You see, there are the kind of bullies that go away once confronted, then there are others like us that come back and that scares the bejesus out of you. Real men dont hit women. What are your thoughts on this? glad to know her life had a happy ending so to speak. she had to move,didnt have a choice. I am sure that CC was not meaning a threat, I do not know who CC is but I thank him for standing up for Del, when Del has passed from this life. Just saying. I find it fascinating. 1. Can you give the straight scoop on that?. During our many trips this subject came up and she gave an entirely different perspective on the story. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 3. Thanks for writing. those involved who took the oath to keep silent will take it to the grave with them. the reason ken was a bully is he got tired of folks picking on him. we just thought he was some creepy dude, then when the story broke about him & i saw pics i was literally shocked. I heard some similar stories about McElroy being harassed by the locals, but not from a family member herself. I can assure you Skidmore has moved on. And I wouldnt have said a word about who did it myself. But, I also believe so much evidence was either contaminated by bystanders or simply was taken away. He was a fabulous man and I truly believed he ALWAYS tried to do the right thing. 1952: Ken McElroy marries his first wife Oleta. I honestly dont think it matters who killed McElroy; might as well say all of Skidmore committed a justifiable homicide, in self defence. Another note about Del, he was not a fighter, he wouldnt have started a fight. Google earth doesnt recognize a Valley Rd. Rod Rex you might be a narcissist but you certainly arent any man. Such evidence is allowed into courts of law as an exception to the hearsay rule on the theory that someone on his deathbed would have no reason to lie. The law had utterly failed to protect Skidmore or the surrounding communities. There are always many sides to a person. As to Kens last moments. Kenny boy didnt seem to have a problem threatening anybody old or smaller than him. The authors were in and out of there in a couple of weeks. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Are there any other in print material available that you would recommend? just happened . I made the mistake once of asking about it a few years ago, needless to say I was told in no uncertain terms to mind my own business. I remember Alice and thinking she is not much older then me yet she is with this guy and Treena is having his baby, and yet she was just a child But when it comes to killing, there are very few fair fights. why did she leave skidmore ? My grandpa has always maintained that he was at the Albany court house awaiting ken Rex for his trial. its to bad he died the way he did . Good riddance to bastards like Ken! There does not need to be a reeenactment. Why wasnt the pickup secured immediately by the first Officer who arrived on scene? ..why do you think those small And by the way, theres NO ONE as tough as Jesus, because he knew what was coming, faced it squarely, did what had to be done. You dont like it? Its in the book In Broad Daylight, toward the end. There were other incidents as well but my memory of them has faded. And thats kind of bullying as well. Pausing to milk it a little too long. None broke stride, or looked at me, but i am sure they new i was a stranger, in town. They are all over. 6. He was constantly committing crimes and threatening the townspeople. I find it funny when they get that goofy grin on their face when I confront them just before they say no, I never said that, or try and shake my hand and be my buddy. What if these also failed me? Every few years I will once again wonder if the culprits have finally been outted and search to find out. 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. Youre right about how the shooting went down. Who else would shoot a man in the back of the head as he sat in his truck?. We made several trips to see them after that and while my mother would here from Ronnie and Treva from time to time we never knew where they were . Fantastic book! we all talked & took a vow of silence , NO MATTER WHAT to our death bed. I have been, at least twice a year. This is the second time i have read In Broad Daylight. I suspect well never know the truth. Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead inside his pick-up truck on the 10th of July, 1981, via a storm of bullets. Looking pretty rundown. ken rex mcelroy should have been dealt with by the law -instead the people took care of it , mcelroy will haunt skidmore for years to come. I am not sure if he was the same Mr Sumy in the book. That was July 9, 1981, and Trena claimed that just before the shots were fired she looked over her shoulder and saw a local cowboy pull a rifle from her pickup and take aim at Ken. And we did not witness the actual shooting. The book Judgment Day (which seemed to be grossly inaccurate on a lot of things) said that he was suspected of killing someone in St. Joe? My first teaching job ended up being in Skidmore. On the other hand i used to work with a gal who told me that her ex-husband had been a bartender in Skidmore. I never verified any of these facts, but I really didnt spend a lot of time trying either. unless the last living person of that