The people of the town keep their heads down and prefer to not speak about the incident. McElroy was hit twice by two different guns and died from injuries to his head and neck. It was so out of the blue, almost to the point of being surreal, said Monte, who occasionally worked in her parents store. It was Richard McFadin, the man who kept Ken McElroy out of jail 21 times, who said it best: The town got away with murder.. One reason was McElroys lawyer Richard Gene McFadin, a skilled defense attorney who ran rings around inexperienced prosecutors. McElroy was convicted of assault but let out of jail awaiting appeal. A trial took place the following year and for the first time ever, Ken McElroy was convicted. However, when the matter came to trial, McElroys attorney produced a pair of witnesses who testified they were hunting with McElroy that day and he was nowhere near the scene of the shooting. What gave rise to that theory is that they were in the Legion hall for a meeting, then went down to the D&G [when they heard McElroy was in town]. He was hit twice and died in his truck. He put those skills to work rustling hogs and cattle, MacLean recounts. He went about making public threats against the grocer while armed with a rifle. As he sat drinking at the bar, word got back to the men at the Legion Hall that he was in town. There were so many nights Dad couldnt go out and mow the yard or water the flowers because there was a truck parked down the street, and they were watching the house, Monte said. The clerk, Evelyn Sumy, was at the back of the store when the doors swung open. Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead in Skidmore, Missouri on July 10, 1981. The case was later settled out of court by all parties for $17,600, with no one admitting guilt, for the stated reason of avoiding costly legal fees should the suit proceed. Murder is still murder. This is How a Town Ganged Up Against a Serial Bully July 1981: During the 1st week of July it was announced that there would be a delay in McElroy's bond hearing. Shortly after, McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder. A federal grand jury was convened. Nodaway County Sheriff Dan Estes suggested they form a neighborhood watch. June 25th, 1981: Ken McElroy is sentenced to two years in jail. Boyer was among the first responders to arrive outside the D&G tavern where McElroy was ambushed. SKIDMORE, Mo. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Neither Baird nor MacLean, whose crime novel has been praised as an accurate account of McElroys killing, buy that. McFadin, McElroys lawyer, got the hearing postponed. Is No One Saw A Thing A True Story? The Real-Life Murder - ScreenRant It's hard to believe that this small town was once a bustlingcommunity. Reached by phone, Mr. McElroys wife, who has since remarried and left the state, said she was not interested in talking about the case. In 1981, McElroy was convicted of shooting . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. It was not the kind of justice they shouldve gotten, 60-year-old Joyce Monte, the Bowenkamps daughter, told Patch in a telephone interview from her home in Oklahoma. RELATED: 10 Of The Best Docuseries You Should Be Watching Now Each episode is around 40 minutes each and contains dramatic and intimate . Town Mute for 30 Years About a Bully's Killing - The New York Times Just to be aware, he explained. Local police, state investigators and FBI agents tried to break the towns silence, without success. The law had plenty of chances, plenty of times to lock him up., Added Monte: Justice failed everybody. Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with Bring Me! He neutralized an entire criminal justice system.. McElroy was furious when he learned of the incident. They just went stone silent. 1, it is murder. In Broad Daylight: A murder in Skidmore, Missouri|Paperback Biography Mini Bio (1) Ken Rex McElroy Jr. is known for No One Saw a Thing (2019). Ken McElroy was shot to death on the main street of Skidmore in July 1981, in front of 45 witnesses. Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 - July 10, 1981) was an American criminal and convicted attempted murderer who resided in Skidmore, Missouri, United States. [6] Trena and her baby were placed in foster care at a home in Maryville, Missouri. He dropped out of school before he reached high school, and by 13 was already a familiar character to the cops around Nodaway County. It failed McElroy, too, because it failed to protect him from himself. 'Below the Fold' movie based on Skidmore, Missouri released - WDAF-TV The couple then moved to Colorado. Only July 10, 1981, there was a meeting at the town hall, down the street from D&G Tavern. The streak ended when a jury convicted Mr. McElroy of second-degree assault in the grocers shooting. Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 July 10, 1981) was an American criminal and convicted attempted murderer who resided in Skidmore, Missouri, United States. Ken Rex McElroy Jr. - Biography - IMDb There wasnt much parental supervision, but McElroy had a knack for taking care of himself. Genealogy profile for Ken Rex McElroy Ken Rex McElroy (1934 - 1982) - Genealogy Genealogy for Ken Rex McElroy (1934 - 1982) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Ken Rex McElroy was an illiterate hog farmer who lived on the outskirts of a small town in Northwest Missouri. Even with these raw wounds, the memory of the nightmare surrounding Mr. McElroy during his years of troublemaking and after a killing that many here feel was forced by an impotent criminal-justice system continues to loom large. They could have pushed and dug, pushed and dug and gotten nothing, said Huston. He went back home and was shot within a couple of days, explains Conger, editor of the Bethany Republican-Clipper. The murder occurred in broad daylight, with as many as sixty eye-witnesses present . You just didnt do that.. Henry was forced to admit in court, under questioning by McElroy's attorney Richard Gene McFadin, that he had concealed his own petty criminal conviction from more than 30 years previous. Luckily, Bowenkamp survived, and McElroy was charged with attempted murder. Stratton knew McElroy from a previous stop when he threatened the trooper with a shotgun. The man identified by the widow as the main gunman recently died, something Mr. Baird raised in suggesting that the case may never be reopened. His father was a tenant farmer, his mother a housewife swamped with feeding and caring for the sprawling family. Known as "the town bully", McElroy was accused of dozens of felonies, including assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, hog and cattle rustling, and burglary. Trena McElroy accused Skidmore residents of turning her husband into a scapegoat. The man asked, what are you doing here? Boyer remembers. When they met him on the street, parents steered their children, especially their daughters, away from McElroy, a notorious womanizer who favored young women and was married multiple times including to a child bride he was accused of raping and fathered 15 children. Shortly after being released, McElroy was at D&G Tavern making threats about murdering Bowenkamp. In the plainspoken manner of speaking in Skidmore, McElroy simply needed killing, like a gangrened leg needs to be severed to save the whole body. In what could only be described as vigilante justice, they conspired to kill Ken McElroy. Things reached a boiling point in 1980 when Ken McElroy got into a confrontation with the towns elderly grocer, Ernest Bo Bowenkamp. After McElroy fired a gun outside her house, Evelyn Sumy appealed to Dave Dunbar, the town marshal. No one has been charged in connection with McElroys death. One night after he pulled a speeding pickup truck over, Boyer came face to face with McElroy. At least some of the witnesses surely knew who fired the bullet that shattered the back window of McElroys truck and blew off the back of his head. Anticipating McElroys typical moves, Stratton waited on a back road near the Kansas border. Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 - July 10, 1981) was a resident of Skidmore, Nodaway County, Missouri. Skidmore, Part Three - The Murder of Ken Rex McElroy Perversely, the towns share of tragedy has grown. Women had a harder time with it than the men. The morning of July 10, 1981, a group of frustrated and angry men gathered at the Legion Hall in Skidmore, MacLean writes. Its probably accurate that few outside of McElroys family shed tears over his death, but many Skidmore residents still struggle with the spectacle of a man violently and publicly killed. However, in 1981, Trena told People magazine that the fire was a result of "faulty wiring.". This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. McElroy was a big man with cold eyes who always carried a gun. In all, he was indicted 21 times but escaped conviction each time, except for the last. Again, there were no indictments, and the McElroy murder case was tossed back to Baird. A writer and storyteller out in the world to write about True-Crime and History. Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. July 10th, 1981: The Townspeople gather in the Legion to discuss what should be done about Ken McElroy. Some attributed his bizarre and violent behavior to a head injury suffered in this event. Del Clement, the man Trena named as McElroy's killer, died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2009. 1969 or 1970: Ken McElroy becomes involved with a young girl named Trena McCloud. McElroy was eventually convicted, but the charge was lessened from "attempt to kill" to "knowingly caused serious physical injury" to ensure a conviction. The meeting broke up after participants learned McElroy and Trena were at the D&G Tavern. McElroy burned down the girls home and shot her familys dog to force her parents to agree to the marriage. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. McElroy raped a 12-year-old girl and, to avoid statutory rape charges, he divorced his wife at the time and married the child when she was 14 and pregnant with their baby. Over the course of his life, McElroy was accused of dozens of felonies, including assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, hog and cattle rustling, and burglary. But even after a federal prosecutor forwarded to Mr. Baird what he called substantial new evidence, no one was indicted. No one has ever been brought to trial in Mr. McElroys death, and, although there is no statute of limitations on murder, most people around here suspect that no one ever will be. Posted on July 14, 2011 by Harry. Mr. McElroy was quickly rearrested after he appeared in town with a rifle, but he was again released. Mable was born on February 28 1897, in Dover, Shawnee County, KS, USA. When the shooting ended, McElroy was slumped over the steering wheel. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. 1. They thought about his wife and his children, and where it left them particularly the children.. How is this man not in jail? Monte said, repeating the question asked by many when he showed up in Skidmore the morning after his release. I had my service weapon drawn, and I wouldnt have been the least bit surprised if he tried to do something, Boyer recalls. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Absolutely not, he said. When word spread that McElroy was in town, a couple of the men walked from the Legion hall to the D&G. There just wouldnt have been a story.. Author Harry MacLean wrote a book McElroys story called In Broad Daylight. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. My experience is that trying a case is not always good at bringing closure, Mr. Baird said. That it was a vigilante killing is not true for a lot of reasons; if they had decided to kill him, they wouldnt have stood in the street to watch the murder unfold, he said. Just months after Mr. Baird became county prosecutor a post he was encouraged to take because nothing exciting ever happens in Nodaway County he found himself in a courtroom for the first time with Mr. McElroy, who had shot an elderly Skidmore grocer in the neck with a shotgun. 1 or 2 men (unclear) took guns and shot Ken Rex McElroy dead in his truck. The town got away with murder, Mr. McFadin said. 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Often, witnesses changed their mind about testifying before trials began, MacLean said, and if a case did make it to trial, a juror might open the mailbox to find a rattlesnake. Evelyn tried to explain what had happened, that nobody had accused the children of stealing, and Trena said, Why would my effing daughter lie? . More awful crimes have taken place in the small town. June 16th, 1934: Ken Rex McElroy is born to Mabel and Tony McElroy, the thirteenth out of fourteen children. But in a dramatic act of solidarity with the gunman, every witness, save the dead mans wife, denied seeing who had pulled the trigger. Sixteen days after Trena gave birth, both she and Alice fled to Trena's mother's and stepfather's house. I am a History Educator and a Lifelong Learner with a Masters in Global History. The murder of Ken Rex McElroy isn't 'unsolved' in the typical sense of the word. Who Killed Ken Rex McElroy: Town Keeps Its Secret For 38 Years Never miss a story by signing up for the newsletter now. When you didnt know where he was, you didnt dare take the chance of not being on your guard.. The bar soon filled completely. Anthony was born on August 27 1890, in Shelton, Knox County, MO, USA. The courts would not help us or Skidmore. One of these women was 24-year-old Trena McCloud, who was McElroy's partner. One of the people shot was a local farmer named Romaine Henry, who McElroy shot in the stomach for trying to chase him off of Henry's own land. Investigators dug and dug, but Skidmore residents maintained their silence. The final straw for Skidmore was when he was let out on bond. But Ken rarely had to wrestle with the Five or six of us were standing in front of the Skidmore Caf, waiting and passing the time. Allegedly, even the mayor was in on it. On a steamy Missouri morning of July 10, 1981, a gunman took aim at the 47-year-old as he sat smoking in his Silverado pickup truck outside the local bar. McElory was struck by two different firearms and died behind the wheel of his truck. After all these years, people talk about it still, said Marla Messner, 37, a restaurant manager who remembers being hurried inside her home for safety anytime Mr. McElroy came to town. Yes, its against the law, but you know, the law is not the final definitive word on him. Sheriff Estes instructed the assembled group not to get into a direct confrontation with McElroy, but instead seriously consider forming a neighborhood watch program. On July 9, 1984, Trena McElroy filed a $5 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Town of Skidmore, County of Nodaway, Sheriff Danny Estes, Steve Peters (Mayor of Skidmore), and Del Clement (whom Trena accused of being the shooter, but who was never charged). That they had guns at the ready wasnt unusual. Many wondered: Why didnt Baird press charges against the man Trena McElroy fingered as her husbands killer? [2][3] In 1981, McElroy was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of the town's 70-year-old grocer Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp. The Craziest Cold Case in History The Murder of Ken Rex McElroy Refusing to argue, he and Lois went home. Bully's murder remains a secret in Missouri town for 40 years - FOX 2 As of 2019, many of the main players in McElroys story have died, including McFadin, Trena McElroy, Bowenkamp and the rancher accused of pulling the trigger, MacLean writes in his blog. Alas, the victory was short-lived. June 25th, 1981: McElroy returns to Skidmore out on bail until an appeal hearing. The noted sites in the story are gone or boardedup. In Broad Daylight | Harry N. MacLean Del Clement, the man Trena named as McElroys killer, died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2009. A couple of men hustled Trena to a nearby bank, away from the gunfire. As the story has been told by MacLean and others, McElroy showed up at the D&G tavern and pool hall the next day toting a rifle with a bayonet a violation of his bond and threatened to finish off the Bowenkamps. [9] McElroy was convicted at trial of assault, but freed on bail pending his appeal. His eyes just really put you in defense modehe really looked like a mean person.. Theoretically, [the murder] could be re-investigated, veteran Kansas City criminal defense attorney J.R. Hobbs tells A&E True Crime.
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