July 10, 1981, Skidmore, Missouri. Ken Rex McElroy climbs into the cab of his pickup with wife Trena after leaving the D & G Tavern. He starts the truck, and pauses to light a cigarette. Shots ring out from behind and in front of the truck, shattering glass while approximately sixty people watched. When it was over, shell casings were collected, Ken Rex was dead, and everyone walked away without saying a word. This is a tale of bullies, theft, lies, big-city attorneys and small town vigilantes. This is the murder of Ken Rex McElroy. He Needed Killin’. Thank God he’s dead.
LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE ON YOUR FAVORITE DEVICE:
APPLE PODCASTS | STITCHER | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE PODCASTS | iHeartRADIO | PANDORA | ALL OTHER PLAYERS
Where we got our info, so that you, too, can travel down a rabbit hole:
Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy
PATCH . COM | https://patch.com/us/across-america/who-killed-ken-rex-mcelroy-town-keeps-its-secret-38-years
New York Times | https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/us/16bully.html
Kansas City Star | https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article233273925.html
Sundance Channel | https://www.sundancenow.com/series/watch/no-one-saw-a-thing/12b6da84563a7f13?season=1
Books mentioned in the podcast
In Broad Daylight: A murder in Skidmore, Missouri
Description from Amazon:
Ken Rex McElroy was an illiterate hog farmer who lived on the outskirts of a small town in Northwest Missouri. For over twenty years he raped, robbed and burned almost at will. Cops were scared to arrest him, prosecutors were scared to prosecute him, judges were scared to judge him, and juries were scared to convict him. Over the years, Skidmore and many other small communities became convinced that the law was incapable of protecting them from McElroy. They watched in awe as he walked away from one crime after another. Ken McElroy was shot to death on the main street of Skidmore in July 1981, in front of 45 witnesses. Despite three grand juries, no one has been indicted for the killing.