oath is on their deathbed & decides to tell who the shooter was, the shooter that they all covered for. they could have very easily put a bullet in the back of her head too. Is hostile.. Cruel people . Interesting. Thats how Ken McElroy felt. Harry do you think McElroy would have been proud to have a movie made about him and played by none other than the ultimate bad-guy actor Brian Dennehy? and im not affraid to say yes del was the main shooter. I dont understand why Trena would stand up for a man who had raped her, beat her, and burned down her own parents house? . Let sleeping dogs lay in this tragedy. I was 10 years old and saw the whole thing. Remember the incident well, and couldnt read enough about it at the time. But your right, it would have been more polite to just go around to the front of the truck and shoot the SOB in the eye. After selling his farm, he worked at Energizer in Maryville, MO, for several years. And his ex wife Sharon is also a very kind woman. In the movie they show the 1st person grabbing what could be a .22 or 22 mag, 2nd person grabs a 30-30 and the 3 person grabs a shotgun from the trunk of a car. What would you say to him? This man was a domestic terrorist whose actions were deadly to anyone and everyone that crossed him. My point on his courage was, that I doubt he would have done it if he had been face to face with McElroy. Further on, not too far, is the lot where Kens house once stood. He made me think he was McElroy. the only hope that we can ever find out who fired the fatal shot is the last person alive who took the oath , as they die one by one , it will be the last person will they make a deathbed confession , will they knowing that their the last will they let the name be known thats the only way it will ever come out. no one planned it. It seemed as if an entire town was held hostage by a lunatic. It was on the west side of the road. I remember Ken well. Where I live we have had a NON Stop Crime Waive since 1971. . I blogged about the death and posted her obituary. If youre such a big bad ass why carry a gun and have a crew? He was known as "the town bully", [1] and his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. The man who told me this said they all had the backbone of a jellyfish and nobody in town had the guts to have a gun duel with McElroy. Obviously a rifle. He and his brother owned the D & G Tavern, in front of which McElroy was parked when he died and which had recently begun closing whenever he came to town. you never know. I read they found .22 magnum and 8 mm Mauser casings in the street. Hi Harry I loved reading the book I have a question I know there was a made for TV movie made, have you been approached on making a newer version of a movie? But I certainly do understand why they did what they did and cant help but feel as they must have felt. Sad but true. . Using your description and Harrys, I do see a pile of former house debris just almost as you reach that second curve where the road turns south again. My first question is have you ever heard the name jay law mentioned if so what was said. 2) Planned or not a real man could have dealt with it..when your a bully you had better be readycause its always comin, 3) Del was the main shooter but he would have gladly been the ONLY shooter. The vast majority of these rifles were chambered in 30-30; the Winchester 94 is practically synonymous with the 30-30 chambering. Estes certainly did not come off well in the whole McElroy story. If the action against McElroy was spontaneous, wouldnt Clement expect to be held accountable for his actions? Ive lived in both large cities and small, rural towns, and without the farmers, small towns will struggle to survive. As for myself, and this lends itself to my statement about the passage of time and how it can cleanse some of the more untoward facts in the drama, Ive always cheered for the bad guy wrestlers. You can use the computer to measure the distance by right clicking and using measure distance from point to point. I understand you are a tall man, so relatively he would be shorter than you, but he was not a short man with a chip on his shoulder. If an eyewitness had turned in the killers in, it would have been a spectacular trial, likely ending in an acquittal. Not to mention the event, which I will remind you he was never found guilty of, occurred a lifetime ago. on the SKIDMORE TOPIS PAGE someone put a post on their something about a photograph a man had taken that morning , he was at the gas station caddy corner & saw something going down , pulled out a camera & snapped off a few shots & threw camera back in car . another male mcelroy in a small town. Harry MacLean. On July 10, 1981, Ken Rex McElroy would be shot dead in the street in broad daylight, amongst as many as 60 witnesses. I never considered the gunmen as cowards. The witch might be dead.. and you should just go your way. Some internet accounts have one of the rifles being a 30-30. 4. As far as the short man comments, that just seems like frat-boy rhetoric, not something a mature man, who writes for a living should use as a defense. Us types know that when we live by the sword we will die by the sword and thats whats scares the crap out of you common folk. Maybe in 30 or more years you will know there names but i wont be saying because there is still a lot of Mcelroy decents around these parts. I would not write anything else about Del if I were you. Life forced us to leave the area for a time and we totally lost contact with the family. I know there were plans to combine school districts, but Im not sure if that;s happened. Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. He told me when he had finished the book that he had met McElroy in Marshall MO at a cattle sale in 1979 or 80 and that Ken was selling cattle at $.50 on the dollar in the parking lot. a town so fed up with what was going on that it finally took justice,if thats what you want to call it-into their own hands & then all involved took a vow of silence. can palm most 6 tall peoples head like a basket ball and pick them up. I know how you feel about Skidmore. He did whatever he wanted, often in front of witness, and through a combination of great legal representation and intimidation, McElroy was only convicted once. A year or so after the book was published, I met one of Kens kids who had been adopted out as a child. From what I have read, it appears he provided for his family and the kids loved him? In a few weeks we will have a new POD paperback which will contain both In Broad Daylight and The Story Behind In Broad Daylight. Id me interested in your thoughts and facts. The masonic building is gone, as best as I can tell. Im a retired peace officer, as such Ive seen the inside of quite a few jails and prisons. I hear more and more stories as time goes on. I can promise you youd not roll over me. It tells in some detail the process of writing and researching the book, particularly the difficulty when the town was closed up around the killers. What did you think of the frontier justice piece? It shows a mentality very close to Dels. I believe that Ken McLeroy got what he deserved. Ask yourself: who smiles instantly after beating the criminal rap in court? Its what someone says, not how they say it. 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. He was bold, to say the least. Is it out of respect for the familiy. This is such an intriguing story. But I also understand why a man whod done (did? Without justice, people *will* resort to extra-legal violence to right wrongs and settle scores. Until then, mums the word. I dont condone killing such as this but fully understand how a town could have finally had ENOUGH. If someone would have cut his hands off for stealing some years before it got so bad things wouldnt have gone as far as they did either.. Right and wrong WAS ON BOTH SIDES. i seriously doubt the town would have done better then its current state, its a very small village in the middle of nowhere. I watched the TV Movie In Broad Daylight, Iast night. I got a copy of one of the pictures taken during the autopsy, but chose not to use it. Mine included, reading your untrue account of his life and death does not offer any peace in our mourning. I just ordered the new edition from Amazon and it is on the way. Didnt want to put it down! Thanks for your thoughts. I first heard of this story in a special edition of People Magazine (True Crime Stories; 2005). Thx for keeping us updated http://www.michaeljoiner.com. I still look upon the town for all the nice things and nice people who were beyond friendly to me. Harry, what is your opinion on what happened to the killing files in the Sheriffs office? One problem solved, but obviously from the tremendous amount of crime in that county, not the ONLY problem. Someone who has passed on from this life. You sound like a pussy with little man syndrome. Tina, Teresa and Tammy. Im not looking to cause a row, but my quandary is this; What should a person do when the system has failed them? Over and out. enough was enough, McElroy had pushed his last button & lit the fuse that led to his death , he sat their , just like in the movie calmly & looked in his mirror to see the crowd behind him , he knew I believed that it was the end for him & that he was about to die , no way in hell was that crowd letting him leave. Trena only witnessed Clement with a rifle. She was getting a teaching degree and came from a very well liked, respectable family in our community. Rex was starting trouble and was holding a rifle so the shooter came out and confronted Rex annd said put the gun down and lets see how tough you are without it fat boy. Thought I would pass on that they Punkin show is no more, have not had one since 2003 and the Freedom Fest has seen its last days this year. The case was in court but released as the victims could not identify the assailant due to it being dark. McElroy should have been taken care of by law enforcement officers and the courts. Where can one read your interview with Trena when she no longer defended Ken Rex ? None of those last two incidents is surprising. As I understand it, Gary D moved to Texas a few years back. After Sally had had three kids, Ken kicks her out of the house. The man Im thinking of, one time, was merely asked by the Los Angeles Police to move his double parked 18 wheeler. Trena, McElroys wife, even told the story that a man showed up at the McElroy farm outside Skidmore to kill McElroy for money, but that McElroy talked him out of it. I later heard that there were suspicions that he had been driven off of the road. Some guys were playing cards at a table. Years ago I met one of the gunmen, he was a