Town file
Poteau, Oklahoma
Poteau, Oklahoma (LeFlore County, Oklahoma) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 641, "Serial Killer Search" (23 October 2025). Poteau, the seat of LeFlore County in eastern Oklahoma, sits about three hours from Oklahoma City and four from Dallas.
- Town
- Poteau
- County
- LeFlore County
- State
- Oklahoma
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 641
- Approximate location
- 35.067, -94.610
Episode 641 / 23 October 2025 / 178 min / full
Serial Killer Search
"We're going to Poto, Oklahoma. POT EAU is Poteau. It's eastern Oklahoma, in La Flore County." about 0:04:22
The case: murder spree (May 1984); Murder of Dironda Gay Roy (July 1986). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2025
- Population
- 8,741
- Median age
- 35
- Median household income
- $40,711
- Median home value
- $146,000
- Two-bedroom rent
- $770
- Cost of living
- 77
- Religious
- 57.6%
- Crime overall
- ▲ almost three times
- Property crime
- ▲ almost three times
- Violent crime
- ▲ slightly above average
History, in brief
- In the late 1700s a large French outpost called Belle Point stood at Fort Smith, Arkansas, with a secondary post up the Poteau River at the base of Cavanal Mountain. about 0:05:13
- The river was first called the Post River and later the Poteau River; the outpost was called Post, or Poteau, from the French word for post. about 0:05:31
- The Poteau Chamber of Commerce says the community was founded in 1885 as a few houses and Bud Tate's general store. about 0:05:47
- At its founding it lay in a different county that was part of the Choctaw Nation. about 0:06:00
- It was incorporated as a town in Indian Territory by the federal government in 1898. about 0:06:06
- After Oklahoma became a state, the governor declared Poteau a city of the first class. about 0:06:10
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A great place with cheap entertainment, a big town with a small town feel, easy to get around, lots of places to eat and respectful, down-to-earth people."about 0:06:27
3 stars
"Poteau is a decent town that could develop more; a Whataburger is supposedly opening soon."about 0:07:33
3 stars
"Lives in a nice neighbourhood with few issues, but wishes the sewer lines did not burst almost once a month."about 0:07:59
1 star
"A very bad experience with the city, which contains a horrible beast named Bladen, her horrible ex-boyfriend."about 0:08:39
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Gans, Oklahoma23 miles
- Van Buren, Arkansas30 miles
- Kibler, Arkansas33 miles
- Eufaula, Oklahoma57 miles
- Mount Ida, Arkansas66 miles
- Cincinnati, Arkansas68 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.