Murder: True Crime Stories - UNSOLVED: Ken McElroy 2, Vigilante Justice with Tyler Allen (Minds of Madness)

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

For nearly 30 years, Ken McElroy terrorized the small town of Skidmore, Missouri. Accused of theft, assault, arson, statutory rape, and intimidation, he manipulated the legal system and silenced witnesses through fear. When he shot 70-year-old grocery store owner Bo Bowenkamp in broad daylight—and still managed to delay justice yet again—the town’s patience began to crack. In Part 1 of this two-episode series, host of Minds of Madness, Tyler Allen joins Carter Roy to help unravel how one man’s unchecked violence exposed the limits of the justice system and pushed a quiet farming community toward the brink. If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Murder True Crime Stories to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge?  Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios YouTube: @murdertruecrimestories To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Carter. If you're enjoying murder, true crime stories, there's a new crime house show for you to check out. It's called The Final Hours hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Sarah is an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose own sister disappeared in 2001. And Courtney is a true crime storyteller who has seen firsthand how crime can change a family forever. Together, they bring lived experience to every case, examining the moment. moments just before a person disappears, the routines, the timelines, the small details that often get overlooked, because every disappearance has a moment where everything still feels normal until it doesn't. Listen to and follow the final hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday. This is Crime House.

When two people are having a conflict, it might seem like the best thing to do is not get involved. But sometimes, standing by while others doke it out, can come back to bite you. Because when a bully is allowed to intimidate someone, it only makes them bolder the next time around. The town of Skidmore, Missouri knew this all too well. For 20 years, a man named Ken McElroy treated the people of Skidmore like dirt. And soon enough, the entire town was afraid of him. and no one was off limits. Ken bullied elderly men, teenage girls, and the local minister alike.

Even the police refused to deal with him. By 1981, it seemed like nothing could stop him short of a bullet. So the only question that remained was, who would fire the first shot? People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives, too soon and we don't always get to know the real ending.

I'm Carter Roy and this is Murder True Crime Stories, a crime house original powered by Pave Studios. And once again, I am thrilled to welcome Tyler Allen, the host of the Minds of Madness podcast. Glad to be back, Carter. You're welcome back anytime. Just like in part one, Tyler will introduce today's episode and be sure to stick around at the end of the episode

as we sit down for an extended conversation about the case. I can't wait. This is the second of two episodes on the 1981 murder of 47-year-old Ken McElroy in Skidmore, Missouri. So last time, Carter explained how Ken spent decades terrorizing the town of Skidmore. Instead of building genuine relationships with his neighbors, he used violence and intimidation to get his way until finally, after three decades of bullying, the people of Skidmore had had enough. Today, Carter will discuss the day Ken finally crossed the line in 1980 after he shot an elderly man over a petty argument. An angry mob of citizens decided to give Kent a taste of his own medicine. Dozens of people witnessed his death,

but none would cooperate with police. And in the end, even law enforcement turned a blind eye. All this and more coming up. In communities across Canada, hourly Amazon employees can grow their skills and their paycheck by enrolling in free skills training programs for in-demand. And fields. Learn more at aboutamazon.ca. Marvel Television's Wonder Man, an eight-episode series, now streaming on Disney Plus. A superhero remake, not exactly what we'd expect from an Oscar winning director. Action! Simon Williams, audition for Wonder Man.

I'm going to need you to sign this, assuming you don't have superpowers. I'll never work again if anyone found out. My lips are sealed. Marvel Television's Wonder Man. All eight episodes now streaming, only on Disney Plus. Between 1955 and 1980, Ken McElroy was the most notorious crook in Southern Missouri. It wasn't because he was the smartest, the richest, or even the most powerful person, but he was, without a doubt, the biggest dirt bag around.

For the most part, Ken made his money by stealing livestock and committing insurance fraud. In his free time, he pushed people around for fun, abused his wives, and sexually assaulted teenage girls. Anytime he got caught, he embarked on one of his legendary harassment campaigns. He made it his full-time job to intimidate witnesses until they refused to testify against him. Nowhere in Missouri was safe, but the town of Skidmore was especially vulnerable, located just three miles south of Ken's farmhouse, it was one of his favorite haunts, and the people there were some of his favorite victims. No one knew that better than 70-year-old Boe-Bohen camp.

