Ken McElroy
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Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 – July 10, 1981), dubbed the town bully, was gunned down on the main street of Skidmore, Missouri while 45 residents watched but no one was ever prosecuted for the crime.
The vigilante act evoked memories of the 1931 lynching of Raymond Gunn, also in Nodaway County, Missouri, which was witnessed by 2,000 to 4,000 people with no prosecution resulting.
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[edit] Town Bully
McElroy owned and lived on a farm. He was accused of rustling livestock, stealing grain and farm chemicals, and farmhouse burglary, primarily for salable antique items. He worked the four state region of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska making it difficult for authorities to connect his crime.
McElroy escaped conviction for any of the crimes (despite 22 indictments) often by intimidating witnesses. In a town of less than 450, McElroy would park outside an accuser's house perhaps 100 times brandishing his guns. His Kansas City attorney Richard "Gene" McFadin was called in repeatedly to handle the legal matters.
McElroy was a dog breeder and trainer, and his coonhounds won many prizes and sold for good prices. For many years, he was a well-known figure in hunting circles in his home area, and many people who only knew him through hunting could hardly credit the stories about him.
On one occasion a highway patrolman pulled McElroy over following the rape of a 12-year-old school girl, only to find himself retreating as McElroy emerged from his pickup truck and leveled a sawed-off shotgun at the officer. No warrant was ever issued for McElroy's arrest over that incident.
McElroy had a penchant for young girls and many bore him children. He escaped a rape charge with Trena McElroy by marrying her.
The entire town lived in absolute fear, with anyone who crossed McElroy (and usually their relatives, as well) sure to get phone calls, night visits, and death threats.
[edit] 1981 assassination
In 1980, a scuffle between one of McElroy's children and 70-year-old Bo Bowenkamp over paying for a 10 cent candy bar at the B&B Grocery escalated with McElroy once again adopting his intimidation practice of stalking Bowenkamp. McElroy fired a shotgun at Bowenkamp at near point blank range at the store. Bowenkamp survived.
McElroy was convicted of attempted murder. Free on bond for 25 days and awaiting an appeal, he boasted to anyone within earshot about an assortment of ghastly and sadistic things he intended to do to the grocer, to jurors, and to others who had the audacity to back a campaign to force the police to deal with him.
On the morning of July 10, 1981, towns people met at the Legion Hall in the center of town with Nodaway County Sheriff Dan Estes to discuss how to protect themselves. Estes suggested they form a Neighborhood Watch.
Shortly after Estes left to return to the County Seat in Maryville, Missouri, McElroy drove into town and parked across from the Legion Hall at the D&G Tavern brandishing a gun and bragging about what he was going to do.
A group of between 40 and 60 local men gathered outside. After he got back in his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck at least six and possibly eight shots were fired, two of which hit him. He slumped over the steering wheel on the car horn.
By the time Estes returned the crowd had dispersed. The victim's wife, Trena McElroy, who was sitting beside him identified one of the town's people as the shooter. However, since nobody else would corroborate the story, the prosecutor David Baird refused to prosecute. A federal investigation was also unable to prosecute the killer.
[edit] Aftermath
In 1984 Richard McFadin filed a $5 million wrongful death civil lawsuit in on behalf of Trena McElroy against Sheriff Estes, the Skidmore mayor and Del Clement (who had been accused by Trena as the killer).
The defendants settled out of court for $17,600, with the county paying $12,600, Skidmore $2,000 and Clement $3,000. No one admitted guilt. They said the settlement was made to avoid costly legal fees should the suit go forward.
Trena remarried and moved away from Skidmore. Other McElroy children still live in the area.
60 Minutes did a profile on the case.
The case came into the spotlight again in 2004 when Bobbie Jo Stinnett was murdered three blocks from the McElroy shooting site. That murder generated headlines around the world because her unborn baby was ripped out of her womb.
[edit] Books and Movies
The story of the murder was described in the book In Broad Daylight by Harry M. Maclean (ISBN 0-440-20509-3). In 1991 it was made into a made-for-TV movie starring Brian Dennehy and Cloris Leachman (although filmed in Texas).[1] In that television movie the bully was called by another name.
A film by first-time director Ralph F Server called "Without Mercy" won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Picture at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in 2004.
The book is a true account of Ken Rex McElroy. But the TV movie is pure fiction as the bully is never referred to as Ken McElroy. In that TV movie, the vigilantes, after murdering the bully, turn against the townspeople and are apprehended. A police officer tells the perpetrators that taking the law into their own hands can never be justified, that "there is no room in this country for vigilante justice." This statement is politically correct posturing since the killers were never found.
In the more recent film Without Mercy(2005)filmmaker Server suggests that justice derives not from the law, but from the people, and when the law fails it is up to the people to make things right; that there can be no waiting for 'justice' and no 'prayer' for the system to work; the idea of justice must be respected at all cost - no matter what.
To this day his death remains unsolved. .
[edit] Movie References
IMDB on Without Mercy(2005)
