The First Degree

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 adventure and intrigue. His crimes culminated in an ultimate act of evil, when he downed a crowded aircraft to fake his own death. This is a tale of one man who became obsessed with this story and the dichotomy of the man at the center of it.  Get Jerry Jamison’s new true crime book Vanishing Act: A Crashed Airliner, Faked Death, and Backroom Abortions everywhere books are sold. 🎟 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

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 long (hint: $100k). We go through the rest of the highlights from this week in trial, plus Blake drops her emotional distress claims against Justin Baldoni, and Celine Dion has a satanic children’s clothing line??? 🎟 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

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 struck in the chest and later dies at the hospital, leaving her family devastated. As police investigate, they uncover very little evidence—aside from a grainy video of a dark-colored car speeding away. To this day, her case remains unsolved. In episode 354, Jac and Alexis revisit the night Destiny McClain’s life was stolen, and the powerful ways her mother has kept her memory alive ever since. 🎟 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

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 past few weeks at trial, including details about Kid Cudi’s car bombing, Cassie’s bombshell testimony, and the insane stories that Diddy’s numerous personal assistants had to share.  We will be back next week for more! 🎟 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

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, a son. Instead, first responders would find her unconscious on the kitchen floor. What seemed at first to be an accidental fire soon turned into a murder investigation. And the suspect? Melissa’s on-again, off again firefighter boyfriend and the father of her baby.  In episode 353, Jac and Alexis dive into the case that left a small town in Illinois devastated and a family grieving. 🎟 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

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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 he’s been involved in a terrible incident. While driving home, the crane operator’s vehicle skids off the road and ends up in a ravine, his life hanging in the balance. The man is taken to the hospital, where he tragically dies. But it’s not injuries from the car crash that have claimed his life. The reason the victim ran off the road in the first place was a gunshot wound to the head. But exactly who is responsible and how it all unfolded remains a mystery. In episode 351, Jac and Alexis detail the heartbreaking unsolved homicide of Ascenzio ‘Slanz’ Bilello, exploring the questions around the events of that night, the subsequent police investigation, and how his family continues to deal with the trauma of his senseless loss. 🎟 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

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 updates including the complexity of jury selection, celebrity names mentioned we’ve never heard before, and what will or will not be included during trial.  Then, the latest with the Blake and Ryan cringe machine, and finishing it off with the weirdest “realistic 3D model” of Madeline McCann we’ve ever seen. 🎟 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