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. June 12th, 1973: After continuing his involvement with Trena McCloud, Ken McElroy burns down Trena's parents' house. But even after a federal prosecutor forwarded to Mr. Baird what he called substantial new evidence, no one was indicted. Meanwhile, major media outlets descended onto Skidmore and reports of its vigilantes became water-cooler talk across the U.S. For some residents, resentment against McElroy was projected onto the police. 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. 1948: Approximately the time when Ken begins his small thefts as a young teenager. Trena McCloud's Civil Suit Against Skidmore, Missouri Revealed - Bustle He was known as the town bully, but they may be putting it mildly. I had my service weapon drawn, and I wouldnt have been the least bit surprised if he tried to do something, Boyer recalls. Allegedly, even the mayor was in on it. McElroy was never a popular man. After Sally had had three kids, Ken kicks her out of the house. [1] McElroy successfully appealed the conviction and was released on bond, after which he engaged in an ongoing harassment campaign against Bowenkamp and others who were sympathetic to Bowenkamp, including the town's Church of Christ minister. In a trial for shooting a Skidmore man in 1976 two witnesses appeared saying they had been with McElroy hunting miles away from the scene. McCloud attempted to escape to her parents' house, but McElroy allegedly responded by burning down Trena's parents' home and shooting their dog. Of the potential 40 or so witnesses, with the exception of Trena, none could name a shooter. Many buildings are closed and falling apart. His last wife, Trena, became pregnant with their first child at age 14. He made no deathbed confession, but someone wrote in a memorial tribute that he . 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. More awful crimes have taken place in the small town. And his deeds were as daunting as his appearance. The man asked, what are you doing here? Boyer remembers. We had shoplifting, but a lot of people were on hard times. It's worth noting that the abused defending their abuser often occurs in domestic violence cases. The law wasnt going to help the people of Skidmore. The FBI entered the case stiff-arming and threatening people, is how Monte, the Bowenkamps daughter, relates it. The Strange Killing of Ken Rex McElroy - YouTube Those who spoke out were taciturn. No one was surprised. June 16th, 1934: Ken Rex McElroy is born to Mabel and Tony McElroy, the thirteenth out of fourteen children. Ken McElroy was shot to death on the main street of Skidmore in July 1981, in front of 45 witnesses. Two people decided in the midst of that whole incident theyd had enough, MacLean said. 1955 or 56: Ken and Oleta McElroy move back to Missouri after Ken's accident in Colorado. McElroy was a big man with cold eyes who always carried a gun. [5] She became pregnant when she was fourteen, dropped out of school in the ninth grade, and went to live with McElroy and his second wife Alice. He quit.. When talking about McElroy, MacLean wondered how he was able to be so crafty. She was present at the time of his death. As Ken McElroy sat in his truck, he was shot at several times. Once there, he threatened Bo, and shot him in the neck at close range with a shotgun. His attorney, Richard McFadin, said he routinely defended Ken McElroy in three or four felonies a year. Anywhere from 30 to 90 people watched the 47-year-old McElroy die in an act that ended his decade-long reign of terror over the people of Skidmore. When Estes and state troopers arrived back in town, the streets were empty and quiet, save the rumbling, smoking engine of McElroys truck. The 12-year-old's parents initially opposed the relationship, but after McElroy burned their house down and shot the family dog, they relented and agreed to the marriage. Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern. Yes, its against the law, but you know, the law is not the final definitive word on him. In July 1976, McElroy pulled a shotgun on farmer Romaine Henry and shot the man in the stomach. In the summer of 1981, a jury handed McElroy his first-ever felony conviction for the lesser charge of second-degree assault. Case #8: the Mysterious Death of Ken Rex Mcelroy McElroy made a living leasing land near his farm, and trading and racing dogs. McElroy appealed the case and was released on bond. This is far from what happened in the case of McElroy. He was indicted as many as 21 times, but escaped conviction all but once. 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. Once freed, McElroy didnt just quietly celebrate his victory. The murder of Ken Rex McElroy took place in plain view of dozens of residents of this small farm town, under the glare of the morning sun. The people of the town keep their heads down and prefer to not speak about the incident. Obsessed with travel? in the A&E App.]. Retaliation would be severe. They were witnesses. Dunbar talked to him, and [McElroy] pulled a gun on him, Monte said. 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? An extensive federal investigation did not lead to any charges. McElroy was eventually convicted, but the charge was lessened from "attempt to kill" to "knowingly caused serious physical injury" to ensure a conviction. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. 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. The Vigilantemurder of Ken Rex McElroy still remains a mystery today. According to a report, no one called an ambulance. I dont know what happened,' Boyer recalls witnesses saying. He met his last wife, Trena McCloud (19572012), when she was 12 years old and in eighth grade. Reporting on what you care about. 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. The witnesses all claimed they had seen nothing. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. She gathered her strength and put the car in reverse. Shortly after being released, McElroy was at D&G Tavern making threats about murdering Bowenkamp. Weighing in at approximately 270 pounds with bushy black sideburns, McElroy held the entire . In what could only be described as vigilante justice, they conspired to kill Ken McElroy. 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. Trena dove from the truck and was taken to safety. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. Dozens of them gathered at Skidmores American Legion hall on the morning of July 10, 1981. I said it in 1981, and Ill say it now, Baird told Patch. Within a few years, she had had four children by him. This was something that the "town bully," Ken Rex McElroy, staunchly rebelled against. Then, on a warm July night, McElroy shot my dad as he sat on the back loading dock of his store, waiting for an air conditioner repairman, Monte said. Ken McElroy - Historical records and family trees - MyHeritage Trena McElroy fingered a local rancher as one of the gunmen, but he denied the claim. As the case dragged on without a court date, Henry said McElroy had parked outside his home at least 100 times. McElroy was hit twice by two different guns and died from injuries to his head and neck. So what was left?. 1, it is murder. I heard shooting and got down. Somebody would hear his name, and the legend grew bigger. When you didnt know where he was, you didnt dare take the chance of not being on your guard.. 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. McElroys wifewhom he victimized as a childremarried and moved to Lebanon, Missouri. It was so out of the blue, almost to the point of being surreal, said Monte, who occasionally worked in her parents store. It's hard to believe that this small town was once a bustlingcommunity. He divorces Oleta and marries Sharon to get out of a chargeof assault after shooting Sharon during an argument. Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead inside his pick-up truck on the 10th of July, 1981, via a storm of bullets. Its never going to happen.. Police had charged him with various alleged crimes from stealing hogs to assault, but nothing stuck. One assumption Skidmore hasnt been able to shed is that McElroys killing was an act of vigilante justice. 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. Why are you doing this? Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. Known as 'the town bully', his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. Everyone in town seemed to know McElroy had done it, yet he spent only a single night in jail for nearly killing the man. McElroy four years earlier had pumped a couple of rounds of buckshot into the stomach of local farmer Romaine Henry as he tried to run the blackguard off his land. Sixteen days after Trena gave birth, both she and Alice fled to Trena's mother's and stepfather's house. And despite there being dozens of witnesses, no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with McElroys murder. My experience is that trying a case is not always good at bringing closure, Mr. Baird said. Get out of town, they said. It's said that the meeting adjourned, and the crowd quietly descended upon the tavern, flanking McElroy's truck. A deer slug in one chamber tore through Bowenkamps neck, coming within 3 inches of his head. For over twenty years he raped, robbed and burned almost at will. The morning of July 10, 1981, a group of frustrated and angry men gathered at the Legion Hall in Skidmore, MacLean writes. 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. Best client I ever had, McFadin said in an interview. A bond hearing was ordered. Bullet casings from two different guns were found. We stood up and did the right thing. Ken Rex McElroy - Trakt Ken Rex McElroy was a 6-foot, 270 pounds, dark-complexioned, blue-eyed man who lived in Skidmore, Missouri. 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. No one has been indicted for the murder of McElroy. 18 Facts About The Murder Of Ken Rex McElroy, One Of The Most Hed leave, then hed come back, Monte said. Watch the new and 7th season of BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime! McElroy was known to have stolen grain, alcohol, gasoline, antiques, and even livestock. One of these women was 24-year-old Trena McCloud, who was McElroy's partner. Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead inside his pick-up truck on the 10th of July, 1981, via a storm of bullets. 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. The guns were never recovered. Someone shot at McElroy while he was sitting in his truck. A writer and storyteller out in the world to write about True-Crime and History. The couple then moved to Colorado. The bar soon filled completely. McElroy first began his relationship with McCloud when she was 14 and the two had a child shortly thereafter. McElroy's appeal hearing was again delayed. The final straw for Skidmore was when he was let out on bond. She died of cancer on Jan. 24, 2012; it was her 55th birthday. Then McElroy, described by veteran journalist Phil Conger as a big brute of a guy with slicked-back hair like Elvis, took the stand. 