Episode 371: The Hillside Strangers, Part 1

The First Degree

Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek

True Crime, Society & Culture, News

4.5 • 10K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In late 1977, Los Angeles was terrorized by a string of brutal murders that the press dubbed the work of the “Hillside Strangler.” Victims were found in public places, bound and strangled, their bodies eerily posed. A witness spotted two men with one of the victims, sparking theories that the crimes were a coordinated effort. In episode 371, Jac and Lex delve into the story of the Hillside Stranglers, a case that stumped law enforcement until a phone call from Washington broke the investigation wide open. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The first degree.
0:02.0	First degree.
0:03.0	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	You see it on the news.
0:10.0	You see it on the paper.
0:11.0	You see it on Facebook.
0:13.0	These things are supposed to happen in movies, not in real life.
0:16.0	These guys were sadistic.
0:23.6	Absolutely.
0:24.6	Now, again, this is what I learned from talking to the detectives that were working the task force.
0:30.6	They were just sadistic and killing them.
0:33.6	They didn't just strangle them.
0:35.6	They had done things to them prior to strangling them or during the time they were strangling them. It didn't just strangle them. They had done things to them prior to strangling them,
0:38.2	or during the time they were strangling them. In our day, you know, all those girls and boys
0:44.8	came out to hall that would be stars. And Yolanda Washington had came out, had come out to be a
0:51.4	model and got in hands with the wrong people.
0:54.9	And then, of course, you know, it's a sad story.
0:56.6	I mean, at the time, she's hired to Henry, but now as an older guy looking back.
	...

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