In the decades preceding his murder, McElroy terrorized the denizens of Skidmore. One assumption Skidmore hasnt been able to shed is that McElroys killing was an act of vigilante justice. The murder of Ken Rex McElroy isn't 'unsolved' in the typical sense of the word. [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. One of the killers has died. It was a matter of self-preservation. The Vigilantemurder of Ken Rex McElroy still remains a mystery today. 1954: While working for his sister's husband in construction, McElroy suffers a traumatic head injury that leaves him with lifelong pain. Gene McFadin, McElroys nickel-slick lawyer from Kansas City could get Ken off every time, Kirby Goslee, a 71-year-old Skidmore farmer who still works the land his family homesteaded six generations ago, told Patch. He quit.. Some attributed his bizarre and violent behavior to a head injury suffered in this event. On April 25, 1980 at Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp's general store, a clerk asked McElroy's 8-year-old daughter to return a piece of candy she had not paid for. 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. 1948: Approximately the time when Ken begins his small thefts as a young teenager. So is Stratton. He begins to rant about how he is going to ruin Bo Bowenkamp. Trena McElroy fingered a local rancher as one of the gunmen, but he denied the claim. 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. They just went stone silent. McElroys wife named one person as a possible gunman, but no one couldor wouldidentify who fired the shots. They sacrificed one for the betterment of hundreds. So what was left?. In 1980, after a misunderstanding about a candy purchase from a Skidmore grocery store involving McElroys daughters, McElroy shot popular owner Bo Bowenkamp in the neck. Why are you doing this? Nodaway County Sheriff Dan Estes suggested they form a neighborhood watch. 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. Bullet casings from two guns were found. But if tried by a jury of their peers, I doubt anybody around here would have convicted the shooters. YouTubeThe towns local bar in Skidmore, Missouri. However, he was also charged with various crimes. There has been books written, movies, documentaries and more made about the killing. McElroy was never a popular man. June 25th, 1981: McElroy returns to Skidmore out on bail until an appeal hearing. There were as many as 60 witnesses, yet the crime remains unsolved. Before you tell yourself the case closed, no, this case still remains unsolved. Del Clement, the man Trena named as McElroys killer, died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2009. More awful crimes have taken place in the small town. McFadin, McElroys lawyer, got the hearing postponed. The morning of July 10, 1981, a group of frustrated and angry men gathered at the Legion Hall in Skidmore, MacLean writes. The guns were never recovered. On July 10th, 1981 Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead in the street in broad daylight infront of 60 witnesses. The law wasnt going to help the people of Skidmore. McElroy burned down the girls home and shot her familys dog to force her parents to agree to the marriage. [1][3] The next day, McElroy was shot to death in broad daylight as he sat with his wife Trena in his pickup truck on Skidmore's main street. 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? 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. Everyone claimed they didnt see who fired the shots. Filmmaker Avi Belkin's 'No One Saw a Thing . Everyone in town seemed to know McElroy had done it, yet he spent only a single night in jail for nearly killing the man. In fact, anywhere between thirty and ninety people witnessed the . https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8iUdp33PqTsix2sGblEQZ8m5FQycC5D Vigilante justice, or. [2], In all, he was indicted 21 times but escaped conviction each time, except for the last. The son of a bitch would just as soon shoot them as anyone else.. He was known as "the town bully", [1] and his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. Vigilante justice is certainly a slippery slope, but after years of dealing with Ken McElroy, the people of Skidmore reached their boiling point. McElroy was also accused of abusing his first two wives, Sharon and Alice, but Alice defended him in an interview shortly after his death. Ken stalks the family afterwards, and on the 8th, Ken shoots Bo Bowenkamp. It went beyond just hammering people and being mean-spirited. October 20th, 1974: Ken McElroy marries Trena McCloud to get out of a statutory rape charge with Trena. Evelyn lived cross the street, and he made sure she could see them. 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. Women had a harder time with it than the men. McElroy eventually left the tavern and got into his pickup truck with his wife, but the mob of people followed the pair outside. It was a misunderstanding, but one that made the Bowenkamps lives a living hell for months. According to a report, no one called an ambulance. McElroy was getting into his pickup truck with his wife Trena on the main street of Skidmore where there was a crowd of 30 to 50 people. Things reached a boiling point in 1980 when Ken McElroy got into a confrontation with the towns elderly grocer, Ernest Bo Bowenkamp. 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. 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. However, in 1981, Trena told People magazine that the fire was a result of "faulty wiring.". This six-episode true-crime docuseries comes from Sundance TV and premiered last August. Once there, he threatened Bo, and shot him in the neck at close range with a shotgun. Trena dove from the truck and was taken to safety. Alas, the victory was short-lived. They settle in Skidmore. After dropping out of school in the eighth grade, it didnt take long for Ken McElroy to fall into a life of delinquency. He was accused or suspected of dozens of crimes, including theft, livestock rustling, burglary, arson, assault, rape, and child molestation. 