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. The law had plenty of chances, plenty of times to lock him up., Added Monte: Justice failed everybody. The bar that provided the backdrop for the shooting is closed and for sale for $20,000. Buzzfeeds Unsolved Network produced a 24-minute true crime documentary on the shooting. Calling the sheriff about his threats was risk few were willing to take not that it would have done much good, Goslee said. When word spread that McElroy was in town, a couple of the men walked from the Legion hall to the D&G. In all, McElroy was indicted 21 times and managed to escape conviction every time. He never finished high school but knew how to hunt, drive fast and navigate the back roads of Nodaway County by his early teens. Everyone claimed they didnt see who fired the shots. How did this uneducated person how is he able to outwit the criminal justice system for 20 years? said MacLean. A couple of men hustled Trena to a nearby bank, away from the gunfire. He was known as "the town bully",[1] and his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. 2023 by Catlyn Brady, Jennifer Partridge, & Kara Severson. 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. As he packed up his office last week, he gave his successor a memo that listed a dozen or so unsolved cases in Nodaway County including, down toward the end, the killing of Mr. McElroy. He knew which people to pick on the weak people and he followed through on his threats just often enough to make people believe he was going to do what he said he was going to do. SKIDMORE, Mo. He was arrested, booked, arraigned, and released on $2,500 bail. Some people have attributed his strange behavior with this event. American criminal and murder victim, killed by vigilantes, "3 decades on, who killed Skidmore town bully still secret", "Ken McElroy Murderer, rapist and consummate intimidator", "Skidmore, Revisited Part 1: The Death of Ken McElroy", "Ken McElroy Murderer, rapist and consummate intimidator Another Teen Love", "Ken McElroy Murderer, rapist and consummate intimidator Saved by the Law", "Ken McElroy Murderer, rapist and consummate intimidator Intent to Kill", The Death Of Ken McElroy *Interesting History* - YouTube, "AS her daughter Tami listens, Trena McElroy retells how she watched", "3 decades on, who killed Skidmore town bully still secret | McClatchy", "Ken McElroy Murderer, rapist and consummate intimidator Murder in Broad Daylight", "Wrongful death lawsuit settled in re Ken McElroy", "Trena McElroy Passed Away | Harry N. MacLean", "You Get What You Pay For, by Larry Beinhart", "Stream It Or Skip It: 'No One Saw A Thing' On SundanceTV, A Docuseries About How Skidmore, Missouri Has Kept A Murder Unsolved For 38 Years", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ken_McElroy&oldid=1136590059, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Pages using infobox criminal with known for parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Bo Bowenkamp (survived an attempted murder), This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 02:52. No One Saw a Thing S01E01 The Killing of Ken Rex McElroy Mable was born on February 28 1897, in Dover, Shawnee County, KS, USA. The Town That Got Away With Murder - Ken Rex McElroy - Morbidology In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean / Via. He appeared in a local bar, the D&G Tavern, armed with an M1 Garand rifle and bayonet, and later threatened to kill Bowenkamp. Is No One Saw A Thing A True Story? The Real-Life Murder - ScreenRant There is pretty much nothing in existence that was not stolen by McElroy during his 47 years. After the sheriff left town, the group walked from the hall and went down the street to the tavern. The townspeople organized a caravan to escort the witnesses to the hearing both to protect them and to show solidarity. He was known as the town bully , but they may be putting it mildly. Ken Rex McElroy 1934-1981. Nodaway County Sheriff Dan Estes suggested they form a neighborhood watch. When a court hearing was postponed, there was a meeting in town, with the mayor and the sheriff attending, to discuss Mr. McElroy. The police would not or could not help us or Skidmore. Town Mute for 30 Years About a Bully's Killing - The New York Times 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. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. He reportedly began stalking the Bowenkamp family. In all, he was indicted 21 times but escaped conviction each time, except for the last. August 18th, 1980: Ken's preliminary trial begins. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. All Rights Reserved. And Mr. Baird lost his first election, in the Democratic primary this year, by just 25 votes, a loss noted by The Kansas City Star because of his connection with the case. Estes then drove out of town in his police cruiser. He was a goodhearted person. His eyes just really put you in defense modehe really looked like a mean person.. Mr. McElroy was quickly rearrested after he appeared in town with a rifle, but he was again released. Dec. 15, 2010. And its likely to stay that way. THE KILLING OF KEN REX MCELROY THIRTY YEARS LATER. He was nonplussed. There were as many as 60 witnesses, yet the crime remains unsolved. He was represented by defense attorney Richard Gene McFadin of Gallatin, Missouri. Ken Rex McElroyThe Thirtieth Anniversary of his Killing He raped McCloud repeatedly. October 20th, 1974: Ken McElroy marries Trena McCloud to get out of a statutory rape charge with Trena. SKIDMORE, Mo. 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. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8iUdp33PqTsix2sGblEQZ8m5FQycC5D Vigilante justice, or cold-blooded murder?MERCH: We've got it! He torched the home and shot the dogagainafter the girl went into hiding with her and McElroys baby. The towns local bar in Skidmore, Missouri. 1964: Ken meets another girlfriend named Alice Wood. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Ken Rex McElroy Jr. Skidmore, Part Three - The Murder of Ken Rex McElroy Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 July 10, 1981) was an American criminal and convicted attempted murderer who resided in Skidmore, Missouri, United States.