Town file
Wittmann, Arizona
Wittmann, Arizona (Maricopa County, Arizona) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 267, "A Bloody Desert Trail" (17 March 2022). Wittmann is a small town in Maricopa County, Arizona, in the desert about fifty minutes from downtown Phoenix.
- Town
- Wittmann
- County
- Maricopa County
- State
- Arizona
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 267
- Approximate location
- 33.775, -112.525
Episode 267 / 17 March 2022 / 165 min / full
A Bloody Desert Trail
"Wittmann, Arizona. It's in central Arizona, outside of Phoenix, and it is in Maricopa County." about 0:05:43
The case: Murder of David Wayne Reynolds (June 26th to 27th, 1995); Murder of Douglas Allen Eggert (June 8th, 1995). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 666
- Median age
- 37 and a half
- Median household income
- $22,156
- Median home value
- $431,400
- Two-bedroom rent
- $1,261 a month
- Cost of living
- 114
- Religious
- 40%
- Property crime
- ▼ a little bit under the national average
- Violent crime
- ▼ slightly below the national average
History, in brief
- The town's first name was Nottaberg, meaning nothing is here. about 0:08:04
- The Southern Transcontinental Railroad built through the site and named it Nottaberg. about 0:08:39
- The area was formally opened to homesteading on December 29th, 1916. about 0:09:15
- William Hovey Griffin, from Texas, filed the first homestead petition in 1920. about 0:09:53
- Joseph Wittmann planned to dam the Hassayampa River to irrigate Nottaberg. about 0:10:20
- In 1926 citizens gave Wittmann large amounts of land to support the dam's construction. about 0:10:37
- The town changed its name to Wittmann because he was bringing water. about 0:10:56
- The town later sued Wittmann when he failed to build the dam. about 0:11:37
The reviews read out
4 stars
"Wittmann is growing fast, with new homes built from 203rd to 225th Avenue, and is great for horse lovers and RV hauling."about 0:12:50
3 stars
"Wittmann needs to modernise and has a lot of places that need fixing up, but otherwise it is a great place to live, quiet and safe."about 0:13:08
3 stars
"The centre of town is really small but the area expands; many people live out here, vacant properties get stripped and things get stolen, and housing costs have gone up."about 0:13:39
2 stars
"It is not the worst place, but there are a lot of break-ins and drugs around here."about 0:15:00
1 star
"Terrible customer service: the reviewer reserved a table, drove over, and found the place shut down."about 0:15:24
1 star
"Wittmann is a very small town and the trailer park, Devil's Kitchen, makes it crap; half the trailers are abandoned or burnt down meth labs and the desert is a dumping ground."about 0:16:04
1 star
"There is a Subway at the Shell gas station and a bar, and that is about all."about 0:16:43
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Congress, Arizona33 miles
- Prescott, Arizona57 miles
- Maricopa, Arizona59 miles
- Apache Junction, Arizona63 miles
- Williamson, Arizona64 miles
- Bagdad, Arizona67 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.