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The Killing of Ken Rex McElroy Thirty Years Later Absolutely not, he said. On July 10, 1981, McElroy was sitting in his truck with his wife Trena McElroy on Skidmore's main drag when a crowd of residents surrounded his vehicle and shot at him several times. in the A&E App.]. He was known as "the town bully",[1] and his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. *In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean 1988. Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. 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 16th, 1934: Ken Rex McElroy is born to Mabel and Tony McElroy, the thirteenth out of fourteen children. Trena dove from the truck and was taken to safety. April 25th, 1980: A few of Ken's children go to the local grocery store and is accused of stealing by Mrs. Bowenkamp. When he got off on a trial, it grew even bigger. For more than two decades, McElroy was suspected of being involved in theft of grain, gasoline, alcohol, antiques, and livestock, but he avoided conviction when charges were brought against him 21 timesoften after witnesses refused to testify because he allegedly intimidated them, frequently by following his targets or parking outside their homes and watching them. June 12th, 1973: After continuing his involvement with Trena McCloud, Ken McElroy burns down Trena's parents' house. McCloud attempted to escape to her parents' house, but McElroy allegedly responded by burning down Trena's parents' home and shooting their dog. I think he treated the whole town of Skidmore that way, the 78-year-old said, adding she didnt feel brave. But it got to the point it made me mad.. For example, one of the owners of the D&G tavern would send her young children to the grocery store for paper towels, keeping the children innocently unaware they were telegraphing an urgent message for the Bowenkamps to call the police. To the residents of the small town, he was the town bully. [6], Based on Trena's story, McElroy was indicted in June 1973 for arson, assault, and statutory rape. Bullet casings from two guns were found. Still, the panel didnt return an indictment, giving rise to conspiracy theories about a law enforcement coverup, also a theme in No One Saw a Thing.. In the end, fear is what killed him, Goslee said. McElroy was spinning so hard out of control, I have no doubt he would have tried to kill my dad again, given the chance. Now, nearly 30 years later, that prosecutor, David A. Baird, is preparing to leave office with his first and most famous case still unsolved. The story was thrust back to the forefront this month by No One Saw a Thing, a six-part Sundance TV docu-series exploring the moral ambiguity of frontier justice and the unspoken, yet universally intriguing, question: When, if ever, does someone like McElroy deserve to die? Nodaway County Sheriff Dan Estes suggested they form a neighborhood watch. Ken McElroy was born in 1934, one of 16 children, author Harry MacLean explains in his book In Broad Daylight, an account of the case. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. McElroy and Trena returned to the truck, where he lit a cigarette while she was in the passenger seat. The police chief who oversaw the investigation, Hal Riddle, disagrees. The bar that provided the backdrop for the shooting is closed and for sale for $20,000. When Estes and state troopers arrived back in town, the streets were empty and quiet, save the rumbling, smoking engine of McElroys truck. He was a goodhearted person. Didnt see a thing. Thats the response investigators repeatedly received when they questioned people over the death of Ken McElroy. June 25th, 1981: McElroy returns to Skidmore out on bail until an appeal hearing. 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. [14] Trena remarried and moved to Lebanon, Missouri, where she died of cancer on her 55th birthday on January 24, 2012.[15]. He dropped out of school at age 15 in the eighth grade and quickly established a local reputation as a cattle rustler, small-time thief, and womanizer. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. 1960: Ken moves his young girlfriendSally into his house with Sharon. McElroy made a living leasing land near his farm, and trading and racing dogs. August 18th, 1980: Ken's preliminary trial begins. Consisting of around 440 residents and a number of small family-run businesses, the farming town revolved around work ethic. [3] McElroy was acquitted. He found a macabre scene. 1952: Ken McElroy marries his first wife Oleta. The son of a bitch would just as soon shoot them as anyone else.. He met his last wife, Trena McCloud (19572012), when she was 12 years old and in eighth grade. Of the potential 40 or so witnesses, with the exception of Trena, none could name a shooter. His unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. As Trena told the story to reporters, a group of men followed them as they left the D&G. If we could have proved who done it, he would have prosecuted him, said Mr. Riddle, 72 and also retired, who describes the case as the most frustrating of his career. Ken was 18 and Oleta was 16. 