At over six-feet tall and nearly 300 pounds he was a formidable presence by sight alone. ''There were a couple of bangs,'' said Mr. Hartman, whose office is near the tavern, ''and at first I thought it was firecrackers. The county prosecutor, David Baird, said there was not much more he could do. This is a collaborative project with FindMyPast.com. Weve updated the security on the site. She then worked in the customer service department at Walmart and Target for several years. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. McElroy Williams. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. 3. McElroy tracked the women down, beat them both severely, and brought them home. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. , McElroy was arrested on assault charges, but Alices stepfather would need to testify. Try again. . This browser does not support getting your location. Try again. When she was fourteen, Trena got pregnant. Year should not be greater than current year. In the plainspoken manner of speaking in Skidmore, McElroy simply needed killing, like a gangrened leg needs to be severed to save the whole body. She had seen a man named Del Clement (the co-owner of the D&G Tavern) standing across the street with a rifle, at which point she told Ken they needed to get out of there because he was going to get shot. Blood covered the inside of the vehicle, as well as Trena, who was sitting in the passenger seat. ; six sisters, Tina Chapman of Savannah, Mo. Close to fifty of them had come together and made a plan to protect the witnesses who were going to testify against McElroy. 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. The charges came as a result of what Trena had told the police. Many speculate that this traumatic injury was a cause of his volatility and aggression later in life. She was born July 5, 1965 in Skidmore, Mo. Birth. There was a problem getting your location. Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Richard Stratton, the only lawman in northwest Missouri ever known to stand up to McElroy, hunted McElroy down and arrested him on an attempted murder charge. Investigators dug and dug, but Skidmore residents maintained their silence. WebThe next day, McElroy was shot to death in broad daylight as he sat with his wife Trena in his pickup truck on Skidmore's main street. System I said it in 1981, and Ill say it now, Baird told Patch. At this point Ken Rex McElroy had terrorized the community of Skidmore for over a decade, and all indications were that he was going to keep getting away with it. McElroy for the most part escaped prosecution and, certainly, conviction for various crimes. They knew this because they had all either witnessed or been the victim of a similar intentional violent act, and it was always at the hands of Ken Rex McElroy. On of his hands came to him one afternoon and reported that someone was on the property shooting a firearm. Del was serving beer in the tavern just before the shooting). Henry stopped the truck and Ken Rex approached the passenger side, the window rolled down, the barrel of the 12-gauge trained on Henry. They were running away, seeking refuge away from Ken Rex. Yes, that would make him Ken McElroys grandson. Ken was my grandfather derome was my father Im deromes oldest my mother is trace I wish I could of meet my grandfather An understandable wish. Im sure youve heard many good and bad things about him. Tony , I am your aunt Tina your dad is my brother . I havent seen you since you was about 2. Place. The incident received world wide press coverage, was the subject of a tv movie and a book. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. Try again later. The group outside the tavern had grown and began jeering as they saw the couple emerge from the tavern. 20 As the story has been told by MacLean and others, McElroy showed up at the D&G tavern and pool hall the next day toting a rifle with a bayonet a violation of his bond and threatened to finish off the Bowenkamps. By the time the word came that Mr. McElroy was at the D & G Tavern, tempers were hotter. It wasnt the kind of murder which goes unsolved for decades and eventually someone comes forward with the tip that breaks the case open. They recounted his threats to kill anyone who tried to jail him. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Anyone can read what you share. McElroy moved out of his family home to be with Alice, but this relationship was no different from his previous ones. Not only that, they recommended he spend no more than two years in prison. By the age of 15, Ken Rex had dropped out of school and established himself as a coon hunter, and thief. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. I have a feeling his neighbors would have described him somewhat differently. In the summer of 1981, a jury handed McElroy his first-ever felony conviction for the lesser charge of second-degree assault. People Projects Discussions Surnames Include gps location with grave photos where possible. The mainstreet is eerily quiet in mid-morning. Copyright 2017 Wagner & Lynch | Adoption, paternity, divorce, or guardianship? Try again later. He liked young underage girls starting around twelve to fourteen. Imagine what McElroy would make of that: a college graduate for a son. The D & G Tavern, most recently the Skidmore Tavern, in front of which Ken was sitting in his Silverado when the bullets tore through the window glass and shattered his skull, was also closed. Sorry! I was a witness , not a shooter we all talked & took a vow of silence , NO MATTER WHAT to our death bed. People Projects Discussions Surnames ''It doesn't make for a real talkative environment. No. Livestock owners looked the other way when a few head of cattle or hogs vanished in the night or gas barrels used to fuel farm implements were noticeably emptier. The two came out from the back of the store, also becoming subject to the couples ranting. This is the story of a bully, and to the town of Skidmore Missouri he was the meanest, nastiest, bully that has ever lived. MacLean told Inside Edition: Whatever had been done might not be morally right, but he needed killing. Ken Rex McElroy was murdered on July 10, 1981, in one of the most bizarre cases authorities had ever encountered. That was the last straw, MacLean said. Faces turn away at a strangers approach. McElroy and Trena got up without saying a word, pushing their way through the crowd towards the exit. He would sit outside of their house in his truck for hours in the evening. Kenneth M. McElroy, 60, of Butler passed away Tuesday at Butler Memorial Hospital. Dozens of them gathered at Skidmores American Legion hall on the morning of July 10, 1981. Del Clement, the man Trena named as McElroys killer, died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2009. KENNETH MCELROY OBITUARY. Skidmore looks different. Try again later. 