Welcome to Arrest Stories. A seventy-year-old Oklahoma woman has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly shooting her husband, a former Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Chief Justice, multiple times as he slept. Here's what may have happened.
On Thursday night, February fifth, in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, Elizabeth Poteete allegedly shot and killed her husband Troy Wayne Poteete while he was sleeping in a chair with a CPAP machine over his face. According to police reports, Elizabeth Poteete retrieved a handgun from a filing cabinet and shot her husband multiple times.
Around eleven p.m. that same evening, Elizabeth Poteete called nine-one-one and reported that she had shot her husband multiple times. She told dispatchers that she would be waiting for deputies on the porch of her residence. When Sequoyah County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, they found Troy Wayne Poteete sitting in a chair with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
During questioning, Elizabeth Poteete told deputies she feared for her life and that her husband had said he was going to have her killed. She explained that she was afraid for her life, though one official noted they believed Elizabeth Poteete was having a mental episode.
The victim, Troy Poteete, was a former Chief Justice for the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court and had served as a tribal council member for eight years. The Cherokee Nation has stated that his passing represents a significant loss to their community.
Elizabeth Poteete has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. She is currently being held without bond in the Sequoyah County Jail. The FBI has taken over the investigation, and the case is proceeding through the federal judicial system due to the tribal jurisdiction involved.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.