The town that murdered their bully, 1981 Ken Rex McElroy was a man who lived in Skidmore

The town that murdered their bully, 1981
Ken Rex McElroy was a man who lived in Skidmore, Missouri. McElroy was indicted of 21 convictions which consisted of assault, arson, burglary, animal cruelty, sheep and hog rustling and and child abuse by the time he was 47. 



McElroy was born in 1934 and was the 15th child to a poor immigrant couple. He dropped out of school at 15 and quickly gained a reputation of being a trouble maker. 21 charges were brought against him, however victims of the crimes often did not pursue legal action after McElroy would stalk, attack and harass them. This led to McElroy avoiding all of these charges except 1. 

McElroy fathered 10 children between different women. His last wife, Trena McCloud, was 12 when they met. McElroy abused her repeatedly and she became pregnant at 14. McCloud's parents refused McElroy to marry her. In response, McElroy burned down their family home and shot and killed their family dog. 

McElroy married the 14 year old to escape the child abuse charges against him. Trena have birth 16 days later and went to a foster home for safety, in which McElroy would stalk and stare at for hours.

In 1980, one of McElroy's children got into trouble at a local corner store for trying to steal candy. The store was owned by 70 year old Bo Bowencamp and his family began to be harassed by McElroy. Bowencamp was confronted and shot in the neck with a shotgun by McElroy at the back of his store. Bowencamp survived and McElroy was arrested and set on bail.

McElroy then went to a local bar with a rifle and threatened Bowencamp again. On July 10th, 1981, a town meeting was held on what to do about McElroy, in which the details are unknown.

Later that evening, McElroy left a bar to go to his truck, in which he was shot by 2 different gun men. There were 48 witnesses and  non would give details of the crime. McElroy died of his wounds. No one has ever been charged with the murder but as one local resident said "He needed a killin'." The case remains unsolved and the towns residents are happy with it staying that way.

Written and shared by @revivedhistory - an independent history page.

Photographer: unknown

Source: NY Times

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