McElroy would just sit and glower at you just stare at you and youd never know what he was thinking.. Actually, I think those shooters saved lives in the end, she said. The son of a bitch would just as soon shoot them as anyone else.. 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. Retaliation would be severe. Calling the sheriff about his threats was risk few were willing to take not that it would have done much good, Goslee said. There just wouldnt have been a story.. And despite there being dozens of witnesses, no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with McElroys murder. 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. 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. The larger-than-life bully who menaced the farming community of Skidmore died in seconds. Local police, state investigators and FBI agents tried to break the towns silence, without success. Reporting on what you care about. In fact, anywhere between thirty and ninety people witnessed the . Dunbar talked to him, and [McElroy] pulled a gun on him, Monte said. The grocer lived and McElroy was again arrested and charged with attempted murder. If you were to go to Skidmore today, there isn't much to see. 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. However, when the matter came to trial, McElroys attorney produced a pair of witnesses who testified they were hunting with McElroy that day and he was nowhere near the scene of the shooting. The police would not or could not help us or Skidmore. As there were no witnesses, nobody was able to take the stand. McElroy burned down the girls home and shot her familys dog to force her parents to agree to the marriage. He begins to rant about how he is going to ruin Bo Bowenkamp. Tensions in Skidmore soared as McElroys trial neared. 1952: Ken McElroy marries his first wife Oleta. Once there, he threatened Bo, and shot him in the neck at close range with a shotgun. 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. The meeting broke up after participants learned McElroy and Trena were at the D&G Tavern. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. A lot of people were not happy about what happened, MacLean said. Why are you doing this? [1] To date, no one has been charged in connection with McElroy's death. Some people have attributed his strange behavior with this event. Bullet casings from two guns were found. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. They could finally sleep peacefully at night, especially Bo and Lois Bowenkamp and their children. The final straw for Skidmore was when he was let out on bond. McElroy made a living leasing land near his farm, and trading and racing dogs. Then McElroy, described by veteran journalist Phil Conger as a big brute of a guy with slicked-back hair like Elvis, took the stand. 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. So the townspeople held a meeting. After McElroy finished his drinks, he purchased a six pack of beer, left the bar, and entered his pickup truck. June 25th, 1981: Ken McElroy is sentenced to two years in jail. He found a macabre scene. McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. On July 10, 1981, Ken Rex McElroy was killed in one of the strangest instances investigators ever saw. He reportedly began stalking the Bowenkamp family. Someone warned her, Youre about to meet Ken Rex McElroy, Monte said. The people of the town keep their heads down and prefer to not speak about the incident. I dont know what happened,' Boyer recalls witnesses saying. McElroy denied he was at the scene. Immediately after being released at a post-trial hearing, McElroy went to the D&G Tavern, a local bar, with an M1 Garand rifle with a bayonet attached, and made graphic threats about what he would do to Bo Bowenkamp. Somebody would hear his name, and the legend grew bigger. 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. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. It wasn't the kind of murder which goes unsolved for decades and eventually someone comes forward with the tip that breaks the case open. McElroy was found not guilty. They were witnesses. Sheriff Estes instructed the assembled group not to get into a direct confrontation with McElroy, but instead seriously consider forming a neighborhood watch program. 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. 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. During the meeting, McElroy arrived at the D&G Tavern with Trena. 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. 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. Both Sally and Sharon begin having Ken's children. Stratton knew McElroy from a previous stop when he threatened the trooper with a shotgun. He left town just as Ken and Trena McElroy were driving in, likely passing McElroys Chevrolet Silverado pickup in his cruiser on the road. 