He owned a grocery store in Skidmore, and on April 25, 1980, one of his clerks stopped Ken's four-year-old daughter from pocketing some candy, and what should have been a minor incident exploded into something. much worse. Forty-six-year-old Ken stormed into the store, claiming that Bo and his wife, Lois crossed the line and embarrassed his daughter in public. As revenge, he started following the couple around town, threatening them with violence, and even firing his shotgun into the air outside their house. All Bo could do was grit his teeth and wait for it to blow over. So for his 70th birthday on July 8th, he kept his celebration purposely low-key.

He grabbed some beers at the local pub, then drove to his store to finish up some chores. As he broke down a pile of cardboard boxes by the dumpster, Ken approached him with his shotgun drawn. When Bo threatened to call the police, Ken shot the 70-year-old point-blank in the face, then fled the scene. A group of men at a nearby tavern heard the shot and came outside to investigate. They found Bo lying in a pool of his own blood. He was conscious, but just barely. EMTs rushed him to the hospital, where doctors determined that he had four gunshot wounds in his ear and neck.

A couple of pellets had come within half an inch of his major arteries. Not only was Bo miraculously a lot of his large. but he was lucid too. He repeatedly told the paramedics that Ken McElroy was the one who shot him, and it's not like there were any doubts about that. Everyone from the men who called 911 to the responding officers knew who was responsible. Ken had been promising to kill Bo for months now. Whenever he got drunk, he rambled on about his petty beef for the old man.

But the police didn't want to arrest him. If they did, they were signing themselves up for months of harassment. In all likelihood, they would be putting their families in danger too. Since the police couldn't take the heat, the city marshal David Dunbar ended up in charge of the case. In Skidmore, the marshal was an elected official whose main role was enforcing civil court orders, while he technically had the authority to arrest people, Dunbar was more of a politician. He didn't have a law enforcement background

and usually wouldn't have dealt with criminal cases. Dunbar knew he was in over his head from the beginning, but he tried his best. After the shooting, he put out a radio call for every available officer to be on the lookout for Ken as he fled the scene. One of the officers who responded, was Richard Stratton. He was one of the only cops in the area who refused to bow down to Ken McElroy.

So when he got the call from Dunbar, he jumped at the chance to finally nail Ken. Based on past experience, he already knew what Ken's plan would be. First, he would leave the state and lay low for a few weeks. Then he would bribe or intimidate enough people to establish a few years. fake alibi. That meant Stratton had to intercept Ken's pickup truck before it was too late. Stratton turned his car around and headed to a town called Fillmore, about 25 miles away from the scene of the crime and closer to the state line. Sure enough, he spotted Ken in the center of town almost immediately. His wife, 23-year-old Trina, was in the passenger seat of their pickup.

officer stratton wanted to pull ken over right there but his dispatcher told him to wait for backup stratton reluctantly agreed knowing that approaching ken just minutes after he tried to kill a man was probably a bad idea still stratton didn't want ken to get too far he followed as ken let him out of town driving erratically when that didn't work ken pulled off onto a gravel road and sped toward the woods. That was bad for Stratton. The dirt roads near Fillmore were a maze. It would be almost impossible for his backup to meet him before Ken got away. But following Ken into the trees made Stratton a sitting duck for an ambush. He realized that if he wanted to catch Ken, it was now or never. He turned on his siren and forced the pickup to pull over to

the side of the road before they got too deep into the forest. With adrenaline spiking through his blood, Stratton grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun and approached Ken. After a moment, Ken stepped outside of his truck. When Stratton announced that he was under arrest, he played dumb. Trina claimed her husband had been home with her the entire day. But none of their excuses mattered to Stratton. He kept his gun trained on them until backup arrived to handcuff both of them. Even though Trina wasn't accused of shooting anyone, Stratton still considered her dangerous. The arrest went off without a hitch, but the worst was yet to come. Since Trina wasn't involved in the shooting, she was quickly released from the station.

Meanwhile, Ken was hauled into an interrogation room. He refused to discuss the shooting without his lawyer present. Instead, he gave a detailed description of one of the officer's homes. When asked how he knew what the inside of the house looked like, Ken said he'd seen it through the scope of a high-powered rifle. A few minutes later, an anonymous man called Officer Stratton's wife. The caller said, something bad's going to happen to your husband.

He's not going to live until the trial. Then they hung up. Barely an hour after Ken's arrest, his latest harassment campaign had already begun, and Richard Stratton was his newest target. The next day, Ken was released on bond. Given Ken's history, the prosecutor argued that the amount should be

at least $50,000, but the magistrate decided on $30,000 instead. Ken had always shown up for his court dates, so the judge had no reason to believe he was a flight risk. They scheduled his preliminary hearing for August 18, 1980, while Ken and his lawyers prepared for the trial, news of the shooting spread through Skidmore-like wildfire. Over the past few decades, most residents had gotten used to Ken's strongman tactics. Even so, he'd never been bold enough to shoot a man in the face in broad daylight. It didn't seem possible, but somehow his behavior was getting worse, and the town was terrified of what he might do next. Most people stuck to the strategy they'd employed for years. They kept their heads down and did their best to

avoid antagonizing him. That was easier said than done. Immediately after he was released on bond, Ken went into a tavern across the street from the sight of the shooting. He watched as most of the patrons made a beeline for the door. In a loud voice, he asked the people who remained what had happened the day before. He was daring them to speak up, just like everything else. Else, it was all a sick power play. Meanwhile, Bo and Lois Bowen Camp were on high alert. Boe was technically the only witness to the shooting. And if Ken wanted to kill him before, he had even more reason to do so now.

There was nothing Bo's loved ones could do but try to watch him 24-7. Bo's neighbor and wife even took turns sleeping at night, so there was never a moment when Bo wasn't guarded. Another person who stuck their neck out to help was a minister named Tim Warren. After the shooting, he'd visited Bo at the hospital. When Tim left, he got a threatening phone call from Ken, warning him to stay away. He stood his ground, and a few days later, Ken called again, swearing to castrate his son and assault his wife in front of him. All because the minister comforted a man in the hospital.

Harassments became Ken's full-time job. He targeted the minister, the Bowen camps, and Officer Stratton. But he also made time to intimidate the young men who called the paramedics after the shooting and the town marshal, David Dunn. Dunbar. In Dunbar's case, a drunken Ken pointed a gun at him and swore he would kill anyone who helped put him in prison. Even though Dunbar had the authority to arrest him, he couldn't do anything with a firearm two inches from his face. Once Ken finally left him alone, Dunbar called the police and told them what happened. He begged them to throw Ken in jail, at least for the night.

the officers refused. The next day, Dunbar resigned as the Skidmore Marshal. If he couldn't count on law enforcement to back him up, it wasn't worth it. It was yet another win for Ken. The message was clear. No one was safe from his terror campaign. If Ken had his way, there wouldn't be a single person left who was willing to testify against him. And so far, it looked like he was winning. Whether it's with your besties or date night, get to all the hottest concerts with GoTransit. Go connects to all the biggest entertainment venues

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On August 18, 1980, Ken McElroy's preliminary hearing began at the courthouse in Skidmore, Missouri. After directing a month-long harassment campaign against all possible witnesses, the 46-year-old was feeling pretty confident in himself. He knew the Bowen camps were losing steam. He'd started parking next to the family's grocery store in the afternoons. As long as his truck was outside, customers refused to shop there, worried about being caught in crossfire. Although he was losing business, 70-year-old Bo refused to be intimidated. He took the stand and gave his testimony, which wasn't easy with the wounds in his neck. He had to repeat himself in front of the courtroom several times.

because his voice was so hoarse, but by the end of the hearing, he got what he wanted. The judge ordered the case to move forward to trial in three weeks on September 5th, except everyone knew it wasn't going to happen that quickly. Ken's high-powered defense lawyer got the proceedings moved to another jurisdiction and delayed until December. He argued that Ken couldn't get a fair trial anywhere in the surrounding area. All the while, Ken continued to make enemies of nearly everyone he met. On September 13th, he and Trina got involved in a road rage incident that almost ended in violence. After a woman in a passing car flipped them off, Ken deliberately crashed into her, forcing her to pull over.