polite gentleman. Want more true crime? Just after the killing two of the Mcelroy children moved into our nieghboorhood in St Joe. Hell, at my age, JFK has always been the guy who got his head blown off in Dallas, if youll forgive me for being blunt. The obituary mentioned that he had lived in Skidmore, MO, but nothing at all about the event for which we are reading this material. Thanks for the comment and the complement. I would really love to find out what happened to all of his children, and women, as well as if you or the authorities have any new leads to speak of. No one saw a thing is a piece of junk. i wonder what wouldve happened if some of the guys in town reached out to him , talk to him , have a beer be pals . I can certainly relate to both. Granted, one needs to gloss over the statutory rape. Hi, Im doing a school project on the murder of Ken Rex McElroy. What then? He was drunk and became outright hostile to me. I wondered if his TX neighbors even know about his involvement in this Skidmore event. Gary farmed west of Maryville most all his life. I raised it as a topic of discussion, since they shot McElroy in the back. Only hard core criminals laugh in court. I agree that Ken McElroy haunts the town, and always will. There will never be another story like this one. My house on Safari Drive backed up to the cemetery where McElroy is now buried. Looked at your bio. You should go to Piedmont Alabama and research the Ronnie Chandler story. Too bad. The last straw was when she sued the town and the mayor of wrongful death of her husband. The most well known but never verified incident involved a time supposedly in the seventies when he stretched a guy over the railroad tracks around St. Joe and watched as the train ran over him. Nevertheless, they were together for 15 years, and Alice bore two sons and a daughter. I think he was trying a stare down and lost. I knew he was gone from work the same day as Kens funeral but didnt put anything together. If the guns were ever matched to the participants would the 22 owner be the only one charged with murder? Again, awesome book!! I really have no quarrel with what happened to McELroy. Bringing in meat and dairy products from U.K. countries. I heard that Lois also died a few years ago, and I am sure that Bo Bowenkamp died back in the late 80s or so; but didnt they have a couple of daughters? I understand you need to sell books but if it humbles you, I learned about this out of a true crime and and aberrant behavior book so your book is well versed but not hardly the only source. I am planning a trip back to the area for some hunting next month and I will make the drive through Skidmore just to see how things have changed. Ken Rex McElroy, a notoriously brutal man who had terrorized Skidmore, Mo., for years, was killed in 1981. (Tongue firmly in cheek.). Ken McElroy - Wikipedia Ken McElroy Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 - July 10, 1981) was an American criminal and convicted attempted murderer who resided in Skidmore, Missouri, United States. I seriously doubt you are 68 and 320 and all muscle. i heard a rumour that someone wanted to pay for & put a statue of ken rex mcelroy in downtown skidmore- geez louise , are you freaking kidding me -thats all the local yocos need , a staue of the man who terrorized & bullied them for years. 2. To all my haters: just be glad I dont live around you because Id be doin a helluva lot more then just parking outside your house! I said i wouldnt. .. This guy needs Jesus. Surfacing briefly from her hiding place where she had sought refuge for herself and her children, Mrs. McElroy granted an interview to talk about the Kenneth Rex McElroy murder in Skidmore, MO. Or could they have been tested back in the day? Fascinating stuff! Thank you. Or is it a numbered road?? so , ill just stay where I am outside of kc . it too was spontaneous. He had been drinking that morning, and had a helluva temper. a small town terrorized by one man.a town stricken with fear, a town that kept asking for help & didnt get it. ive thoyght of moving back to skidmore , but nothings left . I suspect there are hundreds more out there. I would suggest youve had a very comfortable life not only financially but in your career. I used to visit a town (Ransom, Illinois) which is very similar in size and population and it is experiencing a similar decline which I believe is more due to economics and changing times than anything else. I hadnt heard the one about him selling cattle in the parking lot. Sorry pal, Im one of those 6 180 pound guys you claim youd palm. We are within an hours drive from Skidmore. Or is it possible, that was merely a shell game, and they had no intentions of showing them to you from the start? Check google maps, street view. del was a coward and a asshole hope he burns in hell for what he did. She told of one incident in particular where her family was present when his property was being buzzed repeatedly by a low flying plane. as for the earlier post of the person defending McElroy being a bully , why dont you bring your tough guy act to skidmore , before you do Id suggest that you pick out a nice plot & make sure your life insurance is up to date . I also understand that he lost his job as an auctioneer in St. Joe because of this problem.
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