episode-header-image

May 2022

42m 39s

Episode 196: Marie “Lisa” Peak, Part 1

Alexis Linkletter, Jac Vanek

About this episode

In the fall of 1975, Lisa Peak is a freshman journalism student at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa when she is trapped into a sex trafficking extortion ring run by a sick and twisted man named John Carmody. After months of abuse, Lisa goes to the police and helps secure a conviction against him. With Carmody behind bars, Lisa tries to move on with her life - she decides to write a book about her experiences and she re-enrolls at Wartburg. But only one day after she moves into the all girls dorm, Lisa goes missing. In episode 196, Jac, Alexis, and Billy examine Marie “Lisa” Peak’s disappearance and her time as a member of John Carmody’s “Family”.

🎟 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

Up next

Episode 372: The Hillside Stranglers, Part 2

The call from Washington changed everything. When Los Angeles detectives learned Kenneth Bianchi had been arrested for a double murder hundreds of miles away, the truth about the Hillside Strangler finally began to surface. But uncovering the killers was only the beginning. In ep ... Show More

DEEP DIVE: BAD WITCH CLUB

It’s officially soooky szn, and what better way to kick it off than with a PROFESSIONAL WITCH! It’s a super special Deep Dive with Sarah Potter: tarot reader, psychic medium, and yes…pro witch. She helps us lean into our own powers to be the baddest witches we can be. 🎟 Catch up ... Show More

Episode 371: The Hillside Strangers, Part 1

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 theo ... Show More

Recommended Episodes

Episode 197: Marie "Lisa" Peak, Part 2

In December 1975, Lisa Peak helps authorities bring down John Carmody, the head of a sex trafficking extortion ring. By September 1976, Lisa, now 19 years old, is starting to move on with her life. She moves into the dorms for her sophomore year at Wartburg College in Waverly, Io ... Show More

Episode 318: Brandy Hutchins

In November 1988, a 14-year-old girl is found murdered in an abandoned house in Johnson County, Arkansas, with satanic writings on the walls. She has been shot at point-blank range, and her body is hidden beneath old boards in the root cellar. A positive pregnancy test is found n ... Show More

True Crime Junkies with Marcia Clark

In 1995, she was a household name when she served as lead prosecutor during O.J. Simpson's Los Angeles trial. Today, Amy and T.J. are turning the tables asking her the hard hitting crime questions you want to know. Marcia Clark reveals why Diddy will have an uphill battle in cour ... Show More

Talking Dateline: Return to the Lake

Josh Mankiewicz and Craig Melvin sit down to talk about Craig’s episode, “Return to the Lake.” In 1994, the disappearance of two young brothers, Michael and Alex Smith, following an alleged carjacking in Union, South Carolina, was all anyone could talk about. The nation felt thei ... Show More

Episode 344: Janice Lillie

On the morning of November 12th of 1991, 41-year-old Janice Aschraft Lillie left her volunteer work at Belle Chasse High School to go to her office in Gretna, Louisiana. Janice’s husband, 41-year-old Norman Lillie, needs her help collecting back rent from their tenants. The coupl ... Show More

Lisa Staes (Jack of Diamonds, Wisconsin)

Our card this week is Lisa Staes, the Jack of Diamonds from Wisconsin. In the winter of 1976, Lisa Staes was trying to figure out what exactly she wanted to do with her life. Like so many 20-year-olds, she’d just moved out of her parents’ house and started classes at a community ... Show More

Talking Dateline: The Phantom

Lester Holt sits down with Josh Mankiewicz to talk about his latest episode, “The Phantom.” In the fall of 2023, Colorado mother Kristil Krug was found murdered after she was stalked for months. Investigators initially believed her stalker and potential killer was her high school ... Show More

Episode 54: Kim Goldman Part 1

On the night of June 12th, 1994, two people were murdered in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. This double homicide would change the world, shatter the lives of the victims' families, and forever fracture our faith in the justice system. On episode 53, Jac, Alexis & Billy are ... Show More

Episode 335: The Crimes of Peter Nygard

Peter Nygard is one of the world’s most reviled sexual predators who you may have never heard of. For decades the Canadian fashion mogul intimidated his victims into silence and paid to bury accusations made against him while trafficking underage girls to his Bahamian party mansi ... Show More

The Murders of Carol Caswell, Lisa Snyder & Sheila Holmes (New Hampshire)

Carol Caswell, Lisa Snyder, and Sheila Holmes were forever connected when their names surfaced during the interrogation of a suspect who would later be charged and convicted in one of their murders. That same individual remains the primary suspect in at least one of the two other ... Show More

Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami