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Bully’s Murder Remains a Secret in Missouri Town for 40 Years
Fox2now ^ | Jul 13, 2021 | Kevin S. Held

Posted on 07/18/2021 3:08:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Tucked away in the northwest corner of Missouri is a small, dusty town 46 miles north of St. Joseph with a decades-old secret.

This past weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the killing of Ken Rex McElroy of Skidmore. And despite there being dozens of witnesses, no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with McElroy’s murder.

In short: no one saw anything.

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 was known as the town bully, but they may be putting it mildly.

Missouri killer: DNA evidence helps solve 1956 cold-case In the decades preceding his murder, McElroy terrorized the denizens of Skidmore. He was accused or suspected of dozens of crimes, including theft, livestock rustling, burglary, arson, assault, rape, and child molestation. 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.

McElroy raped a 12-year-old girl and, to avoid statutory rape charges, he divorced his wife at the time and married the child when she was 14 – and pregnant with their baby. McElroy burned down the girl’s home and shot her family’s dog to force her parents to agree to the marriage. He torched the home and shot the dog—again—after the girl went into hiding with her and McElroy’s baby.

In July 1976, McElroy pulled a shotgun on farmer Romaine Henry and shot the man in the stomach. Henry survived and McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill. However, when the matter came to trial, McElroy’s 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. McElroy was found not guilty.

In 1980, McElroy shot the 70-year-old town grocer in the neck following a months-old dispute over an accusation about a piece of stolen candy. The grocer lived and McElroy was again arrested and charged with attempted murder. McElroy was convicted of assault but let out of jail awaiting appeal. He went about making public threats against the grocer while armed with a rifle.

Pam Hupp charged with murder of Betsy Faria; prosecutor seeking death penalty On the morning of July 10, 1981, several townspeople met with the Nodaway County sheriff at a local hall to discuss what could be done about McElroy. The sheriff suggested they form a neighborhood watch and advised the group not to confront the man. Meanwhile, McElroy and his wife arrived at the D&G Tavern for a morning drink.

After the sheriff left town, the group walked from the hall and went down the street to the tavern. McElroy eventually left the tavern and got into his pickup truck with his wife, but the mob of people followed the pair outside. According to reports, some 50 people were outside the tavern when the shooting started.

McElory was struck by two different firearms and died behind the wheel of his truck. McElroy’s wife was not injured and escaped the vehicle. According to a report, no one called an ambulance.

Local authorities, including a coroner’s jury and a local grand jury, and even the FBI, investigated the killing but to no avail. McElroy’s wife named one person as a possible gunman, but no one could—or would—identify who fired the shots. She eventually filed a wrongful death against the town, the county, and some citizens but the matter was settled out of court.

McElroy’s wife—whom he victimized as a child—remarried and moved to Lebanon, Missouri. She died of cancer on Jan. 24, 2012; it was her 55th birthday.

The case inspired a book, In Broad Daylight by Harry McLean, and a 1991 TV movie of the same name starring Brian Dennehy. A&E, Rolling Stone, Playboy, 60 Minutes, and other media outlets covered the story in print or television. In 2019, the McElroy killing was the subject of a docuseries on SundanceTV. Buzzfeed’s Unsolved Network produced a 24-minute true crime documentary on the shooting.


TOPICS: Local News; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: 1981; banglist; bully; copyrightviolation; inbroaddaylight; kenmcelroy; missouri; murder; mystery; sssu; zot; zotthekeywordtroll
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To: nickcarraway

I remember reading about this one, may have seen a documentary too. Nobody did anything long before because the whole town was afraid of the guy, he was really a mean bastard.

Anyone who tried to stand up to him got the crap beat out of himself, he would repeatedly cruise by their house slow in his truck or just sit there, staring, attacked people for little provocation, and often with whatever he could grab for a weapon...baseball bat, pool cue, broom...

Just a really mean, selfish, dishonest person, and revenge was always on his mind if you ever crossed him. Just say the wrong thing, you were the enemy and he *would* retaliate. Stole pigs from another county and resold them, just grab a pig and throw it into his truck and drive off. May have used a van for that.

Forget the apple, this guy was the worm that made it fall.


41 posted on 07/18/2021 5:58:47 PM PDT by Paleo Pete (You can't fix stupid, but you can numb it with a 2X4...)
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To: Triple
In the rather long shadow of 12 Cobb Parkway North, Marietta, GA.   It took me a while to get the Guadalcanal diary reference, but no.

Actually the shadow only has to extend less than a mile as the crow flies.

42 posted on 07/18/2021 6:06:23 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken )
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To: higgmeister

That was the nickname my closest friends had for that album.

Interestingly, you stumbled across a statement that might have enabled me to know who you were. Coincidences...


43 posted on 07/18/2021 6:16:36 PM PDT by Triple (Socialism denies people the right to the fruits of their labor, and is as abhorrent as slavery)
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To: nickcarraway
Back in the 60's, whispers by the adults during holiday meals were about a town bully in W Texas that just disappeared.

