, raped, and strangled. For over 20 years, their families waited patiently as their loved ones’ cases became colder and colder. In episode 270, Jac and Alexis detail how the authorities tracked down a serial killer with advanced DNA technology and nine bags full of garbage.🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 19, 2023 • 44min
BONUS: KILLING TIME: WEDDING BELLS, THE FINALE
Welcome back to Killing Time hosted by two girls one ginger! This week, we’re getting the rest of our wedding shenanigans out of our systems! That’s right, the last and final installment of us going on and on nitpicking nuptials. On the stand this week: blister bandaids, soliciting free photoshop services, giving up and eating American fast food abroad, and audibly saying “this is awkward” during conversation. Then! Join us for some wedding-related listener submitted on the stands!🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 18, 2023 • 43min
Episode 269: Rita And Colleen, Part 1
On November 3rd of 1993, 31-year-old Rita Marie Tangredi’s body is discovered on Long Island’s East Patchogue. Her cause of death is determined to be blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. Only 18 days later, 28-year-old Sandra Costilla is found in a nearby location and in a similar fashion. Two months later, 20-year-old Colleen McNamee’s body is recovered from a nearly identical crime scene, as well. All three women were beaten, raped, and strangled. For over 20 years, their families waited patiently as their loved ones’ cases became colder and colder. In episode 269, Jac and Alexis detail how the authorities tracked down a serial killer with advanced DNA technology and nine bags full of garbage.🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 12, 2023 • 47min
BONUS: KILLING TIME: WEDDING BELLS PART 2
This week the girls and the ginger return to round out their French festivity flashback with part two! We’re taking a break from our usual format and just ruminating on our favorite moments over the last couple of weeks. Nothing to put on the stand, and no worstie this week! Join us for a good old fashioned hang with friends!🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 11, 2023 • 51min
Episode 268: Kenneth White
At about 8:30 p.m. on October 18th of 2017, 32-year-old Kenneth Andrew White is going home after working at a construction site in Au Gres, Michigan. Sitting in the passenger seat of his colleague’s van, Kenneth and his coworker are only ten minutes away from their destination in Mt. Morris. Suddenly, a six-pound rock crashes through the front windshield. Kenneth is hit in the head and knocked unconscious. Shortly after, Kenneth is declared dead. Days later, investigators discover the culprits behind this deadly rock: five teenage boys from Clio, Michigan, aged 15 to 17. The group was known for throwing hard objects off highway overpasses for the purpose of causing vehicular damage. After years of controversial court proceedings, only one of the Clio Five would be sentenced as an adult. In episode 268, Jac and Alexis examine how five teenagers with no criminal history killed an innocent bystander through a dangerous “game.”🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 5, 2023 • 46min
BONUS: KILLING TIME: WEDDING BELLS PART 1
This week the girls and the ginger are back from France and ready to jump back into Killing Time! We’re breaking down our French festivities in part one of our wedding extravaganza recap! On the stand this week: ice and water, pillow allotments, and Etsy! Then Lex talks about her travel troubles and we get into the perils of partying in Paris! No worstie this week, we’ve got too much to talk about!🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 4, 2023 • 41min
Episode 267: Robert Lovvorn Herren, Jr.
On April 17th of 1989, 31-year-old Cathy Marie Symanowski shoots and kills 38-year-old Robert “Lovvorn” Herren, Jr., with a semi-automatic rifle in Woodland, Alabama. Cathy met Lovvorn when he was hired by Cathy’s husband a few years earlier. At that time, Cathy and Lovvorn engaged in a short-lived romantic affair. Afterward, Lovvorn attempted to end his relationship with Cathy. In response, Cathy relentlessly stalked Lovvorn. In the spring of 1990, Cathy is convicted for murdering Lovvorn and sentenced to life in prison. In February of 2002, 45-year-old Cathy is released from prison on parole. Ten years later, in December of 2012, 54-year-old Cathy attempts to shoot and kill yet another one of her romantic partners: 68-year-old Gerald Eugene Palmer. Moments after this second murder attempt, Cathy dies by suicide. Miraculously, Gerald survives. In episode 267, Jac and Alexis explore the winding road that led one woman to hurt multiple men whom she claimed to love.🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:patreon.com/thefirstdegree❤️ The Heavy Metal Project: theheavymetalproject.com📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree⚖️ On the Stand: (818) 446-6889💩 Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done: (818) 446-6889🤝 Advice: hello@thefirstdegreepodcast.com
🎟 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices


