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). After McElroy fired a gun outside her house, Evelyn Sumy appealed to Dave Dunbar, the town marshal. He met his last wife, Trena McCloud (19572012), when she was 12 years old and in eighth grade. He was known as "the town bully",[1] and his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. September 2nd, 1982: Keven though there were over sixty witnesses, no one came forward to name the shooter. He reportedly began stalking the Bowenkamp family. Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern. We might not see him for three or four days, and then wed see him every day for weeks, Monte said. McElroy was convicted of assault but let out of jail awaiting appeal. And Mr. Baird, all these years later, is still unwilling to give his own view on whether justice was served even though or because the killer was never tried. That became the pattern. The police would not or could not help us or Skidmore. What could legally be done about McElroy, they asked Sheriff Danny Estes, who had been elected months earlier. 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. Nobody called an ambulance. Didnt see a thing. Thats the response investigators repeatedly received when they questioned people over the death of Ken McElroy. Everyone in town seemed to know McElroy had done it, yet he spent only a single night in jail for nearly killing the man. 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. This past weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the killing of Ken Rex McElroy of Skidmore. Bullet casings from two different guns were found. Anthony was born on August 27 1890, in Shelton, Knox County, MO, USA. McElroy was never a popular man. July 8th, 1980: The Bowenkamps filed a legal proceeding against Ken McElroy after the incident in their store. Buzzfeeds Unsolved Network produced a 24-minute true crime documentary on the shooting. Alice and Ken eventually separate. He then returned to Trena's parents' home when they were away and, once again, shot the family dog and burned the house down. 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The murder occurred in broad daylight, with as many as sixty eye-witnesses present, including the wife of the deceased. Richard Stratton was ready. Retribution was slow coming to Ken McElroybut lightning fast when it happened. A conviction should have been a victory for the people of Skidmore, but the jury set a maximum sentence of two years, and the judge, without protest from Mr. Baird, released Mr. McElroy on bond pending appeal. 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. 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. The Mirny Diamond Mine Might Be The Most Mysterious Hole Ever, The Story Of Alain Lamare The Cop Who Moonlit As The Murderer He Was Trying To Catch, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. At some point in his life, McElroy was believed to have been seriously injured on a construction site, causing him to suffer from chronic pain. McElroy made a living leasing land near his farm, and trading and racing dogs. Five or six of us were standing in front of the Skidmore Caf, waiting and passing the time. The stories of McElroy's relationships contain some troubling details, but the information is important to paint the full picture. He put those skills to work rustling hogs and cattle, MacLean recounts. The McElroys eventually left the store, but when Bowenkamp closed up that night, he was outside, waiting. The people of the town keep their heads down and prefer to not speak about the incident. You dont take cases to trial to see what might happen, the former prosecutor said. Everyone just went home. Ken was 18 and Oleta was 16. He was sure it was Mr. McElroy who had done the shooting. In the months before McElroy went to trial, the Bowenkamps and Sumy went to bed scared, woke up frightened and lived in terror with every breath. According to reports, some 50 people were outside the tavern when the shooting started. 1969 or 1970: Ken McElroy becomes involved with a young girl named Trena McCloud. Shortly after, Strattons wife Margaret was headed to church when she saw a strange truck in the driveway. Murder is still murder. Ken Rex McElroy was an American known as "the town bully" of Skidmore, Missouri. Ken stalks the family afterwards, and on the 8th, Ken shoots Bo Bowenkamp. Nobody wanted to talk to us, retired Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Dan Boyer tells A&E True Crime. [1] To date, no one has been charged in connection with McElroy's death. Estes, the sheriff some tried to implicate in a conspiracy, is dead. He went about making public threats against the grocer while armed with a rifle. McElroy was furious when he learned of the incident. Known as "the town bully", McElroy was accused of dozens of felonies, including assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, hog and cattle rustling, and burglary. They know how everybody thinks.. A girl from a poor, rural family, McElroy had begun having sex with her when she was barely fourteen. His lifelong career as a criminal started with petty offenses, but he increasingly became more violent, amassing a rap sheet that included nearly two dozen felony charges for assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, burglary, grain theft, and hog and cattle rustling enterprises that kept a thick roll of hundred-dollar bills in his pocket. 