1, it is murder. On July 10, 1981, Ken Rex McElroy was killed in one of the strangest instances investigators ever saw. What set off McElroy and put the local grocer in his crosshairs was the pettiest of offenses. Ken stalks the family afterwards, and on the 8th, Ken shoots Bo Bowenkamp. Many wondered: Why didnt Baird press charges against the man Trena McElroy fingered as her husbands killer? He had been terrorizing Skidmore for years and he kept getting away with it. But unless a very credible witness came forward, its not likely to happen., The Burger Chef Cold Case: Four Murders Still Unsolved Over 40 Years Later. Everyone just went home. Within hours, Mr. Baird heard that there had been a shooting downtown. The final straw for Skidmore was when he was let out on bond. The killing was a shocking end for a notoriously brutal man who had terrorized the area for years with seeming impunity from the law until he was struck down in a moment of vigilante justice. Henry survived and McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill. The citizens decided to go to the tavern en masse. He went about making public threats against the grocer while armed with a rifle. Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. He leaves Sharon to move in with Alice. According to a report, no one called an ambulance. 2023 by Catlyn Brady, Jennifer Partridge, & Kara Severson. [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. He was known as "the town bully", [1] and his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. The Vigilantemurder of Ken Rex McElroy still remains a mystery today. I dont believe youre coming nowafter we needed your help all this time.. 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. You could talk to everybody in this case, and theyd give you a different answer, he said in an interview at his office in the red brick county courthouse in nearby Maryville. Perversely, the towns share of tragedy has grown. McElroy was a big man with cold eyes who always carried a gun. According to reports, some 50 people were outside the tavern when the shooting started. She died in 2012. He dropped out of school before he reached high school, and by 13 was already a familiar character to the cops around Nodaway County. There wasn't much parental supervision, but McElroy had a knack for taking care of himself. There may never be an answer to the question of who killed Ken Rex McElroy. They thought about his wife and his children, and where it left them particularly the children.. Bully's murder remains a secret in Missouri town for 40 years - FOX 2 A few days later, a pickup truck showed up in the wee hours outside Boyers remote country house. They could finally sleep peacefully at night, especially Bo and Lois Bowenkamp and their children. He raped McCloud repeatedly. They could have pushed and dug, pushed and dug and gotten nothing, said Huston. Here are 13 things you need to know about Ken McElroy and his death before you tune into No One Saw A Thing, premiering this Thursday, Aug. 1, pulled from sources including Harry MacLean,. The DA declined to press charges and the following investigation proved to be futile. Trena claimed to have seen someone pull a rifle from the back of the truck, take aim at McElroy, and fire shots that shattered the truck's windows. He said that Mr. Baird pushed aggressively to bring a case to trial, but that investigators were never able to secure enough evidence to charge someone with a crime. Livestock owners looked the other way when a few head of cattle or hogs vanished in the night or gas barrels used to fuel farm implements were noticeably emptier. McElroy was in town and behaving belligerently. When a court hearing was postponed, there was a meeting in town, with the mayor and the sheriff attending, to discuss Mr. McElroy. The couple then moved to Colorado. No one was surprised. I didnt know what to do. Part of his teeth were lying on the dashboard, Boyer recalls. He told the foster family that he would trade "girl for girl" to get his child back, since he knew where the foster family's biological daughter went to school and what bus route she rode. Anthony was born on August 27 1890, in Shelton, Knox County, MO, USA. Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 July 10, 1981) was an American criminal and convicted attempted murderer who resided in Skidmore, Missouri, United States. Neither Baird nor MacLean, whose crime novel has been praised as an accurate account of McElroys killing, buy that. 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. 