Skidmore is a small and modest town in Missouri, situated approximately 80 miles northwest of Kansas City. Consisting of around 440 residents and a number of small family-run businesses, the farming town revolved around work ethic. This was something that the “town bully,” Ken Rex McElroy, staunchly rebelled against. 1
McElroy was never a popular man. Weighing in at approximately 270 pounds with bushy black sideburns, McElroy held the entire town of Skidmore under his thumb. Always armed with a gun, McElroy took whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and nobody dared asked questions.
Born in 1934, he was the 15th out of 16 children born to poor sharecroppers, Tony and Mabel McElroy. Illiterate due to quitting school after just the fifth grade, trouble seemed to follow McElroy wherever he went. When McElroy was a young boy, he fell from a hay wagon on his family farm and as a result, a steel plate was implanted into his head. Many question if this was the catalyst that caused him to become the abominable character that he eventually morphed into. 2
His criminal career started off with petty crimes such as stealing livestock but this soon escalated, predominately in violence. Over the years, McElroy, who was a raging alcoholic and notorious womaniser, was married multiple times. He fathered a total of fifteen children with a hoard of different women, many of them being just teenagers.
Not one to care about the law (or quite clearly morals), he met his youngest and last wife, Trena, in 1971 when she was just 12-years-old. She fell pregnant just two years later. Unsurprisingly, McElroy mistreated Trena, who eventually attempted to escape his evil clutches by fleeing to her parents’ house with their new born son. McElroy refused to let her get away that easily; he followed Trena to her parents’ house and once there, he shot their dog and set their house on fire before bringing Trena back home where he physically abused her for her apparent misconduct.
Trena revealed the arson and abuse to a local doctor who in turn called a social welfare agency and put her into a foster home. Facing molestation charges due to Trena’s young age when he began a sexual relationship with her, McElroy discovered that if he were to marry Trena then she would be exempt from testifying. He knew all too well that Trena’s testimony against him was very damning. McElroy was granted permission to marry Trena by her panic-stricken parents after he threatened that if they didn’t grant permission, he would burn their new home to the ground. 3
They reluctantly complied and the unlikely couple were married.
Throughout McElroy’s tempestuous life, he had been indicted on a range of crimes including child molestation, rape, attempted murder and burglary. However, the citizens of Skidmore were so petrified of his brutality and the revenge that he could potentially exact on them that everybody refused to testify against him. The whole town knew how violent and unpredictable he was. His lawyer, Richard McFadin, would later say that he defended McElroy in at least three or four felonies per year.
It almost seemed as though he was exempt from the law… at least until that fateful day when his reign of terror came to an abrupt halt when vigilante justice took over. McElroy’s ultimate downfall commenced in 1980, when one of his children – a daughter he had with Trena – was caught stealing a candy bar from a local grocery store. This grocery store was owned by 70-year-old Bo Bowenkamp and his elderly wife, Lois Bowenkamp. The Kansas City Star reported that Lois called the theft a “misunderstanding” and tried to make peace with the McElroy family.
However, with McElroy being the hot-headed aggressor that he was, he refused to let it slide and unleashed a barrage of terror on the elderly couple.
First of all, McElroy offered the elderly Lois cash to engage in a fist fight with his much younger and stronger wife before turning to the intimidation tactics that he knew so well. McElroy took to sitting outside the Bowenkamp residence in his truck and every so often, shooting his gun into the air as a warning sign.
“Oh, he was intimidating,” Lois Bowenkamp said. “You can’t know how awful it was. My neighbor and I took turns sleeping at night.” 4
The stalking and harassment of the Bowenkamp family took a tragic turn for the worse on a pleasant summer’s night in July of 1980. Bo Bowenkamp was standing outside on the loading dock of his grocery store awaiting an air-conditioning repair man. McElroy drove up to the store, produced his shotgun, and shot the elderly man in the neck.
Miraculously, Bo survived his wounds but this senseless attempted murder was the straw that broke the camel’s back. This time, the small town of Skidmore would not forgive or forget this mindless attack on a defenceless and well-adored man.
