Town file
Bonners Ferry, Idaho
Bonners Ferry, Idaho (Boundary County, Idaho) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 640, "Killer Adjustment" (17 October 2025). Dr Brian Drake was a chiropractor in Bonners Ferry, a small town in far northern Idaho.
- Town
- Bonners Ferry
- County
- Boundary County
- State
- Idaho
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 640
- Approximate location
- 48.693, -116.318
Episode 640 / 17 October 2025 / 69 min / express
Killer Adjustment
""We're going to Bonners Ferry, Idaho... This is in Boundry County."" about 0:03:10
The case: Murder of Dr Brian Drake (March 12, 2020). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2025
- Population
- 2,495
- Median household income
- $38,243
- Median home value
- $418,200
- Murder
- first murder in Bonners Ferry since the early 1960s
History, in brief
- Before the gold rush only a few outsiders had come to the region besides the native people. about 0:04:32
- Explorer and cartographer David Thompson of the Northwest Company arrived in 1808 with four fellow fur traders to trade with the Kootenai. about 0:04:40
- The local natives gave Thompson's party dried fish and moss bread. about 0:05:14
- Thompson returned the next year and established a trading post. about 0:05:24
- Gold was discovered in 1863 and thousands of prospectors came through the area. about 0:05:28
- Edwin Bonner, a merchant from Washington, established a ferry where people crossed the river, and the settlement served travellers heading to the gold rush. about 0:05:43
- In the 20th century it became a lumber town and farming community; the valley land was drained, levees were constructed and farms were cleared. about 0:05:58
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A lifelong resident feels a deep connection to the place: a quaint town surrounded by mountain vistas, forests and fertile farmland, the most beautiful and welcoming place around."about 0:06:13
3 stars
"People are outgoing and look after each other, but the town needs more job opportunities and is in the middle of nowhere."about 0:06:38
1 star
"A god-forsaken hellhole where the government is run by inbred hacks, schools rank low, bullies abound, cops are corrupt, drugs and alcohol are rampant, the religious groups run the town like a mafia, housing and shops are expensive and everyone has given up."about 0:06:55
1 star
"Everyone belongs to a religion and no one picks up hitchhikers; constitutional rights are violated by immature social media fake detectives, and Idaho is no excuse."about 0:07:45
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Sandpoint, Idaho31 miles
- Coeur d'Alene, Idaho72 miles
- Deer Park, Washington72 miles
- Post Falls, Idaho73 miles
- Addy, Washington73 miles
- Kellogg, Idaho80 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.