A deer slug in one chamber tore through Bowenkamps neck, coming within 3 inches of his head. A lot of them didnt even tell their wives and children. We were so bitter and so angry at the law letting us down that it came to somebody taking matters in their own hands, said Bowenkamps daughter, Cheryl Huston. 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. They could have pushed and dug, pushed and dug and gotten nothing, said Huston. July 10th, 1981: The Townspeople gather in the Legion to discuss what should be done about Ken McElroy. 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. Our law enforcement never went after him very hard, he said. *In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean 1988. 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. Ken Rex Melroy was born on June 1st, 1934 to a family of poor tenant farmers who moved to Skidmore. According to a report, no one called an ambulance. 1. Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern. YouTubeThe towns local bar in Skidmore, Missouri. Trena dove from the truck and was taken to safety. Many buildings are closed and falling apart. McCloud was McElroy's third "wife," though all unions were suspicious due to the fact that some of his marriages overlapped. Once, he even got out and fired a shotgun up in the pine tree by their house. As there were no witnesses, nobody was able to take the stand. The people of the town keep their heads down and prefer to not speak about the incident. As his long tenure comes to an end questions about the lack of resolution in the murder case perhaps the most infamous in the area since Jesse James was shot nearby a century earlier continue to follow Mr. Baird. Genealogy profile for Ken Rex McElroy Ken Rex McElroy (1934 - 1981) - Genealogy Genealogy for Ken Rex McElroy (1934 - 1981) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. So the townspeople held a meeting. McElroy burned down the girls home and shot her familys dog to force her parents to agree to the marriage. Everyone just went home. McElroy was known to pay local kids for information about who was where in town at what time, so the Bowenkamps developed their own network of informants. Additional charges were filed against McElroy.[7]. Everyone claimed they didnt see who fired the shots. McElroy was spinning so hard out of control, I have no doubt he would have tried to kill my dad again, given the chance. [12] The DA declined to press charges. McElroy was born in 1934, the fifteenth of sixteen children born to a poor . A lot of people were not happy about what happened, MacLean said. Mable was born on February 28 1897, in Dover, Shawnee County, KS, USA. We had shoplifting, but a lot of people were on hard 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. Yet in a conspiracy of silence that has spanned the past 38 years, the townsfolk have held the secret close. The justice system just crashed and burned over this case.. To the residents of the small town, he was the town bully. 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. A federal grand jury was convened. 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. Evelyn tried to explain what had happened, that nobody had accused the children of stealing, and Trena said, Why would my effing daughter lie? . Not only that, they recommended he spend no more than two years in prison. Actually, I think those shooters saved lives in the end, she said. Richard Stratton was ready. Get out of town, they said. I had my service weapon drawn, and I wouldnt have been the least bit surprised if he tried to do something, Boyer recalls. Harry MacLean, author of "In Broad Daylight". 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Retribution was slow coming to Ken McElroybut lightning fast when it happened. McElroy and Trena returned to the truck, where he lit a cigarette while she was in the passenger seat. When word spread that McElroy was in town, a couple of the men walked from the Legion hall to the D&G. Everyone involved continues to keep the secret and gives no answers. His unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. Perversely, the towns share of tragedy has grown. 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. How did this uneducated person how is he able to outwit the criminal justice system for 20 years? said MacLean. We might not see him for three or four days, and then wed see him every day for weeks, Monte said. How could it? They sacrificed one for the betterment of hundreds. The meeting's entire purpose was to discuss what they could legally do to prevent McElroy from harming anyone else. McFadin, McElroys lawyer, got the hearing postponed. There's a long list of crimes said to have been committed by McElroy, including shooting multiple people. The courts would not help us or Skidmore. He made no deathbed confession, but someone wrote in a memorial tribute that he was a good, brave man. McFadin, the lawyer who once told The New York Times the town got away with murder, is dead, too. In 1981, McElroy was convicted of shooting . He left town just as Ken and Trena McElroy were driving in, likely passing McElroys Chevrolet Silverado pickup in his cruiser on the road. Im never going to answer that question. He was charged with wading through the sensational details and moral ambiguities of the case to ensure that, in his words, justice was served. Shortly after, Strattons wife Margaret was headed to church when she saw a strange truck in the driveway. 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]. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . 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. More awful crimes have taken place in the small town. 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.. 