When the woman's husband stepped outside, Ken shoved a gun in his face. Doing that violated the terms of his bond. He could have even been arrested for it. But for some reason, a judge simply ruled that his $30,000 bond should be replaced with a new $40,000 one. It was a slap on the wrist, and soon things only got worse. Shortly after this, Ken's lawyer got the shooting trial delayed again. this time for February of 1981. That meant another month that the Bowen camps and the Strattons had to deal with Ken's harassment. But by January, Ken was getting more desperate. Bo was still dead set on testifying, so Ken pulled out his trump card, his final legal trick.

Two weeks before the trial, he shelled out for a new lawyer, named Richard Webster, who also happened to be a state senator. There was a unique exception that allowed a legislator to delay a trial if it took place while the state assembly was in session, which is exactly what Ken was counting on. The judge knew what Ken was doing, but there was no way he could stop it. The trial had to be pushed back yet again to June 25th, 1981, almost a year after the shooting.

Usually, these kind of cases went to court within two months at most. That bought Ken more time, but as long as Bo-Bohencamp was alive, he was still doomed to lose his case. He was getting desperate enough to do anything to kill the old man. But ideally, he wanted the whole thing to look like an accident. One night, he even tried to buy some venomous copper. had snakes from an acquaintance, saying he was going to toss them into Bo's car when he wasn't looking. He never followed through with that particular plan, but this stress was clearly getting to Ken. As the months wore on, he became erratic. He knew the entire town was gossiping

about him behind his back. Boe-Bohencamp, Officer Stratton, and even the minister, Tim Warren, had started carrying guns with them wherever they went. Dangerous. Paranoia took root in Ken's mind. He regularly confronted his friends and family, accusing them of plotting against him and starting vicious rumors. No one was safe, and it was just a matter of time until Ken blew up again. By May, the entire town of Skidmore operated as if there was a legal curfew. Parents stopped allowing their kids out after 4 o'clock in the afternoon,

and the local bar started closing early at 6 p.m. Thankfully, there was no more violence ahead of the trial, and while Ken seemed more unstable than ever, regularly going on three-day drinking binges and vowing to kill Bo in public, the star witness was still alive. Ken had no choice but to sit and listen as Bo took the stand on June 25th

and told the court about the shooting. When it was his turn to talk, Ken claimed that Bo had attacked him with a knife that evening. He said he'd only intended to fire a warning shot at the 70-year-old. The fact that four pellets struck him in the neck was a total accident. The jury didn't buy it. After deliberating for a short time, they convicted Ken McElroy of second-degree assault and sentenced him to two years in jail. The penalty was relatively light considering what happened,

but the prosecution considered it a major victory, and Ken was furious. Still, his lawyers assured him there were other options. At the time, the Missouri state law allowed convicted criminals 25 days to file an appeal. During that period, the defendant could be let out on bail, free to go where he pleased. That meant 47-year-old Ken McElroy was allowed right back on the streets of Skidmore. It was the worst-case scenario. Many residents thought it would have been better to drop the charges than sentence him to a measly two years in prison,

and they worried Ken would serve his time and then come back more ruthless than ever. Groups of terrified families assembled in secret. Some plotted to hire a hitman to take Ken out. Others circulated a petition to ban him from ever-setting foot in town. Scores of people rushed to sign it. For his part, Ken was just as scared as everyone else. Though he talked tough in front of other people, he privately told Trina that he expected to be killed soon.

He worried that a bitter cop or a vivid. Vigilante farmer would shoot him one night on the side of the road. Over the past few months, he'd gained weight and lost some of his energy. He had enemies everywhere. Even if he somehow got off this time, his luck would run out eventually. His own actions had backed him into a corner. Things had already reached fever pitch. After three decades, Ken seemed like he was skisking.

getting tired of constantly fighting. But he couldn't afford to show any of that in public. So instead, he did what he'd always done. He escalated the situation. Four days after his conviction on June 30th, 1981, the 47-year-old showed up at a Skidmore tavern determined to make a scene. Ken made a show of bringing a World War II era rifle into the bar with a bayonet attached. As the patrons around him watched, he loaded the rifle with a full clip, cocked it, and waved it around.

