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 Li...
This week we’re diving into the dark side of AI, technology, and the existential dream of trying to live forever. We’re talking about implanting memories into murderers, doing head transplants on billionaires, and that weird dude who thinks he’s never gonna die. And then of course, we have Blake vs Justin updates, and Justin Bieber’s cryptic IG post. It’s a lot!
🎟 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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48:59
Episode 344: Janice Lillie
On the morning of November 12th of 1991, 41-year-old Janice Aschraft Lillie left her volunteer work at Belle Chasse High School to go to her office in Gretna, Louisiana. Janice’s husband, 41-year-old Norman Lillie, needs her help collecting back rent from their tenants. The couple co-manage and co-own several apartments in the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area. Around 10:15 a.m., Janice arrives at the office. Two hours later, Janice’s body is discovered lying behind her desk. Someone stabbed her more than ten times and left her to die. For years, Gretna police struggled to investigate Janice’s homicide. Despite interviewing more than 180 people, they had little to go on. Then, in 1995, the murder weapon was discovered and several arrests were made in relation to Janice’s case. However, members of Janice’s family think the individuals arrested, indicted, and sentenced for Janice’s murder weren’t even involved. In episode 344, Jac and Alexis detail the strange events and evidence surrounding Janice’s killing, including her then-husband’s suspicious affair with a 25-year-old tenant.
🎟 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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52:19
DEEP DIVE: SHE'S A BELIEBER
This week we’re talking about the Ghost Adventurers murder for hire plot that just got 10x wilder, Ryan Reynolds throwing Blake Lively under the bus, and we’re just getting to the tip of the ice berg of Hailey Bieber’s obsession with Justin & Selena and how it might even be darker than anyone thinks.
🎟 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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44:35
Episode 343: Jonathan T. Schwartz
On May 8th, 2016, a successful 46-year-old business manager and CPA is sitting an FBI polygraph test in Los Angeles, California. The well-respected executive partner with numerous high-profile, world-famous clients from the entertainment industry has it all. A happy marriage, three kids, and a career trajectory where the sky is the limit. But it’s all about to come crashing down in a very public and life-changing way due to addiction, insecurity, and denial. In episode 343, Jac and Alexis detail the life and crimes of Jonathan Schwartz, and how his descent into addiction and hubris not only destroyed the life and career he’d worked so hard for, but how his immediate remorse propelled him to a place of personal growth, healing, and self-forgiveness, with the ultimate aim of finding redemption through helping others who are now where he once was.
🎟 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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42:22
DEEP DIVE: A NOT SO SIMPLE FAVOR
This week we’re diving the murder for hire plan to kill the star of Ghost Adventurers, the sad truth of Gene Hackman’s death, Blake Lively being cringe as hell at SXSW, and the story about a mom who is convinced her son was murdered and his body was sold to the Bodies Exhibit in Vegas. It was a dark week, people.
🎟 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
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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