1964: Ken meets another girlfriend named Alice Wood. The noted sites in the story are gone or boardedup. He neutralized an entire criminal justice system.. [2][3] In 1981, McElroy was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of the town's 70-year-old grocer Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp. McElory was struck by two different firearms and died behind the wheel of his truck. 2023 by Catlyn Brady, Jennifer Partridge, & Kara Severson. 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. Like so many other small towns, Skidmore has shrunk inside itself, watching businesses close and residents depart. 1969 or 1970: Ken McElroy becomes involved with a young girl named Trena McCloud. 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. This past weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the killing of Ken Rex McElroy of Skidmore. Biography Mini Bio (1) Ken Rex McElroy Jr. is known for No One Saw a Thing (2019). https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8iUdp33PqTsix2sGblEQZ8m5FQycC5D Vigilante justice, or. A man who turned out to be McElroy pointed a shotgun at me, Margaret tells A&E True Crime. He grew up hearing the story. Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead in Skidmore, Missouri on July 10, 1981. On July 10th, 1981 Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead in the street in broad daylight infront of 60 witnesses. However, he was also charged with various crimes. The murder took place on July 10, 1981, the day after McElroy had threatened Bowenkamp at the tavern. They delivered messages in code. He leaves Sharon to move in with Alice. We stood up and did the right thing. June 16th, 1934: Ken Rex McElroy is born to Mabel and Tony McElroy, the thirteenth out of fourteen children. The people of Skidmore were becoming more and more frustrated with the failures to protect them in the justice system. She died of cancer on Jan. 24, 2012; it was her 55th birthday. Of the potential 40 or so witnesses, with the exception of Trena, none could name a shooter. Anyone can read what you share. The streak ended when a jury convicted Mr. McElroy of second-degree assault in the grocers shooting. However, in 1981, Trena told People magazine that the fire was a result of "faulty wiring.". 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. No one was surprised. They had to look out for themselves. McElroy mounted a daily vigil outside Bowenkamps house, his daughter Cheryl Brown recounts in In Broad Daylight: The town emptied out every time he came to town. Dozens of them gathered at Skidmores American Legion hall on the morning of July 10, 1981. She died in 2012. The couple then moved to Colorado. June 25th, 1981: Ken McElroy is sentenced to two years in jail. Bullet casings from two different guns were found. [Stream episodes of Accused: Guilty or Innocent? As the case dragged on without a court date, Henry said McElroy had parked outside his home at least 100 times. The son of a bitch would just as soon shoot them as anyone else.. What set off McElroy and put the local grocer in his crosshairs was the pettiest of offenses. McElroy began stalking the Bowenkamp family, and eventually threatened Bo Bowenkamp in the back of his store with a shotgun in hand. McElroy divorced Alice and married Trena in order to escape charges of statutory rape, to which she was the only witness. What happened in Skidmore that day wasnt much different than the completely predictable result from shaking a carbonated beverage until the top finally blows. 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. 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). Full Worm Moon: Will Conditions Favor A Moonbow? Everyone was keeping an eye on us. 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. The Story Of Ken McElroy The Vicious Bully Killed By His Town. In the decades preceding his murder, McElroy terrorized the denizens of Skidmore. June 29th, 1981: McElroy enters a bar with an illegal firearm, due to him being out on bail. The bar that provided the backdrop for the shooting is closed and for sale for $20,000. 1948: Approximately the time when Ken begins his small thefts as a young teenager. April 25th, 1980: A few of Ken's children go to the local grocery store and is accused of stealing by Mrs. Bowenkamp. 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. 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. In the end, fear is what killed him, Goslee said. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Ken Rex McElroy Jr. The story of Ken Rex McElroy began on June 1, 1934. In what could only be described as vigilante justice, they conspired to kill Ken McElroy. By the time McElroy was shot dead under the glare of the morning sun on July 10, 1981, everybody feared his hair-trigger temper and brooding presence. The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. Trena McElroy remarried and had a fairly normal life, refusing interviews after she left Skidmore. Three grand juries heard evidence. One of the killers has died. McElroys wifewhom he victimized as a childremarried and moved to Lebanon, Missouri. Another was McElroys intimidation tactics, MacLean writes. This is far from what happened in the case of McElroy. 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. After McElroy finished his drinks, he purchased a six pack of beer, left the bar, and entered his pickup truck. His unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. He was known as the town bully, but they may be putting it mildly. McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill. A memorial in the tiny downtown park displays the name of an expectant mother murdered six years ago, her fetus cut from her womb. 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. 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. Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with Bring Me!