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 murder occurred in broad daylight, with as many as sixty eye-witnesses present . They could finally sleep peacefully at night, especially Bo and Lois Bowenkamp and their children. No One Saw A Thing centers around the 1981 murder of Ken Rex McElroy in Skidmore Missouri and other crimes committed in the town and surrounding area over the years. Almost everyone, with the exception of Bo Bowenkamp, backed down. But in a dramatic act of solidarity with the gunman, every witness, save the dead mans wife, denied seeing who had pulled the trigger. Reached by phone, Mr. McElroys wife, who has since remarried and left the state, said she was not interested in talking about the case. McElroy was hit twice by two different guns and died from injuries to his head and neck. Then McElroy, described by veteran journalist Phil Conger as a big brute of a guy with slicked-back hair like Elvis, took the stand. McElroy made a living leasing land near his farm, and trading and racing dogs. Retaliation would be severe. Ken Rex Melroy was born on June 1st, 1934 to a family of poor tenant farmers who moved to Skidmore. You dont have a town full of people who were hiding a guilty conscience, he said. On July 10, 1981, Ken Rex McElroy was killed in one of the strangest instances investigators ever saw. McElroy began backing out too, then tailed Margaret until she radioed Richard and squad cars showed up. He dropped out of school before he reached high school, and by 13 was already a familiar character to the cops around Nodaway County. On July 8, 1980, McElroy drove to the alley behind the Bowenkamp general store. [6], Based on Trena's story, McElroy was indicted in June 1973 for arson, assault, and statutory rape. Alice and Ken eventually separate. Del Clement, the man Trena named as McElroy's killer, died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2009. Search, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place! Both Sally and Sharon begin having Ken's children. The rumor was that he had drowned her father in a bathtub when he had objected to what he was doing to his daughter. The town got away with murder, Mr. McFadin said. When the news that Ken and Trena went to the local bar that evening, everyone got up and made their way over. McElroy and Trena returned to the truck, where he lit a cigarette while she was in the passenger seat. That was the last failure of criminal justice.. Sheriff Estes instructed the assembled group not to get into a direct confrontation with McElroy, but instead seriously consider forming a neighborhood watch program. [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. Over the next two years, three grand juries were empaneled and testimony taken. Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. But the silence of the townspeople held. 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. It's worth noting that the abused defending their abuser often occurs in domestic violence cases. Richard Stratton was ready. You know how he oppressed and threatened us. The case inspired a book, In Broad Daylight by Harry McLean, and a 1991 TV movie of the same name starring Brian Dennehy. 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. Again, there were no indictments, and the McElroy murder case was tossed back to Baird. September 2nd, 1982: Keven though there were over sixty witnesses, no one came forward to name the shooter. McElroy wound up shooting Bowenkamp in the neck, nearly killing him. He went back home and was shot within a couple of days, explains Conger, editor of the Bethany Republican-Clipper. To the residents of the small town, he was the town bully. As he sat drinking at the bar, word got back to the men at the Legion Hall that he was in town. There were plenty of eyewitnesses, as well as the attack happened in broad daylight, therefore McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. To the residents of the small town, he was the town bully. US residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data. McElroy's appeal hearing was again delayed. Only July 10, 1981, there was a meeting at the town hall, down the street from D&G Tavern. 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. 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.". Best client I ever had, McFadin said in an interview. Nobody called an ambulance. As Ken McElroy sat in his truck, he was shot at several times. The couple then moved to Colorado. Ken Rex McElroy sat in his truck for over an hour before the law was called. Someone warned her, Youre about to meet Ken Rex McElroy, Monte said. They could have pushed and dug, pushed and dug and gotten nothing, said Huston. There were plenty of eyewitnesses, as well as the attack happened in broad. A man who turned out to be McElroy pointed a shotgun at me, Margaret tells A&E True Crime. No one has been indicted for the murder of McElroy. McElroy appealed the case and was released on bond. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . During the meeting, McElroy arrived at the D&G Tavern with Trena. The people of the town keep their heads down and prefer to not speak about the incident. She took her complaint to at-the-time Nodaway County Sheriff Roger Cronk. In court, Bowenkamp testified about how McElroy confronted him in the loading dock of the grocery while he was cutting up boxes and shot him in the neck. The murder took place on July 10, 1981, the day after McElroy had threatened Bowenkamp at the tavern. No. When you didnt know where he was, you didnt dare take the chance of not being on your guard.. The Cold Case Murders That Keep Retired Detectives Up at Night, Citizen Detectives Uncover Crime Clues on Websleuths Online Forum. Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern. He found a macabre scene. He showed up to the towns local bar, armed with a rifle and bayonet, threatening to kill the elderly grocer. Ken Rex McElroy, a notoriously brutal man who had terrorized Skidmore, Mo., for years, was killed in 1981. Worse felonies included assault and arson. Trena jumped from the truck and a man helped her to safety. McElroy sat outside the foster home for hours at a time staring at it. In the ensuing confrontation, McElroy shot Bowenkamp in the neck; Bowenkamp survived, and McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder. Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern. No one bothered to turn it off. Title Directed by Original air date U.S. viewers (millions) 1 "The Killing of Ken Rex McElroy" Avi Belkin: August 1, 2019 (): N/A: Known as the town bully, Ken Rex McElroy terrorized tiny Skidmore, Missouri, for decades.On July 10, 1981, the town had had enough and 60 people surrounded his pick-up truck and shot him dead on Main Street--but no one claimed to have seen a thing. One night after he pulled a speeding pickup truck over, Boyer came face to face with McElroy. In July 1976, McElroy pulled a shotgun on farmer Romaine Henry and shot the man in the stomach. . 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,. That was the last straw, MacLean said. [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. 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. Stratton knew McElroy from a previous stop when he threatened the trooper with a shotgun. (Editors Note: Patch Deputy National Editor Beth Dalbey grew up on a farm about 10 miles from Skidmore, Missouri.). Richard McFadin, 87, a lawyer, now retired, who represented Mr. McElroy in numerous cases and, after the killing, his widow, said he believed there was enough evidence for a prosecution. She gathered her strength and put the car in reverse. Another was McElroys intimidation tactics, MacLean writes. 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. He made no deathbed confession, but someone wrote in a memorial tribute that he . Despite three grand juries, no one has been indicted for the . McElroy was spinning so hard out of control, I have no doubt he would have tried to kill my dad again, given the chance. Was justice served? He went about making public threats against the grocer while armed with a rifle. Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 - July 10, 1981) was a resident of Skidmore, Nodaway County, Missouri. Five or six of us were standing in front of the Skidmore Caf, waiting and passing the time. His father was a tenant farmer, his mother a housewife swamped with feeding and caring for the sprawling family. Ken McElroy was shot to death on the main street of Skidmore in July 1981, in front of 45 witnesses. 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. Mable was born on February 28 1897, in Dover, Shawnee County, KS, USA. I dont believe youre coming nowafter we needed your help all this time.. A writer and storyteller out in the world to write about True-Crime and History. Maryville, Missouri, lawyer David Baird, the Nodaway County prosecutor at the time, said the crime is fairly unremarkable in the context of current-day gang shootings witnessed by many, but seen by few willing to risk their safety by ratting out the crew. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Our law enforcement never went after him very hard, he said. His attorney, Richard McFadin, said he routinely defended Ken McElroy in three or four felonies a year. Once freed, McElroy didnt just quietly celebrate his victory. 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. He met his last wife, Trena McCloud (19572012), when she was 12 years old and in eighth grade. [12] The DA declined to press charges. But even after a federal prosecutor forwarded to Mr. Baird what he called substantial new evidence, no one was indicted. Ken McElroy issues threats against the Bowenkamp family. How could it? Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead in Skidmore, Missouri on July 10, 1981. 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.. Harry MacLean, author of "In Broad Daylight". No. The towns local bar in Skidmore, Missouri. Something for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity. 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. Author Harry MacLean wrote a book McElroys story called In Broad Daylight. McElroy made a living leasing land near his farm, and trading and racing dogs. All Rights Reserved. Within a few years, she had had four children by him. No one called for an ambulance. Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. The death of Ken Rex McElroy is a perplexing case that has hung heavy over the town of Skidmore, Missouri for decades. Ken Rex McElroy was an American known as "the town bully" of Skidmore, Missouri. The noted sites in the story are gone or boardedup. I dont know what happened,' Boyer recalls witnesses saying. McElroy was eventually convicted, but the charge was lessened from "attempt to kill" to "knowingly caused serious physical injury" to ensure a conviction. Estes then drove out of town in his police cruiser. 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. 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. He spent the night in jail before posting bond, then sauntered menacingly back into the D&G tavern and pool hall and took his usual spot. I think its something thats going to define this town forever.. 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. 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. Someone shot at McElroy while he was sitting in his truck. Never miss a story by signing up for the newsletter now. He was represented by defense attorney Richard Gene McFadin of Gallatin, Missouri. A federal grand jury was convened. The sheriff said, If you have to shoot him, let us know and well come get him before he starts stinking, Monte said. 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. The streak ended when a jury convicted Mr. McElroy of second-degree assault in the grocers shooting. [1], McElroy was born in 1934, the 15th of 16 children born to a poor, migrant tenant-farming couple named Tony and Mabel (ne Lister) McElroy, who had moved between Kansas and the Ozarks before settling outside of Skidmore.