McElroy was soon convicted of the attack. However, he was released on bail awaiting appeal, much to the shock of the entire community. Within hours, McElroy was ready to exact his revenge on Bo Bowenkamp and the witnesses that testified against him. The town rallied together and wrote a number of letters to the Missouri authorities, the governor, attorney general, and state legislators, expressing that they were living in fear of McElroy and wanted to finally see some justice but alas, their pleas were ignored.
An exasperated McElroy was soon seen in D&G Tavern, his local haunt, brandishing an M-1 rifle with a bayonet attached to the muzzle. This, of course, violated the terms of his bail. Richard McFadin, McElroy’s lawyer, somehow managed to postpone his appeal hearing not once but twice, much to the townsfolks dismay.
On the prickly-hot afternoon of 10 July, 1981, the town gathered at Legion Hall to contemplate what to do about McElroy after the second postponement.
The whole town was at the end of their tether with the barrage of intimidation and harassment that had been inflicted on them. They were also extremely wary as to what McElroy could be planning against them as revenge.
Simultaneously, McElroy and Trena were sitting the D&G Tavern having a couple of beers and getting rowdy completely oblivious to the uprising of the town. It’s not exactly known what was being discussed in Legion Hall – some think they were discussing how to keep witnesses safe while others think they were planning the demise of McElroy. Whatever took place inside that hall, when the meeting ended, the townsfolk made their way to the D & G Tavern where they encountered McElroy and Trena climbing into his Chevy Silverado.
McElroy was armed with his beloved rifle and a six-pack of beer.
Moments later, shots rang out and the town intimidator sat dead in his car, his bloody body riddled with bullets with his wife screaming in the front passenger seat. Ironically, he had been killed with the same sort of violence that he had revelled in over the years.
At least 40 people witnessed McElroy being shot and every single one refused to confess who had fired the fateful shots.
Nobody saw a thing.
Not one person called an ambulance as McElroy lay bleeding to death, surrounded by the wide-eyes of the town he had once held in fear.
As Postmaster Jim Hartman said: “I can’t think of anyone who’d seen it (the shooting) feel any different than you would about the people who invented penicillin. Nobody tried to hang them for finding a way to kill a germ.” 5
When police eventually arrived, they discovered shell casings from both a .22-caliber Magnum and an 8mm Mauser. An investigation uncovered that McElroy had been shot by two separate people. One who had been positioned behind the truck while the other was positioned a half block in front of the truck. Regardless of the abundance of witnesses to the murder which took place in broad daylight, nobody was ever charged and the jury concluded that McElroy was killed by a “person or persons unknown.” 6
Trena claimed she knew who one of the shooters was but with nobody to corroborate her claims, he couldn’t be indicted.
The town has kept its silence ever since: they feel as though they owe nothing to a man who vandalized and terrorized them for decades. It is a true tale of comeuppance that could have easily been avoided if the law and court had cracked down on McElroy when necessary. “I know why they didn’t talk – they were all glad he was dead. That town got away with murder,” his attorney would later say. 7
Comments:
Im against violence 😡but he asked for it he had it comin🙄
Comedy Central had a recent “Drunk History” segment dedicated to this murder. Must see TV!
“Brave, fearless and compassionate” sure Jan
that dirtbag finally got his comeuppance
You man THAT A*SHOLE
Hey, now, let’s be fair here. A*sholes have a legitimate purpose for existing.
This man did not.
Wasn’t there a movie made with Brian Dennehey (sp?) story sounds very familiar to a movie I’ve seen.
It sounds kinda similar to Gorky Park… Not like, spot on or anything, but it involves a murder no one wants solved for whatever reason.
Gorky park was set in Russia, it was about spies, and trying to smuggle sables out of the country. The main killer in it skinned the faces of his victims so they didn’t know who they were. I see nothing at all in common with this story. Other than someone was killed. Laugh!!
Yep. That was the movie. It had a young Marcia Gaye Harden playing his teenage wife. Excellent movie…
I think it’s called in broad daylight
In Broad Daylight
Yes there was. They had to change his name for the movie, but Dennehy looked exactly like him.
Yes there was and it was based on Ken Rex McElroy. It was made in the early 90 s ten years after he got his commupence.
This was not a murder. This was justice. He got what he deserved. You can only push people so far. The only one to blame for McElroy’s death is McElroy. I salute the good people of Skidmore Missouri for having the courage to execute Justice when no one else would.
I agree. The law would not do it’s job so the people did. It was only a matter if time before he killed someone. If was not murder. If was justice.
Why not take your own advice, you bunch of hypocrites? The people asked for justice, it was denied, and the person had already shot someone. There is no reasoning with a rabid animal, and Ken Rex McElroy was a rabid animal that, unlike Old Yeller, needed to be put down.
The bayonet goes on the muzzle of the rifle, not the butt.
the last four articles I’ve read on here have taken place in the state I live in– Missouri! wtf…
This story left me smiling. A TRUE tale of karma. The old bastard had it coming. Love it!
This also goes to show you how corrupt and greedy lawyers can be. Who in the hell would defend this walking POS?
I can excuse the lawyer for defending him only because we all have the right to a defense per the constitution, but to say something disparaging about the townspeople makes him an a**hole.
Good. I hope nobody is ever held accountable for the murder of this awful man. He deserved it.
I’m reading this book at this very moment (listening to the Audible book). It’s fascinating. I originally saw the movie In Broad Daylight, but thought it was fictional. As a kid I was a shy, nerdy transplant from NY to Texas, and had my share of run-ins with redneck bullies. So I speak from experience when I say that this POS, redneck, illiterate punk got exactly what he deserved. If the legal system had been working as expected he would have been in prison long before that poor 70 year old man got shot and almost died. But the system… Read more »
I read the book as well. It’s a page-turner. This guy is so unbelievable that it almost seems like fiction that the police just let him slide all those years. The town should have gotten rid of him long ago. You can tell they are good people who were just at the end of their rope as they didn’t kill his wife. It seems to me, that although she started out as a victim, she truly grew to love him. Stockholm Syndrome?
Fuck her
Come on though, I mean he did start indoctrinating her when she was 12, and nobody stopped him but the doctor that put her in a foster home for awhile. Can’t really blame her.
And don’t forget her parents made her marry that A-hole !
the moral of the story: if the law is unjust, break it.
As an old grizzled, mountain man client of Gerry Spence’s confided to him: “Some people jus’ need killin!” The justice system is anything but. No one’s rights count but the criminal’s. The town got rid of rabies, that’s all.
This was basically a lynch mob. and for what?? Sounds like this guy, mcleroy had a childhood full of suffering. A steel plate in his head. And yet he was a fighter and took matters into his own hands instead of rolling over and dying quietly. And maybe he had a purpose in life. Ever see the movie “Unforgiven”? with Clint Eastwood? Maybe this guy McElroy saved the town year after year from much worse people like, Gangs, criminals, etc. and when the townspeople had no use for him any more they shot him in cold blood, from behind, in… Read more »
I’d check the ground next to truck where he died if there is a tin star in the dust. (and also in the dust of this blog.
shut yo stupid ass up
You’re so special 😄
Needs. You’re special needs.
You need to read the book! The law was a travesty. The little bit you read above doesn’t begin to tell the whole story. He robbed and stole from everyone with threats of death if they resisted. He was most definitely NOT saving the town from anyone! The town needed saving from him.And yes, he DID terrorize the town for decades. He had enough money from stealing that when he got locked up, he made bail and was back in town the next day. Skidmore was terrorized by this bastard. There comes a time when the law has failed so… Read more »
“and for what??”
You seem to have a serious reading comprehension problem.
You are a special kind of stupid
Please put the pipe down.
Are you seriously that stupid, Ty and Alecia? People like you two make more unrepentant and evil monsters like him. You have to put down rabid animals if the rabies virus gets past a certain point in them, otherwise they are a threat to everyone, and Ken Rex McElRoy was one of those rabid animals that was simply not treated in time that needed to be put down because he was already clearly a threat to everyone, and I am saying this as a person with autism, depression, anxiety, OCD, AND PTSD in their own life. Finally, you lot need… Read more »
There are times when those people that are labeled as criminals are not actually criminals. However, it is clear even to Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder that Ken Rex McElRoy was a career criminal through and through, brain damage or not, and, in this case, he got what he had deserved in his life.