Convenient at the time, a major lake was being impounded. Add to the many cisterns at old ranch houses that were no longer there.

Many places for one to disappear.

44 posted on 07/18/2021 6:39:28 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: nickcarraway
"Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern.


45 posted on 07/18/2021 6:51:44 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: nickcarraway

46 posted on 07/18/2021 7:02:23 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late." —Bob Dylan)
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To: nickcarraway

“He needed killin’”.


47 posted on 07/18/2021 7:12:50 PM PDT by OrangeHoof (Chinese communism will look different once the masks come off.)
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To: nickcarraway

shoot, shovel, shuddup


48 posted on 07/18/2021 7:34:32 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: Flick Lives
"There's many a man alive no more of value than a dead dog."

"A man like that ain't worth the food he eats much less the price of a decent rope."

49 posted on 07/18/2021 8:12:19 PM PDT by Kartographer ("We mutually pledge to each other our lives our fortunes and our sacred honor." )
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To: NFHale
first I’ve ever heard of this particular case… But the outcome is perfect.

In the mid-80s I went on a tour of the South with a lit professor, who was born in Smith County Missippi and did his course-work at Ol' Miss.

His beat-old Caddy broke down on us in Russellville, Arkansas, and there we sat at a stale motel, a couple ruffed-up near-alkies with a half-bottle of Tanqueray and about $100 between us.

My friend, always resourceful, made a couple calls and reached the gentleman who had recently published ONE of the books about this bully-boy, apparently one of the best, and the gent picked us up and took us to a roadhouse just over the county line.

He didn't break a lot of fresh news, but he knew the material and it made for a damned interesting evening.

As far as I can recall--for some reason it isn't very clear, lol, he was pretty certain the kill shot came the church bell tower. But it was a long time ago, as I say...

They needed a guy with an eagle-eye like you in that little hole-in-the-wall town.

50 posted on 07/18/2021 8:31:39 PM PDT by Fightin Whitey
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To: nickcarraway

Sometimes things do go right eventually.

Needs to happen much more often and sooner than later.


51 posted on 07/18/2021 9:01:22 PM PDT by Sequoyah101 (Politicians are only marginally good at one thing, being politicians. Otherwise they are fools.)
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To: nickcarraway
Local authorities, including a coroner’s jury and a local grand jury, and even the FBI, investigated the killing but to no avail. McElroy’s wife named one person as a possible gunman, but no one could—or would—identify who fired the shots. She eventually filed a wrongful death against the town, the county, and some citizens but the matter was settled out of court.

McElroy’s wife—whom he victimized as a child—remarried and moved to Lebanon, Missouri. She died of cancer on Jan. 24, 2012; it was her 55th birthday.

I have to wonder if she suffered from Stockholm Syndrome after living with the man for many years.

But I think that she probably just wanted enough money to get out of the town that had so many horrible memories for her and to start a new life.

The town fathers may have even struck a deal with her to buy her silence. The lawsuit may have been a way to make cover the payoff.

52 posted on 07/19/2021 2:06:05 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit)
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To: dforest
“Some of those character actors are the best.”

because they have to rely on acting chops not good looks and charisma.

53 posted on 07/19/2021 4:55:51 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: from occupied ga

“Cause of death was COVID.”

You beat me to it.


54 posted on 07/19/2021 5:25:22 AM PDT by ChessExpert (Viruses are too small to be stopped by our porous masks.)
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To: nickcarraway

“In Broad Daylight by Harry McLean, and a 1991 TV movie of the same name starring Brian Dennehy.”

That was a great movie! Maybe all conservatives need to adopt the same mindset as those townspeople.

I’m a huge Brian Dennehy fan, but he was so eee-vil in that movie! Shudder.


55 posted on 07/19/2021 5:28:45 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (While the foundations are being destroyed, what are the righteous doing?)
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To: nickcarraway

IIRC, he also was raping his own daughter, and maybe had a child with her. It’s been a long time since I read the book. The guy was evil personified.


56 posted on 07/19/2021 5:32:00 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (While the foundations are being destroyed, what are the righteous doing?)
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To: nickcarraway

Skidmore has had a couple of brutal murders over the last 40 years. Something about that town.


57 posted on 07/19/2021 5:35:42 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: dforest

“Dennehy was a character actor, not a leading man type.”

He’s my third favorite actor (hunk), after Selleck and Gerald McRaney. Not super handsome, but he has a presence. DH was on a Southwest flight with him once and told him how much I liked him.

I really liked him the Jack Reed made-for-TV movie series, especially “Deadly Matrimony”.


58 posted on 07/19/2021 5:41:30 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (While the foundations are being destroyed, what are the righteous doing?)
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To: MayflowerMadam

I watched all of his movies. Just a wonderful actor and such a presence.


59 posted on 07/19/2021 6:17:29 AM PDT by dforest (huh)
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To: dforest

I just checked Amazon, and some of his Jack Reed movies are free on Prime. Not my favorite, though.


60 posted on 07/19/2021 6:41:05 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (While the foundations are being destroyed, what are the righteous doing?)
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