'Below the Fold' movie based on Skidmore, Missouri released - WDAF-TV 18 Facts About The Murder Of Ken Rex McElroy, One Of The Most McElroy was accused of raping two young women, as young as 12 years old, both of whom he was said to have "married" to keep them from testifying against him. Of the most serious, McElroy was accused of child molestation and statutory rape. As he sat drinking at the bar, word got back to the men at the Legion Hall that he was in town. Before you tell yourself the case closed, no, this case still remains unsolved. The morning of July 10, 1981, a group of frustrated and angry men gathered at the Legion Hall in Skidmore, MacLean writes. Nobody called an ambulance. Tell us what you think in the comments below. Filmmaker Avi Belkin's 'No One Saw a Thing . McElroy for the most part escaped prosecution and, certainly, conviction for various crimes. Some attributed his bizarre and violent behavior to a head injury suffered in this event. (Editors Note: Patch Deputy National Editor Beth Dalbey grew up on a farm about 10 miles from Skidmore, Missouri.). She took her complaint to at-the-time Nodaway County Sheriff Roger Cronk. If those responsible for killing McElroy are vigilantes, its because the justice system made them that way, Monte said. McElroy was known to have stolen grain, alcohol, gasoline, antiques, and even livestock. Buzzfeeds Unsolved Network produced a 24-minute true crime documentary on the shooting. His eyes just really put you in defense modehe really looked like a mean person.. Boyer was among the first responders to arrive outside the D&G tavern where McElroy was ambushed. But if tried by a jury of their peers, I doubt anybody around here would have convicted the shooters. Many buildings are closed and falling apart. 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. 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. They settle in Skidmore. The murder occurred in broad daylight, with as many as sixty eye-witnesses present, including the wife of the deceased. As Ken McElroy sat in his truck, he was shot at several times. He divorces Oleta and marries Sharon to get out of a chargeof assault after shooting Sharon during an argument. The last three decades have been tough on this agricultural community of 342, about an hour and a half north of Kansas City. 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 . There were plenty of eyewitnesses, as well as the attack happened in broad daylight, therefore We didnt have sufficient evidence to go to trial.. Ken Rex McElroy, a notoriously brutal man who had terrorized Skidmore, Mo., for years, was killed in 1981. [2], 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. The group heard McElroy and Trena McCloud were spotted heading to the tavern nearby. He begins to rant about how he is going to ruin Bo Bowenkamp. Many buildings are closed and falling apart. 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. No one bothered to turn it off. Farmers carried them to kill varmints, or for hunting displaying them in plain sight in rear window gun racks. Theoretically, [the murder] could be re-investigated, veteran Kansas City criminal defense attorney J.R. Hobbs tells A&E True Crime. They delivered messages in code. Once the shroud of silence fell, there was going to be no one talking, said Cheryl Huston, whose elderly father had been shot by Mr. McElroy and who watched the killing of Mr. McElroy from her familys grocery store but, like the others, said she did not see the gunman. 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. A reported crowd of up to 60 men had largely dispersed, but some onlookers remained, staring at the pickup. When the shooting ended, McElroy was slumped over the steering wheel. He never finished high school but knew how to hunt, drive fast and navigate the back roads of Nodaway County by his early teens. He quit.. He was nonplussed. McElroy was hit twice and died. It cruised up the street, came back and just sat there for 20 seconds, says Boyer, adding he couldnt prove it was McElroy but waited behind a tree with his shotgun just in case. McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill. He was punctual, always said he didnt do it, paid in cash and kept coming back.. In all, he was indicted 21 times but escaped conviction each time, except for the last. We might not see him for three or four days, and then wed see him every day for weeks, Monte said. The sheriff suggested they form a neighborhood watch and advised the group not to confront the man. 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. Hed help anyone that needed to be helped, she said in an interview recounted in In Broad Daylight. Alas, the victory was short-lived. There were as many as 60 witnesses, yet the crime remains unsolved. The townsfolk were infuriated. What happened in Skidmore that day wasnt much different than the completely predictable result from shaking a carbonated beverage until the top finally blows. [10] No one called for an ambulance. McElroy wound up shooting Bowenkamp in the neck, nearly killing him. Shortly after, McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder. No one has been charged in connection with McElroys death. [2] He was struck by bullets from at least two different firearms, in front of a crowd of people estimated as numbering between 30 and 46. She was present at the time of his death. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright .

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