Amen to that.
I would piss on that grave!
Pissin’s too good for the prick. I’d take a dump on it.
I would simply leave it alone. Where he is, if he did not repent in his final moments, is far worse torture than that.
Both of those things are too good for his grave…he needs to have his corpse burned, then scattered into the desert, then have that place cursed Old Testament style, then have his steel plate recycled into something that is actually useful, like, say some drink coasters or something, so, that way, he can at least have some purpose in his life.
And I’d
That is litteraly, a pi.. poor deed and er, comment – warranted as it may be !.
This stunning quote says it all. VERY hard-core! … Postmaster Jim Hartman said: “I can’t think of anyone who’d seen it (the shooting) feel any different than you would about the people who invented penicillin. Nobody tried to hang them for finding a way to kill a germ.” … Ouch!
Good for them. There are times when the social contract has to be ignored for people’s safety. This was one of them.
I am just surprised they did not shoot him for interfering with a preteen child, but they shot him when he shot a 70 year old man. How about shooting him for the first crime?
In this country, it used to be common for child molesters to suddenly die of mysterious circumstances, with police officers commonly a witness to the event.
Now it just happens in prison. At the hands of other inmates.
IF they get caught, and/or actually did the deed instead of being falsely charged of the deed.
There was a TV movie about that incident.
No shit!
Good riddance ……the fool got what he deserved. Karma sucks.
Some things just need killing, its the natural order
As always, the winners write the history. I don’t trust it.
If he’d really been this monster they describe he would not have been released so easily by the courts again and again. It’s not like he was rich or had any means of intimidating officials that other criminals don’t.
Given that, and a life of experience of human behavior, I suspect that it was his courting of young girls that set the town off, and that they’d been the ones out to get him for years.
Read the book, ‘In Broad Daylight’.
If, after reading the book, you have changed your mind that McElroy wasn’t the monster that he was, I will remove my negative vote.
Speaking of people that are small minded, here you are commenting, Betty.
Not to mention he shot a couple of townfolk and was threatening to kill a person he already shot.
U really just don’t kn how some really small back woods small towns work do you ?
…and you do not know how a brain actually works, do you, Teresa?
Your username says it all, as does your comment. Bullies that do evil, and that are also unrepentant of said evil in this world, need to be removed from this world, period, full stop. There is no justification to take the side of a person that already was a known criminal in their life.
As my relatives in the south OFTEN say..”THAT MAN JUST NEEDED KiLLIN!” Looks like he got what he “needed” to me.
To me, it was just self defense..plain and simple. He had already Tried to kill that old man once..he would do it again!
He got what he deserved!!
Sometimes it takes a village.
There’s a new documentary/series about this story starting in August on the Sundance channel, called ‘Nobody Saw A Thing’. 1st episode is really good….interviews with some of the original townspeople.
[…] Ken Rex McElroy Bo Bowenkamp […]
They should have killed his lawyer too
There was Tv movie made about this ass hat .starring Brian Dennehy. I can not remember the title.
[…] The Town That Got Away With Murder – Emily Thompson – Morbidology Killing Fields: The Town That Got Away With Murder – Jake Rossen – Mental Floss Martinis & Murder podcast – Episode #136 – Murdered in Broad Daylight Ken McElroy Wikipedia page […]
This sounds like a Lifetime Chanel Orginal movie from the 1990’s
The Discovery Channel covered this case and talked to townspeople who would appear on camera.
Though for the most part he was feared and hated, he did have one who spoke up for him.
The FBI tried for months to get someone to talk; of course they never did.
I don’t approve of what they did, I understand why it happened since the court system let them down. And isn’t it amazing that in such a small town the police just happened to be no where around.
Well, to be fair, the town was honestly too small to warrant its own police department, and it is still that way as well, so it naturally would also take some time to have the cops arrive at said town. Also, as has been said before, “When seconds count, the police can be there in minutes”.
Bizarre this was happening in the 70s and 80s!. Something you would expect in the Wild West. He was put down like the rabid dog he was.