He pointed the gun directly at several bystanders and graphically described how he was going to saw Bo Bowen Camp in half with the bayonet. one customer, an older veteran, had enough of the threats. He left the bar and went home to arm himself with his own rifle. Then he drove over to an intersection near the Bowen Camp's house and stood watch on the corner weapon in hand. He told people passing by that he was going to blow Ken McElroy away if he dared to head that direction. Ken left the bar that night and went home without following through on his threats.

It wasn't the first time he turned out to be all talk, but the veteran's actions inspired the rest of the town. It seemed like Ken McElroy might be losing his touch. Slowly, but surely people were becoming less afraid of him. Ken could feel his power slipping, and it was only a matter of time before it all came crumbling down. At Desjardin, our business is helping yours. We are here to support your business through every stage of growth, from your first pitch to your first acquisition. Whether it's improving cash flow or exploring investment banking solutions, with Desjardin business, it's all under one roof. So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us.

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Hey, it's Carter. you are enjoying murder true crime stories, there's a new crime house show for you to check out. It's called The Final Hours, and it's hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Sarah is an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose sister disappeared in 2001. And Courtney is a true crime storyteller and investigator who witnessed firsthand how crime can change a family forever. Together, they bring lived experience to every case, looking not only at a crime. what happened but what led up to it. Each episode examines the moments just before a person disappears, the routines, the timelines, and the small details that often get overlooked, because every

disappearance has a moment where everything still feels normal. A text that doesn't raise concern, a routine that goes unchanged, a door that closes just like it always has, until it doesn't. The final hours puts those moments under a microscope, because when it comes to justice, there's no such thing as over-analysis. Listen to and follow the final hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen. New episodes every Monday. By July, 1981, 47-year-old Ken McElroy could see the writing on the wall. After decades of terrorizing southern Missouri, committing crimes with impunity, he was finally facing jail time for shooting an elderly man named Boe-Bohencamp.

His usual tactics of witness intimidation and tough talk were failing him, and he had just ten days left to appeal his case before he was hauled off to prison. Ken had never been locked up before, and he was genuinely. genuinely afraid of the prospect. And that was one reason why he'd fought so hard over the years to avoid every single conviction, even the minor ones. In private, he asked friends for advice on surviving in prison. But serving time wasn't the only thing that worried him.

His conviction for felony assault shattered the invincible image he'd spent his life cultivating. Over the years, the people of suicide. Skidmore had watched him beat more than 30 felony charges. That record alone discouraged witnesses from testifying against him. It seemed like Ken couldn't be convicted. The system was simply not capable of dealing with him. Now that mystique was crumbling.

Big bad Ken McElroy didn't seem so invincible anymore. And that said, Ken hadn't totally given up yet. With no other options left on the table, he turned to his expensive lawyers for help. Officially, he was a free man until July 10th. But as always, his attorney had an idea to stretch that out a little bit longer. Just before the appeal hearing was set to begin,

the lawyer told the court he had a conflict and requested a, a 10-day delay. It was a tough sell since the judge knew tension was rising between Ken and the rest of Skidmore. In the end, the court agreed to delay as long as Ken didn't enter Skidmore during that time. His farmhouse was about three miles north of the town. If he needed groceries, he'd have to drive a little bit further to a place called Maryville. So just before the finish line, Ken squeaked by with another 10 days of freedom. July 10th, 1981, was supposed to be the day he was finally hauled off to prison. That Friday morning, people learned about the latest delay at a cafe in Skidmore.

The decision outraged them. People complained that lawyers and judges were never going to help them. For some, this was the final straw. Eventually, about 60 men got together and discussed plans to deal with Ken McElroy once and for all. They marched down to a community center to hash things out. Their original goal was to set up regular patrols around town, kind of like a neighborhood watch to protect the people who could act as witnesses against Ken. Eventually, though, they settled on something more drastic.

After about an hour of discussion, they decided to call the sheriff to fill him in on their plans. He urged the group to be careful, but before he left, he was sure to mention that if Ken ever drew a gun on them, they had a legal right to defend themselves. That was important information. But time was running out to act. If the police had heard about the gathering, it wouldn't be long until Ken did too. Sure enough, at around 9.30 a.m., Ken's sister told him what was going on. His wife, Trina, begged him to leave it alone, but Ken never let anyone insult him without fighting back.