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. The streak ended when a jury convicted Mr. McElroy of second-degree assault in the grocers shooting. Witnessing the murder were McElroys wife, Trena, screaming in the passenger seat and dozens of local residents. The morning of July 10, 1981, a group of frustrated and angry men gathered at the Legion Hall in Skidmore, MacLean writes. 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. What set off McElroy and put the local grocer in his crosshairs was the pettiest of offenses. Ive never thought there was a series of phone calls that went around dont say this or that. Those farmers have known each other since they were children. 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. Some attributed his bizarre and violent behavior to a head injury suffered in this event. To the residents of the small town, he was the town bully. He neutralized an entire criminal justice system.. No. 1955 or 56: Ken and Oleta McElroy move back to Missouri after Ken's accident in Colorado. 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 Vigilantemurder of Ken Rex McElroy still remains a mystery today. I dont believe youre coming nowafter we needed your help all this time.. MacLean doesnt believe the men gathered at the Legion hall that morning ever made a group decision to kill McElroy. Everyone was so uncomfortable and scared.. 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. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. 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. Women had a harder time with it than the men. A reported crowd of up to 60 men had largely dispersed, but some onlookers remained, staring at the pickup. After McElroy finished his drinks, he purchased a six pack of beer, left the bar, and entered his pickup truck. Ken Rex McElroy was an illiterate hog farmer who lived on the outskirts of a small town in Northwest Missouri. The group heard McElroy and Trena McCloud were spotted heading to the tavern nearby. Watch the new and 7th season of BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime! Consisting of around 440 residents and a number of small family-run businesses, the farming town revolved around work ethic. The final straw for Skidmore was when he was let out on bond. BuzzFeed McElroy allegedly stole livestock, grain, gasoline,. Actually, I think those shooters saved lives in the end, she said. It failed McElroy, too, because it failed to protect him from himself. He grew up hearing the story. The townspeople organized a caravan to escort the witnesses to the hearing both to protect them and to show solidarity. The person(s) responsible for firing the shots that killed McElroy remains unsolved. It was so out of the blue, almost to the point of being surreal, said Monte, who occasionally worked in her parents store. 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. Missouri-based journalist Steve Booher described the attitude of some townspeople as, "He needed killing. "[13], McElroy was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Joseph, Missouri. The murder occurred in broad daylight, with as many as sixty eye-witnesses present . 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. He had a legendary status, and it all got to be bigger than he was. Evelyn tried to explain what had happened, that nobody had accused the children of stealing, and Trena said, Why would my effing daughter lie? . That was the last failure of criminal justice.. If you were to go to Skidmore today, there isn't much to see. Looking back, the justice system had as much to do with killing Ken McElroy as anyone in Skidmore did.. After dropping out of school in the eighth grade, it didn't take long for Ken McElroy to fall into a life of delinquency. *In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean 1988. Refusing to argue, he and Lois went home. What started with hunting raccoons escalated into petty crime until McElroy ultimately emerged as a full-fledged criminal. Estes then drove out of town in his police cruiser. And despite there being dozens of witnesses, no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with McElroys murder. [2][3] In 1981, McElroy was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of the town's 70-year-old grocer Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp. His unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. 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. June 16th, 1934: Ken Rex McElroy is born to Mabel and Tony McElroy, the thirteenth out of fourteen children. She died of cancer on Jan. 24, 2012; it was her 55th birthday. McElroy was known to have stolen grain, alcohol, gasoline, antiques, and even livestock. SKIDMORE, Mo. I had my service weapon drawn, and I wouldnt have been the least bit surprised if he tried to do something, Boyer recalls. So what was left?. They could have pushed and dug, pushed and dug and gotten nothing, said Huston. The trial collapsed yet all accounts are sceptical that the witnesses were telling the . [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.
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