The First Degree

On November 26, 1981, four men are killed and two others are wounded in a shooting massacre on Thanksgiving night in Chicago, Illinois. The murders make headlines as being the worst multiple slayings in the city in four years. In the coming days, police arrest four Mexican nationals over the killings, who also all happen to belong to one family. It soon emerges that the circumstances leading to the massacre are buried in a deep and ongoing dispute between the accused and victims families, resulting in bloodshed. But not everything is as buttoned up and clear cut as the courts make it appear. In episode 229, Jac and Alexis detail the murders of Valente Galindo, and brothers Ramon, Arnulfo, and Heliodoro Sanchez, and the lifelong, far reaching impact on the wrongfully convicted men in their case which irreparably changed lives forever. 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, the girls and the ginger are back to ring in the new year! That’s right, it’s the week after Christmas and nobody really knows what to do with their lives. Might as well put some final things on the stand. We’re talking resolutions, a midnight kiss, and cheap advent calendar chocolates. Next, a new segment! Reddit Said It! A deep dive into the blunders of internet strangers! And finally, a worstie firstie with a story we’ve named “Pee Bong”. Happy New Year! 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From 2002 to 2017, 63-year-old Dr. Ricardo Cruciani practices medicine as an esteemed anesthesiologist, neurologist, and pain management specialist. He works in multiple renowned medical facilities where he treats patients with severe chronic pain by providing them with extremely high doses of prescription opioid painkillers. Cruciani’s work in pain management is widely lauded, and his peers consider him a gifted physician. But, in 2016, Cruciani’s employer receives eight complaints about his behavior. Reports indicate that he is sexually inappropriate toward his female patients. By September 2017, Cruciani is arrested on the charges of indecent exposure, indecent assault, and more. Dozens of former female patients come forward, claiming that Cruciani purposefully overprescribed them powerful painkillers so that they would develop an opioid addiction. Then, Cruciani leveraged his patients’ need for opioids to force them into unwanted sexual acts. In episode 228, Jac and Alexis delve into how Cruciani escaped justice for over fifteen years. 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you wonderful Firsties out there! Today’s Killing Time is all about spreading the holiday cheer, but first, we’re taking the elf off the shelf and putting him on the stand! Also, Mistletoe! Santa?! Adult gifting!? Then! We brought PRESENTS! Lots of presents! And finally, a Worstie Firstie with pants on fire. Yule laugh, yule cry, but whatever you do, don’t shoot out your eye! 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On June 6, 2021, a 24 year old woman and her 46 year old mother are shot to death inside the older woman’s home in Douglasville, Georgia by an intruder. The sudden and brutal double murder destroys the lives of the women’s families. The younger woman had recently moved back home following the breakdown of her marriage, and was finding her feet outside the relationship. Sadly for the grieving families involved, there will be no resolution, no closure, no retribution, no punishment, and no justice. Because the killer, who’s well known to his victims, takes his own life at the scene. In episode 227, Jac and Alexis detail the double murder of Nikita Green and Kaliyah Ratliff at the hands of Kaliyah’s estranged husband Udoamaku Nwamu, and how the different faces that perpetrators of domestic abuse can present to the world often leave us only with painful questions and no answers. 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week the girls and the ginger become song sleuths to uncover the true meaning behind those sugary pop anthems from the 90’s and beyond! From Barbie Girl to Britney, it’s time to learn what we’ve all actually been singing about. Then! On The Stand heats up with cold leftovers, stork signs, nausea and more! PLUS! A worstie puts a lunch thief in their place with a spicy surprise! 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On December 20, 2003, a 19 year old college student is stabbed 19 times outside an apartment complex in Garland, Texas. It’s a heartbreaking loss for the family and friends of a young woman who had such promise. The victim was an intelligent, ambitious sophomore and talented flutist who played in her university’s renowned marching band. Thankfully, her killer is apprehended at the scene and confesses not long after. But the pain and trauma continues when the attacker tries to plead insanity, despite him telling others of his plans in the weeks leading up to the murder. In episode 226, Jac and Alexis detail the tragic murder of Mayra De Loa at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Paul David Milne, and what happens when the people who are supposed to love us the way they say they do, make the cruel and selfish choice to take away our right to live our life on our own terms. 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week the girls and the ginger are talking about some pretty unbelievable real life crimes that were inspired by fiction! John Lennon, Dexter, Stephen King, Vampires!! It’s all here! On the stand this week: waiting in lines! Watching tv with captions! MORNING SHRIMP?!?! Plus! A worstie firstie with a poster prank that will leave you perplexed! 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anyone who has been abused or harmed deserves justice. The kind of justice validated by a courtroom trial and a guilty verdict. But our justice system is an imperfect one. Not everyone’s monster gets punished. Today’s story will show you that a lack of courtroom justice doesn’t mean failure. We’re in control of how we prevail over trauma. And every monster is responsible for the crimes they commit- even if they escape the law. 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Strap yourself IN because this week we’ve died and gone to heaven! If you’re reading this, you’ve been left behind! But good news! Televangelist Jim Bakker has you covered! Step right up and learn all about his wild transition from Pastor to Prepper! And for our lucky Patreon subscribers, you get to watch it all unfold on video! Our first ever from our new studio! 🎟 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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices