Poteau Resident Sentenced for Murder in Indian Country

Photo byHCTR

The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma has announced that Christian Scott Dunham, a 22-year-old resident of Poteau, Oklahoma, has been sentenced to 293 months in federal prison for the murder of his neighbor in August 2022.

These charges stem from investigations conducted by the Poteau Police Department, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On February 13, 2023, Dunham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Indian Country. According to investigators, in the early hours of August 20, 2022, Dunham used a .22 caliber revolver to fatally shoot the victim. The crime took place in Le Flore County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation Reservation, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The sentencing hearing was presided over by the Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Dunham will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal until he is transported to a designated facility operated by the United States Bureau of Prisons to serve his non-paroleable sentence.

Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Satter represented the United States in this case.