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. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. After the photos. This is the story of a man that terrorized an entire community. This went on for months, thanks to his trial being subject to constant delays. When Henry responded that he didnt even have a car like that, Ken Rex told him that he was a Lyin S.O.B. and pulled the trigger. By some miracle Romaine Henry lived. She ran away back into the arms of Ken Rex McElroy. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Oops, something didn't work. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21971/ken-rex-mcelroy. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Debbie Ann McElroy, age 54 of Conway, Missouri, passed away Sunday, June 14, 2020 at her home in Conway. The clerk thought nothing more of it, until Ken and Trena McElroy showed up. Gene McFadin, McElroys nickel-slick lawyer from Kansas City could get Ken off every time, Kirby Goslee, a 71-year-old Skidmore farmer who still works the land his family homesteaded six generations ago, told Patch. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. What gave rise to that theory is that they were in the Legion hall for a meeting, then went down to the D&G [when they heard McElroy was in town]. With the charges still looming over him, Ken Rex acted fast. Why are you doing this? Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. She let it be known that she had gone ''somewhere in Missouri'' because someone might try to kill her. The last thing he saw as he slipped into blackness was Ken Rex McElroy walking back to his truck, removing a cigarette from the pack in his shirt pocket, and light it with the same easy motion one would do if lighting a smoke after a meal. When the driver pulled the bus over, Ken Rex would demand that he open the door and let Trena out so that she could get in his pickup truck with him. He neutralized an entire criminal justice system.. They delivered messages in code. It is widely accepted that he fired one of the guns that shot McElroy. We have set your language to He went to Trenas parents home, where he viciously beat Trena and Alice, then burned the McCloud house to the ground. Mr. McElroy was hit in the head and neck. Almost everyone, with the exception of Bo Bowenkamp, backed down. Resend Activation Email. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Over the course of his life Ken Rex would be married three times and father ten children. For example, one of the owners of the D&G tavern would send her young children to the grocery store for paper towels, keeping the children innocently unaware they were telegraphing an urgent message for the Bowenkamps to call the police. No, the townspeople all would have known that the injury was attributable to an intentional act, and that Ken Rex was always the responsible party. McElroy started his pickup and the sound of shots pierced the silence. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. The mere mention of his surname was enough to cause anxiety, if not full terror. They know how everybody thinks.. based on information from your browser. No one was surprised. Trena moved away from Skidmore, remarried and had more children. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. We have set your language to They are our real life bogey men, and the fear that they give us also leaves us fascinated. Evelyn lived cross the street, and he made sure she could see them. Before I left on my trip to Skidmore, I wondered on this blog if I would encounter any difficulty with local residents who had recently expressed concern, to put it lightly, over my characterization of shooter Del Clement as a short, hot-tempered drunk. Eventually, Trena grew tired of the foster house and the rules she was expected to mind under, after all she was still a young girl, and she ran away. SKIDMORE, MO Four decades after Ken Rex McElroy was gunned down on the main drag of Skidmore, Missouri, in one of Americas most infamous cold cases, the story of the notoriously brutal town bully has refused to die with him no matter how much the farmers and blue-collar workers who live in the small farming town wish it would. How could it? Its not even past. Nowhere is that more true than the small community of Skidmore, where the past is the terror and murder of a terror-stoking outlaw 30 years ago. There were so many nights Dad couldnt go out and mow the yard or water the flowers because there was a truck parked down the street, and they were watching the house, Monte said. McElroy, known as 'Kenrex' by his friends and his enemies, had an extensive arrest record. Being shot in the stomach wasnt enough though. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Everyone was keeping an eye on us. Despite his conviction, he was still the arrogant goon he had always been. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Several patrons witnessed McElroys display at the tavern and called the prosecutor, who revoked McElroys bail. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. When the shooting ended, McElroy was slumped over the steering wheel. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Few were criticized as mightily as Baird over the lack of prosecution in McElroys murder. McElroy escaped jail on an appeal bond and could remain free until he exhausted his appeals, free to taunt his victims with what had become painfully clear: He would never go to jail. He was literally untouchable right up until the day he wasnt. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. It has a bar, and music on the weekend. Often, witnesses changed their mind about testifying before trials began, MacLean said, and if a case did make it to trial, a juror might open the mailbox to find a rattlesnake. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Unsurprisingly, Skidmore residents were upset by the police presence in town. McElroy raised the barrel of the gun and pointed it at the cab of the approaching truck. What happened in Skidmore that day wasnt much different than the completely predictable result from shaking a carbonated beverage until the top finally blows. To describe McElroy as intimidating is putting it lightly. There is a problem with your email/password. Yet in a conspiracy of silence that has spanned the past 38 years, the townsfolk have held the secret close. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Someone warned her, Youre about to meet Ken Rex McElroy, Monte said.
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