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. Mr. McElroy was quickly rearrested after he appeared in town with a rifle, but he was again released. McCloud was McElroy's third "wife," though all unions were suspicious due to the fact that some of his marriages overlapped. The justice system just crashed and burned over this case.. The bar that provided the backdrop for the shooting is closed and for sale for $20,000. She was present at the time of his death. I heard shooting and got down. McElroy and Trena returned to the truck, where he lit a cigarette while she was in the passenger seat. Shortly after being released, McElroy was at D&G Tavern making threats about murdering Bowenkamp. The meeting's entire purpose was to discuss what they could legally do to prevent McElroy from harming anyone else. Once, he even got out and fired a shotgun up in the pine tree by their house. 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. How did this uneducated person how is he able to outwit the criminal justice system for 20 years? said MacLean. 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. We stood up and did the right thing. It really is that it was never spoken of they had an instinctive reaction to close up. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. June 25th, 1981: McElroy returns to Skidmore out on bail until an appeal hearing. 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 neutralized an entire criminal justice system.. McElroy began stalking the Bowenkamp family, and eventually threatened Bo Bowenkamp in the back of his store with a shotgun in hand. 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. Still working within the justice system, witnesses who saw McElroy with the gun gave the information the county prosecutor needed to request a bond revocation hearing. 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. He was charged with wading through the sensational details and moral ambiguities of the case to ensure that, in his words, justice was served. 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. June 12th, 1973: After continuing his involvement with Trena McCloud, Ken McElroy burns down Trena's parents' house. Harry MacLean, author of "In Broad Daylight". July 10th, 1981: The townspeople gather around Ken's truck once he and Trena exit the bar. 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. They just went stone silent. Filmmaker Avi Belkin's 'No One Saw a Thing . Ken stalks the family afterwards, and on the 8th, Ken shoots Bo Bowenkamp. 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,. What set off McElroy and put the local grocer in his crosshairs was the pettiest of offenses. 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 police chief who oversaw the investigation, Hal Riddle, disagrees. Theoretically, [the murder] could be re-investigated, veteran Kansas City criminal defense attorney J.R. Hobbs tells A&E True Crime. He appeared in a local bar, the D&G Tavern, armed with an M1 Garand rifle and bayonet, and later threatened to kill Bowenkamp. There were plenty of eyewitnesses, as well as the attack happened in broad. [10] No one called for an ambulance. 1 or 2 men (unclear) took guns and shot Ken Rex McElroy dead in his truck. So is Stratton. They settle in Skidmore. But in a dramatic act of solidarity with the gunman, every witness, save the dead mans wife, denied seeing who had pulled the trigger. Of the potential 40 or so witnesses, with the exception of Trena, none could name a shooter. One of the killers has died. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Ken Rex McElroy Jr. It's hard to believe that this small town was once a bustlingcommunity. McElroy wound up shooting Bowenkamp in the neck, nearly killing him. Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. Consisting of around 440 residents and a number of small family-run businesses, the farming town revolved around work ethic. McElroy was never a popular man. Ken had 13 siblings: Hershell Eugene McElroy, Orvil O McElroy and 11 . He showed up to the towns local bar, armed with a rifle and bayonet, threatening to kill the elderly grocer. 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. Hed leave, then hed come back, Monte said. But in a dramatic act of . This was something that the "town bully," Ken Rex McElroy, staunchly rebelled against. Additional charges were filed against McElroy.[7]. In the summer of 1981, a jury handed McElroy his first-ever felony conviction for the lesser charge of second-degree assault. McElroy first began his relationship with McCloud when she was 14 and the two had a child shortly thereafter. Trena dove from the truck and was taken to safety. He then returned to Trena's parents' home when they were away and, once again, shot the family dog and burned the house down. [2][3] In 1981, McElroy was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of the town's 70-year-old grocer Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp. 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. He was very cunning, MacLean told Patch. Within hours, Mr. Baird heard that there had been a shooting downtown. No one called for an ambulance. Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern. The streak ended when a jury convicted Mr. McElroy of second-degree assault in the grocers shooting. McElroy was known to have stolen grain, alcohol, gasoline, antiques, and even livestock. McElroys wifewhom he victimized as a childremarried and moved to Lebanon, Missouri. What could legally be done about McElroy, they asked Sheriff Danny Estes, who had been elected months earlier. Often, witnesses changed their mind about testifying before trials began, MacLean said, and if a case did make it to trial, a juror might open the mailbox to find a rattlesnake. Despite the efforts of police, prosecutors and McElroys family, no one has been charged in the murder. Yes, its against the law, but you know, the law is not the final definitive word on him. July 8th, 1980: The Bowenkamps filed a legal proceeding against Ken McElroy after the incident in their store. [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. In the decades preceding his murder, McElroy terrorized the denizens of Skidmore. On July 8, 1980, McElroy drove to the alley behind the Bowenkamp general store. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8iUdp33PqTsix2sGblEQZ8m5FQycC5D Vigilante justice, or cold-blooded murder?MERCH: We've got it! 1969 or 1970: Ken McElroy becomes involved with a young girl named Trena McCloud. He raped McCloud repeatedly. Shortly after, McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder. 1955 or 56: Ken and Oleta McElroy move back to Missouri after Ken's accident in Colorado. The courts would not help us or Skidmore. [8] At the trial, two raccoon hunters testified they were with McElroy the day of the shooting away from Henry's property. On July 10, 1981, Ken Rex McElroy was killed in one of the strangest instances investigators ever saw. 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. 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. Del Clement, the man Trena named as McElroys killer, died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2009. 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. Alas, the victory was short-lived. 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. No. 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. In what could only be described as vigilante justice, they conspired to kill Ken McElroy. McElroy appealed the case and was released on bond. She gathered her strength and put the car in reverse. This led to several patrons deciding to see what they could legally do to prevent McElroy from harming anyone else. Heavy lids veiled cold, steel-blue eyes, making them look like half moons. Search, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place! 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. Didnt see a thing. Thats the response investigators repeatedly received when they questioned people over the death of Ken McElroy. He grew up hearing the story. It was a misunderstanding, but one that made the Bowenkamps lives a living hell for months. The stories of McElroy's relationships contain some troubling details, but the information is important to paint the full picture. That was the last failure of criminal justice.. I have no doubt hed have tried to kill my mom. 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. You know how he oppressed and threatened us. Ken Rex McElroy was a 6-foot, 270 pounds, dark-complexioned, blue-eyed man who lived in Skidmore, Missouri. [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. MacLean doesnt believe the men gathered at the Legion hall that morning ever made a group decision to kill McElroy. The group heard McElroy and Trena McCloud were spotted heading to the tavern nearby. His hunch paid off, and McElroy found himself handcuffed and charged with assault. As many as 60 Skidmore residents attended, including the mayor and the sheriff. In Broad Daylight: A Murder in Skidmore, Missouri. The sheriff suggested they form a neighborhood watch and advised the group not to confront the man. Things reached a boiling point in 1980 when Ken McElroy got into a confrontation with the towns elderly grocer, Ernest Bo Bowenkamp. Weighing in at approximately 270 pounds with bushy black sideburns, McElroy held the entire . No one was surprised. He was sure it was Mr. McElroy who had done the shooting. But if tried by a jury of their peers, I doubt anybody around here would have convicted the shooters. It's said that the meeting adjourned, and the crowd quietly descended upon the tavern, flanking McElroy's truck. His eyes just really put you in defense modehe really looked like a mean person.. The McElroys eventually left the store, but when Bowenkamp closed up that night, he was outside, waiting. Then you can read about chilling cold cases where the murderers and victims were both unknown. 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. You dont take cases to trial to see what might happen, the former prosecutor said. Refusing to argue, he and Lois went home. He had been terrorizing Skidmore for years and he kept getting away with it. It went beyond just hammering people and being mean-spirited. 1960: Ken moves his young girlfriendSally into his house with Sharon. *In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean 1988. Trena McElroy remarried and had a fairly normal life, refusing interviews after she left Skidmore. Estes, the sheriff some tried to implicate in a conspiracy, is dead. 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..
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