An Oklahoma woman is facing murder charges after she allegedly shot and killed her husband, a former Cherokee Nation Supreme Court justice, as he slept in their home.
Elizabeth Poteete, 70, is charged with first-degree murder in the Cherokee Nation District Court in connection with the February 5 shooting death of Troy Wayne Poteete, according to newly filed court records obtained by KOTV.
Investigators say Poteete called 911 around 11 p.m. that night and reported that she had shot her husband multiple times. She told the dispatcher that she would be waiting for deputies on her front porch.
When deputies with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office responded to the couple’s home in Vian, they found Troy Poteete on the couch suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Poteete told investigators that her husband had threatened her, saying that his girlfriend and another person were going to kill her.
She claimed she feared for her life, so she grabbed a handgun from a file cabinet, stood four to five feet away from her husband, and fired multiple shots, according to records viewed by FOX24.
She told investigators she was unsure how many times she pulled the trigger.
Troy Poteete was a founding member of the Trail of Tears Association. He also served eight years as a Cherokee Nation Tribal Council member and was director of the Arkansas Riverbed Authority.
Poteete is being held at the Sequoyah County Jail without bond, according to court records. She is scheduled to appear in court on March 3.
