Town file
Minden, Nevada
Minden, Nevada (Douglas County, Nevada) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 660, "Bloody Plot Twists" (27 December 2025). Benjamin Robert Oxley was born on January 20th, 1972 in West Covina, California, and grew up in Hawaii after the family moved to the big island when he was ten.
- Town
- Minden
- County
- Douglas County
- State
- Nevada
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 660
- Approximate location
- 38.965, -119.767
Episode 660 / 27 December 2025 / 71 min / express
Bloody Plot Twists
"So this is Minden, Nevada... It's in far western Nevada, near the California border over there." about 0:03:29
The case: Murder of Benjamin Robert Oxley (February 21st, 2008). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2025
- Population
- 3,335
- Median household income
- $78,375
- Median home value
- $649,700
History, in brief
- Founded in 1906 by Heinrich Frederick Dangberg Jr., who named it after his town of Minden in Germany. about 0:04:47
- A large share of the first people in the area were Germans. about 0:05:03
- It was founded on land of the Dangberg Home Ranch, and the Dangberg Commission put up most of the town's early buildings. about 0:05:08
- The town got a post office in 1906. about 0:05:18
- A sundown siren sounded at 6 p.m. every night from 1917 until 2021; it signalled that members of the Washoe Indian tribe were required to leave town or face jail time. about 0:05:34
- The sundown ordinance was repealed in the mid-1970s. about 0:05:51
- In 2021 Nevada passed a law prohibiting communities from sounding signals associated with a past law that required persons of a particular race, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin to leave town by a certain time. about 0:06:04
The reviews read out
5 stars
"The best place to live if you want a good look at what it is like to farm."about 0:06:20
5 stars
"People here are very country and really care about how children are raised; other places never felt like Minden."about 0:06:35
5 stars
"A safe place to live and have fun, with many activities nearby, and little but not too little."about 0:06:52
2 stars
"Wants more diversity in the culture and restaurants, asking for a Chinese or Mexican place."about 0:07:06
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- South Lake Tahoe, California12 miles
- Incline Village, Nevada23 miles
- Dayton, Nevada24 miles
- Sun Valley, Nevada45 miles
- Lemmon Valley, Nevada50 miles
- Grass Valley, California71 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.