Episode 302: Ronda Thompson Reynolds, Part 1

The First Degree

Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek

True Crime, Society & Culture, News

4.5 • 10K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On December 16, 1998, a 33-year-old woman named Ronda Reynolds is found dead with a gunshot wound to the head inside her home in Toledo, Washington. Her death is ruled a suicide. But her mother believes there’s more behind the circumstances of the incomprehensible loss of someone who was one of the first female state troopers in Washington, and had only been married to her new husband of 18 months. In episode 302 Jac and Alexis detail the tragic murder of Ronda Reynolds, her mother’s fight for someone to be held criminally responsible, and how the bizarre aspects of the case catch the eye of famed crime writer, Ann Rule.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's a degree.
0:02.0	First degree.
0:04.0	First degree.
0:05.0	First degree.
0:06.0	First degree.
0:07.0	The first degree.
0:08.0	The first degree.
0:09.0	You see it on the news.
0:10.0	You see it on the paper.
0:11.0	You see it on Facebook.
0:12.0	These things are supposed to happen in movies. You see it on Facebook.
0:13.0	These things are supposed to happen in movies, not real life.
0:16.0	I remember that there was kind of this rumor and I remember being so shaken as a little kid because I just couldn't imagine this man who I looked up to and being anything
0:39.8	other than what I saw every day. And I remember I came home from school and I told my mom
0:48.0	and I'll never forget how she phrased this,
0:51.0	but she said something horrible happened something awful happened and we
0:58.0	don't know and how awful to repeat something like that if we're wrong.
1:05.0	I cannot imagine how Rhonda's mom felt.
1:09.0	Rhonda's mom's a hero of the story.
1:11.0	She called that PlayStation every day for years and was not afraid
1:15.7	when we talk about being afraid of authoritative figures. She wasn't and I think
1:21.8	as a woman also having enough gumption and trust in yourself that you're saying
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.