Episode 400: Father Robert Hoeffner

The First Degree

Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek

Society & Culture, True Crime, News

4.5 • 10.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On January 28th, 2024, a 76-year-old man and his 69-year-old sister are murdered at their home in Palm Bay, Florida. The killer flees, engaging the police in a dramatic shootout that ends in more tragedy, with additional lives lost and officers risking their lives to bring an end to the carnage. The shooting of the initial male victim, a retired priest, stuns locals, who mourn his loss. How could a well-respected pillar of the community become the victim of such senseless violence? As the investigation continues, dark and disturbing secrets are exposed about the man everyone thought they knew. The shocking revelations cast a whole new light not just on the motivation behind his death, but the complicity of a system that actively protects predators. In episode 400, Jac and Alexis detail the case of Father Robert Hoeffner and discuss how, when evil goes unpunished in powerful institutions, it’s the victims who continue to suffer as their alleged abusers walk free. 🎟 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

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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	He was like a pillar of the community, and it was such a close group that felt like family.
0:29.1	He always made it seem like he understood you.
0:35.5	And he didn't make you feel uncomfortable.
0:38.3	So it felt like he could talk to him.
0:42.3	He was so much of the church and the school, like a friendly face.
0:49.3	They found a lot of information in the home, that is very upsetting.
0:55.0	It just felt like a tragedy as such a senseless thing that happened.
1:01.0	And we had no idea why.
1:05.0	They've barely given any information out.
1:09.0	And that's what's very upsetting is like they're just acting like, okay, everyone in the situation is dead, so let's not really air out any information.
1:18.6	That's what I feel like the police is doing.
	...

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