He told Trina to get in the truck. They were going to Skidmore, whether the judge wanted him to or not. The meeting at the community center was still going on by the time the duo arrived. They pulled into the parking lot of a local pool hall at around 10 a.m. and went in to have a drink. Someone saw them and ran over to tell the men at the community center. It was like Ken was daring the group to find. follow through on their plans. And whatever they decided to do, they were in it alone.

At some point after talking to the group, the sheriff drove clear out of town. And shortly after Ken and Trina arrived at the pool hall, between 30 and 45 men marched down there. A few others opted to wait outside the tavern with their guns ready in case something went down. Many were convinced things would end in a shootout. They had no idea that for the first time in his life, Ken had arrived in town unarmed. Maybe he came by that day just to show face to prove he wasn't scared. Or maybe he had already given up. Soon after Ken and Trina sat down at the bar, the men started showing up two or three at a time. The bartender was confused to find the place

packed before noon on Friday. Ken seemed unbothered by the swarm of people and even made small talk with a man who sat next to him. But once he and Trina finished their drinks, they tried to rush out. When they reached the door, a few men shouted at Ken, warning him not to come back into town. Ken acted like he didn't hear them and walked outside to the parking lot. After a moment, a few of the men followed, determined to keep him under surveillance until he officially left Skidmore. Pretty soon, the entire group was outside. Trina felt uneasy as she climbed into the back seat of the truck.

Through the rearview mirror, she noticed. the armed men who were waiting on the sidewalk, separate from the main crowd. She pointed them out to Ken in the driver's seat. For a moment, he just sat there without saying word. Then the first shot rang out. A bullet shattered the pickup's rear window and went straight through Ken's cheek. A second shot found its mark right after. Blood gushed from Ken's head and soaked the truck's interior.

Trina screamed and opened the door and ran outside, wailing at the top of her lungs. One of the older men scooped her up and rushed her out of the fray as several more shots rang out. Then all of a sudden, the chaos died down. An uncertain silence settled over the parking lot as gun smoke drifted along. Inside the tavern, the bartender and the last remaining customers froze, not daring to make a sound. A few quiet minutes passed before they got word that the shootout was over. Ken McElroy was dead. One of the men took Trina into a nearby bank building.

She screamed for the next ten minutes, refusing to move or clean. herself up until finally someone called one of Ken's brothers to help. He was able to coax her outside. At that point, all he knew was that Ken had been shot. He tried to get Trina to check on her husband, but she was adamant that Ken was dead. There was no point in going back to the grizzly scene. Her brother-in-law was heartbroken, but just like everyone else, he knew Ken had enemies. He accepted, He accepted Trina's story without a fight and took her back to the farmhouse. Meanwhile, the pickup was still in the parking lot, with Ken's body slumped over the steering wheel. Back on the street, every single one of the witnesses had left.

Rumors spread that the culprits had gone to a property outside of town, smashed the murder weapons, and used a blowtorch or woodburning stone. to melt them down. Whatever the case, no one reported the shooting, even though the entire block heard the commotion. It wasn't until 11 a.m., about 45 minutes later, that Ken's lawyer finally called the police. He heard secondhand that his client was shot and wanted to know what was going on. At first, the officers didn't believe him. but when they got to the parking lot at around 1120,

they found Ken's pickup full of holes. It looked like at least eight shots were fired from several different guns, but only two of them hit Ken. Ken's lawyer called Farmhouse and got in touch with Trina, worried that she might be targeted next. They told her to go to the state police headquarters located about an hour away. When she arrived, Trina gave her official statement, identifying one of the shooters as a man named Del Clement. But he wasn't the only one who seemed to have been involved.

