Town file
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jonesboro, Arkansas (Craighead County, Arkansas) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 590, "Murdering As A Family" (19 April 2025). In August 2011 Mark Despain, a property investor and landlord, was shot dead in the kitchen of his home in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
- Town
- Jonesboro
- County
- Craighead County
- State
- Arkansas
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 590
- Approximate location
- 35.820, -90.679
Episode 590 / 19 April 2025 / 71 min / express
Murdering As A Family
"this is in jonesboro arkansas, in northeast arkansas, about an hour and five from Memphis and two hours from Little Rock" about 0:03:25
The case: Murder of Mark Despain (August 24th, 2011). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2025
- Population
- 77,520
- Median household income
- 48,901
- Median home value
- 197,900
History, in brief
- After the United States acquired Arkansas in the Louisiana Purchase, American settlers began hunting, trapping and trading with the local tribes around Jonesboro. about 0:04:39
- Permanent settlement was established in 1859, when Craighead County was established. about 0:04:58
- The first courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1869. about 0:05:11
- A store across the street from the courthouse was rented and used as the courthouse; it was destroyed by fire seven years later. about 0:05:35
- Another courthouse was built on the same site and burned down two years later. about 0:05:50
- A major fire destroyed most of downtown Jonesboro. about 0:06:02
- An F4 tornado struck Jonesboro in 1968 at about ten o'clock at night, killing 34 people. about 0:06:15
- On May 27th, 1973 an F4 tornado struck Jonesboro, killing three people, injuring 289 and causing 60 million dollars of damage in 1973 dollars. about 0:06:36
- A large destructive F3 tornado struck Jonesboro in 2022 and caused severe damage to the Mall at Turtle Creek. about 0:06:51
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A very personal town: big, but small enough for personal connections. A lot has changed since Covid and the tornado, which has helped people not take Jonesboro for granted; the reviewer will keep supporting the town as it rebuilds slowly."about 0:07:34
3 stars
"A long, mostly boring review whose important line is that tornadoes will be a constant threat to the area for the majority of the year, so anyone scared of them should reconsider moving there."about 0:08:08
2 stars
"A military family posted there for a recruiting job say that for such a small place there are more shootings a year than in El Paso, which has half a million people; they cannot wait to leave this mosquito hell."about 0:08:25
1 star
"The worst town the reviewer has seen: crackheads everywhere, villages in Serbia look better, and after 16 countries and three continents it is one of the ugliest, most disgusting places; never going back."about 0:08:54
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Marmaduke, Arkansas30 miles
- Pocahontas, Arkansas35 miles
- Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas66 miles
- Tallapoosa, Missouri68 miles
- Pleasant Grove, Arkansas69 miles
- Kensett, Arkansas69 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.