It was a commemoration of sorts: thirty years ago to the day after Ken Rex McElroy had been shot to death as he sat in his truck on the main street of . This six-episode true-crime docuseries comes from Sundance TV and premiered last August. E-mail: ramzywritersofficial@gmail.com. Ken is later charged and arrested. Boyer was out showing a trainee the ropes when he got the call of a shooting in Skidmore. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. As many as 60 Skidmore residents attended, including the mayor and the sheriff. If you were to go to Skidmore today, there isn't much to see. He stood silently at the back of the store, but his wife tore into Sumy in an argument laced with four-letter bombs, Monte said. No one called for an ambulance. Harry MacLean, author of "In Broad Daylight". McElroy would just sit and glower at you just stare at you and youd never know what he was thinking.. The man asked, what are you doing here? Boyer remembers. Get out of town, they said. McElroy sat outside the foster home for hours at a time staring at it. SKIDMORE, Mo. McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. . She died of cancer on Jan. 24, 2012; it was her 55th birthday. Allegedly, even the mayor was in on it. This past weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the killing of Ken Rex McElroy of Skidmore. 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. What set off McElroy and put the local grocer in his crosshairs was the pettiest of offenses. There were as many as 60 witnesses, yet the crime remains unsolved. He was punctual, always said he didnt do it, paid in cash and kept coming back.. He was charged 21 times in theft cases but was said to have avoided conviction through witness intimidation, either by direct confrontation or by parking his truck outside their home. 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. 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. In 1980, one of McElroy's children got into an argument with a clerk, Evelyn Sumy, in a local grocery store owned by 70-year-old Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp and his wife Lois, allegedly because the young McElroy child tried to steal some candy. His father was a tenant farmer, his mother a housewife swamped with feeding and caring for the sprawling family. In the end, fear is what killed him, Goslee said. But even after a federal prosecutor forwarded to Mr. Baird what he called substantial new evidence, no one was indicted. McElroy allegedly stole livestock, grain, gasoline, and antiques. On July 8, 1980, McElroy drove to the alley behind the Bowenkamp general store. Hed leave, then hed come back, Monte said. After Sally had had three kids, Ken kicks her out of the house. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . The stories of McElroy's relationships contain some troubling details, but the information is important to paint the full picture. [6], Based on Trena's story, McElroy was indicted in June 1973 for arson, assault, and statutory rape. 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 man identified by the widow as the main gunman recently died, something Mr. Baird raised in suggesting that the case may never be reopened. 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. Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Richard Stratton, the only lawman in northwest Missouri ever known to stand up to McElroy, hunted McElroy down and arrested him on an attempted murder charge. It's said that the meeting adjourned, and the crowd quietly descended upon the tavern, flanking McElroy's truck. No. Yes, its against the law, but you know, the law is not the final definitive word on him. Is dumpster diving legal in Missouri and Illinois? Its never going to happen.. On July 10, 1981, Ken Rex McElroy was killed in one of the strangest instances investigators ever saw. 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. His last wife, Trena, became pregnant with their first child at age 14. We stood up and did the right thing. Anthony was born on August 27 1890, in Shelton, Knox County, MO, USA. Ken Rex McElroy was an American known as "the town bully" of Skidmore, Missouri. That became the pattern. McElroy escaped jail on an appeal bond and could remain free until he exhausted his appeals, free to taunt his victims with what had become painfully clear: He would never go to jail. Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead inside his pick-up truck on the 10th of July, 1981, via a storm of bullets. [3] McElroy was acquitted. The couple then moved to Colorado. They were witnesses. They delivered messages in code. When the news that Ken and Trena went to the local bar that evening, everyone got up and made their way over. The towns local bar in Skidmore, Missouri. McElroy was convicted of assault but let out of jail awaiting appeal. 1. We went everywhere we could, but justice would stay delicately out the way, she said. This led to several patrons deciding to see what they could legally do to prevent McElroy from harming anyone else. A federal grand jury was convened. Shortly after being released, McElroy was at D&G Tavern making threats about murdering Bowenkamp. No one was surprised. [6] Trena and her baby were placed in foster care at a home in Maryville, Missouri. Actually, I think those shooters saved lives in the end, she said. Tensions in Skidmore soared as McElroys trial neared. Alas, the victory was short-lived. They could have pushed and dug, pushed and dug and gotten nothing., We were so bitter and so angry at the law letting us down that it came to somebody taking matters in their own hands, she said. He grew up hearing the story. After McElroy fired a gun outside her house, Evelyn Sumy appealed to Dave Dunbar, the town marshal. The son of a bitch would just as soon shoot them as anyone else.. As Trena told the story to reporters, a group of men followed them as they left the D&G. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. Mr. McElroy has been dead for almost three decades now, a round number that has residents here bracing for the next round of visits by reporters. McElroy was reportedly a large man (270 pounds), and a local farmer's description of him (seen above) was that he wanted to appear "big and important" and make people "afraid.". Then you can read about chilling cold cases where the murderers and victims were both unknown. One assumption Skidmore hasnt been able to shed is that McElroys killing was an act of vigilante justice. Charismatic, with jet-black hair and piercing eyes, McElroy could sweet-talk his way around women and had been married three times by his early 40s. Trena McElroy accused Skidmore residents of turning her husband into a scapegoat. (Editors Note: Patch Deputy National Editor Beth Dalbey grew up on a farm about 10 miles from Skidmore, Missouri.). Local police, state investigators and FBI agents tried to break the towns silence, without success. It was a sunny, clear summer day. Unsolved 'Vigilante' Murder in the Heartland: Missouri Town Goes Quiet After Bully Is Shot, https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/ken-rex-mcelroy-vigilante-murder-skidmore-unsolved. Some people have attributed his strange behavior with this event. 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. Like so many other small towns, Skidmore has shrunk inside itself, watching businesses close and residents depart. Within hours, Mr. Baird heard that there had been a shooting downtown. Now, nearly 30 years later, that prosecutor, David A. Baird, is preparing to leave office with his first and most famous case still unsolved. Despite the efforts of police, prosecutors and McElroys family, no one has been charged in the murder. McElroy eventually left the tavern and got into his pickup truck with his wife, but the mob of people followed the pair outside. In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean / Via. There has been books written, movies, documentaries and more made about the killing. The police chief who oversaw the investigation, Hal Riddle, disagrees. In the decades preceding his murder, McElroy terrorized the denizens of Skidmore. The town got away with murder, Mr. McFadin said. As the case dragged on without a court date, Henry said McElroy had parked outside his home at least 100 times. Estes, the sheriff some tried to implicate in a conspiracy, is dead. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. She eventually filed a wrongful death against the town, the county, and some citizens but the matter was settled out of court. A writer and storyteller out in the world to write about True-Crime and History. Those who witnessed the killing didnt speak of it again, not because they were part of a conspiracy, MacLean believes, but because theyre stoic by nature. 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. The Story Of Ken McElroy The Vicious Bully Killed By His Town. Instead of playing out in court, the details emerged in newspaper and magazine accounts, as well as a best-selling book, In Broad Daylight: A Murder in Skidmore, Missouri, which was later made into a television movie. In April 1980, Trena McElroy told her husband a clerk in the Bowenkamps store had accused their 4-year-old daughter of stealing penny candy. But the silence of the townspeople held. There was a kind of silent charity on the part of my parents, and they never prosecuted. McElroy was born in 1934, the fifteenth of sixteen children born to a poor . Ken Rex McElroy Jr. - Biography - IMDb Edit Ken Rex McElroy Jr. McElroy started his pickup and the sound of shots pierced the silence. Three grand juries heard evidence. Im never going to answer that question. That was the last failure of criminal justice.. On July 10th, 1981 Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead in the street in broad daylight infront of 60 witnesses. You dont take cases to trial to see what might happen, the former prosecutor said. Ken Rex McElroy was born on month day 1934, at birth place, Missouri, to Anthony Wyatt McElroy and Mable Marie McElroy (born Lister). Biography Mini Bio (1) Ken Rex McElroy Jr. is known for No One Saw a Thing (2019). He appeared in a local bar, the D&G Tavern, armed with an M1 Garand rifle and bayonet, and later threatened to kill Bowenkamp. A man who turned out to be McElroy pointed a shotgun at me, Margaret tells A&E True Crime. October 20th, 1974: Ken McElroy marries Trena McCloud to get out of a statutory rape charge with Trena. Instead, he continued to harass Bowenkamp. He dropped out of school before he reached high school, and by 13 was already a familiar character to the cops around Nodaway County. Author Harry MacLean wrote a book McElroys story called In Broad Daylight. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The sheriff suggested they form a neighborhood watch and advised the group not to confront the man. Former Nodaway County prosecutor David Baird, Its proceedings are secret, but in news interviews at the time, McElroys widow said she told a county grand jury who murdered her husband. Someone warned her, Youre about to meet Ken Rex McElroy, Monte said. 1954: While working for his sister's husband in construction, McElroy suffers a traumatic head injury that leaves him with lifelong pain. Alice and Ken eventually separate. He was sure it was Mr. McElroy who had done the shooting. He was arrested, booked, arraigned, and released on $2,500 bail. It was a matter of self-preservation. 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. Full Worm Moon: Will Conditions Favor A Moonbow? Once you boil away to the facts of what occurred, you can probably point to hundreds of similar reports every week across the United States., If McElroy had been shot by a lone gunman on a dark road at night, it would have made the Maryville paper for a day, MacLean said. In the ensuing confrontation, McElroy shot Bowenkamp in the neck; Bowenkamp survived, and McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder. 