Only minutes before Ken was murdered, the sheriff had advised a group of men on how to deal with him. And everyone knew the local prosecutor had been threatened many times by Ken in the past. there were too many conflicts of interest. Even if the police investigated the shooting by the books, no one would accept the result. So the local authorities handed the case over to the Northwest Missouri investigative squad, a task force that was established to deal with unusual crimes. They had an impossible job,

and it wasn't long before their investigation hit, a dead end. No one in town was willing to talk to them. Full stop. Not everyone agreed that Ken should have been murdered, but the people of Skidmore were unanimously against prosecuting his killers. It was an unprecedented situation. Between 30 and 45 people had directly witnessed the shooting, but each and every one of them told the police that they had no idea who was responsible. Either they hadn't seen who fired the fatal shots or they couldn't remember anything about the incident at all. Without a murder weapon or even shell casings, there was no way to continue the investigation. The authorities stopped asking questions after just five.

days. The only people who wanted to find the killers were Trina and the rest of Ken's family. They publicly criticized the police for failing to arrest Del Clement, the man Trina accused of firing the first shot at Ken. Their statements attracted nationwide attention, with reporters from all over flocking to Skidmore to follow the story. Practically overnight, Ken's death became a legendary exeastern. example of vigilante justice. But no matter how much they complained, no other witnesses came forward to speak to the police.

With Ken finally gone, most people just wanted to move on and forget any of it had ever happened. After all, Ken had spent nearly 30 years treating people like dirt. He used violence, harassed, harassment and legal loopholes to his advantage. Maybe if someone had stood up to him sooner, he never would have been murdered. But they didn't.

People stood by and kept their heads down, hoping someone else would take care of the problem. No one acted until the situation became desperate. And by that point, drastic action seemed like the only choice. When the dust finally settled, Skidmore was undoubtedly safer without Ken around, and there weren't many who grieved his death. As for his victims, they moved on in their own ways. Ken's former wives, Sharon, Alice, and Trina kept in contact for a few years after his death, but eventually they cut ties with each other.

Trina and Alice ended up remarrying and settling outside of Skidmore. Since then, the legend of Ken McElroy has lived on, several documentaries, and a book called In Broad Daylight by Harry MacLean, have immortalized the story of his life and death. Today, 25 years later, we still don't know who really shot Ken McElroy, but the facts are clear. He was a violent man who pushed people until they were. had no choice but to respond. At a certain point, even he must have known he'd gone too far,

but it was too late by then. Ken had already sown the seeds of his own destruction. I'm Carter Roy, and this is murder, true crime stories. Come back next time for the story of a new murder and all the people it affected. Thanks again to Tyler Allen for joining me. Stay tuned, Tyler and I are going to discuss the case a little bit more in-depth and get into his connection to it all.

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We'll be back on Friday. Murder True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy, and is a crime house original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team, Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Bellow, Alex Benadon, Natalie Pritzowski, Lori Maranelli, Sarah Camp, Terrell Wells, Honeya A Said, and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. Thanks again for listening to today's episode.

As promised, Tyler and I are going to discuss the case a little bit more in-depth and get into his connection to it all. So, yeah, when you first heard the story and like when you get to the part where Ken McRoy is killed, what were your sort of emotional reactions out, just like as a person? hearing the story. The lead up to it, you know, the meeting at the Legion, you know, everybody hanging out on the street, in the D&G, you knew something really bad was going to happen. Yeah. Ken, don't forget, he also went into the D&G with an M1 with a bayonet attached to it. You knew what was going to happen.

What are your feelings on whether justice was served or not? The unfortunate part was that he got out on bail. It was the kind of thing that could happen in 1980. Yeah, yeah, yeah, although it almost feels like a little more old west, even than 1980, there is a certain like, well, we're just going to have to take care of our own problems here, the big systems, you know, not taking care of us. No, and like you said, it's so crazy to me that the number of opportunities the system had to deal with him. Oh, yeah. That long ago, this could have not been a problem for the town to have to deal with. And then you looked at a population of, you know, at that time, I think it was, was a four.

400 that was the population in 81. And you look at the tragedies that followed it. Just the insane. Like the poor girl who had her baby cut out of her stomach. And then you had the boy that were missing. He went out to put jumper cables in a shed and just disappeared. That, that total. And yeah, with that small a town and that amount of violence, very, like,

you realize like, oh, Everybody would be affected. There's nobody who's walking around Skidmore who doesn't know what's going on. Oh, yeah. Either, like, directly affected your family or your neighbors. You're going to hear about it. And to think that, right, exactly, business are closing. They're basically, it's like, we're afraid to function as a town because of this one guy.

