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!)
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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!)
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 ever get to meet the people they fight for. But for one Los Angeles investigator, that changed in the fall of 1987, when a woman lived through the impossible. After being abducted, held captive for 48 hours, and shot in the head twice, she somehow survived. Her story not only defied medical odds, it reshaped a detective’s career and life, forging a bond between victim and investigator that would endure long after the case was closed. In episode 365, Jac and Lex delve into the survival story of Carol LePak, with the help of retired LA homicide investigator, Don Tabek.
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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 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!)