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. There wasnt much parental supervision, but McElroy had a knack for taking care of himself. A couple of men hustled Trena to a nearby bank, away from the gunfire. There wasn't much parental supervision, but McElroy had a knack for taking care of himself. On July 27, 1976, Skidmore farmer Romaine Henry said McElroy shot him twice with a shotgun after Henry challenged him for shooting weapons on Henry's property. June 25th, 1981: McElroy returns to Skidmore out on bail until an appeal hearing. A few days later, a pickup truck showed up in the wee hours outside Boyers remote country house. SKIDMORE, Mo. Trena McElroy remarried and had a fairly normal life, refusing interviews after she left Skidmore. He was as mean as he looked, but there was more to his baleful demeanor, said Colorado lawyer and author Harry MacLean, who lived with a prominent Skidmore farm family off and on for about five years while he researched In Broad Daylight, a New York Times bestseller chronicling McElroys life and death. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. Obsessed with travel? Somebody would hear his name, and the legend grew bigger. Only July 10, 1981, there was a meeting at the town hall, down the street from D&G Tavern. On the morning of July 10, 1981, several townspeople met with the Nodaway County sheriff at a local hall to discuss what could be done about McElroy. He showed up to the towns local bar, armed with a rifle and bayonet, threatening to kill the elderly grocer. [11] Only Trena claimed to identify a gunman; every other witness either was unable to name an assailant or claimed not to have seen who fired the fatal shots. McElroy began backing out too, then tailed Margaret until she radioed Richard and squad cars showed up. As many as 60 people were reported to have been at the scene, but not one of them would say who had wielded the weapons. He was nonplussed. McElroy wound up shooting Bowenkamp in the neck, nearly killing him. Ken stalks the family afterwards, and on the 8th, Ken shoots Bo Bowenkamp. "[13], McElroy was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Joseph, Missouri. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. A&E, Rolling Stone, Playboy, 60 Minutes, and other media outlets covered the story in print or television. Ken Rex McElroy sat in his truck for over an hour before the law was called. The meeting's entire purpose was to discuss what they could legally do to prevent McElroy from harming anyone else. But in a dramatic act of solidarity with the gunman, every witness, save the dead mans wife, denied seeing who had pulled the trigger. Town Mute for 30 Years About a Bullys Killing, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/us/16bully.html. July 10th, 1981: The townspeople gather around Ken's truck once he and Trena exit the bar. Ken McElroy issues threats against the Bowenkamp family. Hed help anyone that needed to be helped, she said in an interview recounted in In Broad Daylight. Henry survived and McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill. All Rights Reserved. The people of Skidmore were becoming more and more frustrated with the failures to protect them in the justice system. McElroy was spinning so hard out of control, I have no doubt he would have tried to kill my dad again, given the chance. THE KILLING OF KEN REX MCELROY THIRTY YEARS LATER. Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. After dropping out of school in the eighth grade, it didn't take long for Ken McElroy to fall into a life of delinquency. The courts would not help us or Skidmore. Two people decided in the midst of that whole incident theyd had enough, MacLean said. Both Sally and Sharon begin having Ken's children. When you didnt know where he was, you didnt dare take the chance of not being on your guard.. CHAPTER ONE. The guns were never recovered. If you liked reading this story on Ken McElroy, the bully who was killed by his town, check out the story of Budford Pussers cold-blooded revenge. McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill. Nobody wanted to talk to us, retired Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Dan Boyer tells A&E True Crime. Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. Worse felonies included assault and arson. As there were no witnesses, nobody was able to take the stand. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. BuzzFeed McElroy allegedly stole livestock, grain, gasoline,. But if tried by a jury of their peers, I doubt anybody around here would have convicted the shooters. He was known as "the town bully", [1] and his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. More awful crimes have taken place in the small town. A lot of them didnt even tell their wives and children. Retaliation would be severe. Reporting on what you care about. And its likely to stay that way. Self care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life. They slept in shifts, with some friend or family member keeping an eye on the street. Stratton knew McElroy from a previous stop when he threatened the trooper with a shotgun. They could finally sleep peacefully at night, especially Bo and Lois Bowenkamp and their children. Mable was born on February 28 1897, in Dover, Shawnee County, KS, USA. 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. Police had charged him with various alleged crimes from stealing hogs to assault, but nothing stuck. Over the course of his life, McElroy was accused of dozens of felonies, including assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, animal cruelty, hog and cattle rustling, and burglary. The noted sites in the story are gone or boardedup. Ken was 18 and Oleta was 16. I said it in 1981, and Ill say it now, Baird told Patch. A reported crowd of up to 60 men had largely dispersed, but some onlookers remained, staring at the pickup. Refusing to argue, he and Lois went home. Trena jumped from the truck and a man helped her to safety. A swarthy, physically intimidating man who carried about 270 pounds on his more than 6-foot frame, McElroy had thick black eyebrows and bushy sideburns. Dozens of them gathered at Skidmores American Legion hall on the morning of July 10, 1981. The streak ended when a jury convicted Mr. McElroy of second-degree assault in the grocers shooting.
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