Episode 398: The Last New Year’s Eve

The First Degree

Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek

News, Society & Culture, True Crime

4.5 • 10.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On New Year’s Eve 2019, deputies respond to reports of gunfire at a quiet home outside Montgomery, Texas. Inside, a young mother has been shot multiple times, and the man responsible is still at the scene. What unfolds is a devastating story of violence that didn’t begin that night—and warning signs that were missed along the way. In episode 398, Jac and Alexis examine how patterns of intimate partner violence can escalate over time, leaving a trail of close calls before turning fatal, and the lasting impact on the families left behind. 🎟 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 📓 Substack: http://thefirstdegree.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:04.8	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand.
0:12.5	Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:17.5	From startups to scaleups, online, in person, and on the go.
0:22.0	Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you.
0:24.5	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:30.8	The first degree.
0:32.8	First degree.
0:33.7	First degree.
0:35.2	First degree.
0:36.3	First degree.
0:37.4	The first degree. You see it on the news. You get on the paper. First degree. The first degree.
0:38.3	You see it on the news. You get on the paper. You see it on Facebook.
0:42.3	These things are supposed to happen in movies, not in real life.
0:50.3	I genuinely thought he was nice. I was looking at my old Instagram post before it falls because I had one of them.
0:59.0	And the text of it, I'm like raving about both of them as a couple and how they're my favorite couple.
1:07.0	And he's like kind of going to be a brother-in-law to me one day because she's like a sister to me.
1:12.8	It got very divided.
1:14.7	There were a lot of people that were saying that he wouldn't do anything like that.
1:19.7	I know she experienced a lot of the what-if, or it could have been me kind of stuff like
1:25.2	a survivor's guilt.
1:27.2	She's built a really nice life for herself.
	...

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.