It's just insane. And the approach that we took on our episode is we not only told the story, but we also told Harry's story, the writer who did in broad daylight. And he actually had to go and live there. And he lived with a family, worked on their farm, and to earn the trust of the people. The other documentary, no one saw a thing, that AMC one that's out right now, the interviewer writer who went into town. And she experienced the exact same thing Harry did. He went into Mom's Cafe, which was the little cafe in town, and sat for two hours waiting to be served. He wanted a coffee.

And he literally walked in the door. The place went dead silent. He sat there for two hours. They didn't serve him. And then he just left. And he said the moment the door shut, all the talking started again. You know, that town, they were so tired of the media attention. And they did not want, you know, everyone's afraid to talk.

Yeah. Well, I was going to say, you know, right, you've got the witnesses themselves and everyone connected just knowing, like, we're keeping ourselves saves now post the event of it by. not talking. We have to still protect ourselves from here, which is this crazy now yet insulation of silence and to think that that many witnesses say nothing. Oh, yeah. And Trina flat out said, she pointed the finger at Del Clement. And she said, I saw him, I saw him shoot a gun. People have been convicted for that much evidence by somebody saying, I saw this person shoot. And it never happened. Yeah. I mean, like you say, if you have a first person account of like this person shot,

I saw, that's usually enough. But in this case, if you got enough, other people being like, nope, didn't see it, don't know to contradict it. Yeah, it shuts it down. And they did their best to try. I mean, they got a grand jury involved in this. And the prosecutor said it was the only time he was ever before a grand jury was the Ken Rex McElroy case. And, you know, it was it was a But it was interesting how they said when you were looking at the truck, did you look to you? See, it was to your right. And then it was, did you look to your left? And everybody said, no, I did not look to the left.

Because obviously that must have been where the shooter was. And no, I didn't. I didn't. And you see interviews with the townspeople. It was like, oh, I was in my garden. I didn't. I was doing some gardening. I wasn't interested in what was going on.

But meanwhile, they said it could have been 100 people at the Legion for that meeting. Totally. And I find an amazing given human nature to talk, to tell stories, to want to tell your secrets, to confess. For that many people to stay silent that long, it's kind of amazing to me because like the bond of that community be like, no, it got this bad, where no one's like, oh, I don't know, was it that bad? Should we have done that? It's so clear that they're like, absolutely. Oh, yeah. And one person was going to testify and then next day brought it a lawyer. and recanted what he said. So it is, it is so fascinating because, you know, I don't even want to tell like my kids if I'm getting something for my wife for Christmas, you know, because, you know, whatever, you just, you keep this, you're like, I will keep it, you know, I got to keep it quiet because, you know, the kids are just going to blab. And just to think that even in my own house, you know, or something silly like that, and this is an entire town and we're talking about a murder.

And you know, there's got to be conversations, not only not to investigators, but conversations outside, like word spreads. And you think of all the crimes that unravel and people get caught for precisely this reason. Only two or three people are trying to keep it quiet and somebody can't help but talk about something and it spreads. Absolutely. And here, I'm like, wow, these people had it with this guy. I mean, like, that's an unusual behavior.

Yeah. I mean, like I said, it was a crime that could have only happened in 1980. It would not happen now because, you know, somebody would have a cell phone out. there would be security footage from a camera somewhere. Yeah. Well, and I'll always be curious. Obviously, I don't think we'll ever know in terms of the crowd. Like, I know that, you know, the sheriff had, or somebody had sort of told them, like, if he fires first or brings a gun, you know, then you'll be able to claim self-defense.

And he didn't in that moment. But then it's, so it's interesting to be like, oh, I wonder if everybody was in on what happened or if a couple people were like, you know what, I'm not waiting for him to grab a gun. But then everyone was like, okay, yeah, once it's done, we're keeping the coat of silence. Yeah, yeah. I mean, well, everybody had them in their trucks back then. So I think I did read that somewhere. It was pretty common. I mean, we're in Canada.

That's not common here. Yeah, it's common here. Well, thank you, Tyler, so much for joining us. This case is totally fascinating. And for those listening, if you want more Tyler's work, check out Minds of Madness, fantastic podcast. and dives deep into complex true crime cases just like this one. And you can follow it wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi, it's Carter. If you love murder, true crime stories, check out the new Crime House original about disappearances. The Final Hours, hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Listen and follow The Final Hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday.