Carter Roy (31:45)
By July 1981, 47 year old Ken Matthew 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 Bo Bowenkamp. His usual tactics of witness intimidation and tough talk were failing him, and he had just 10 days left to appeal his case before he was hauled off to prison. Ken had never been locked up before, and he was genuinely afraid of the prospect. 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 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. 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 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 10, 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 9:30am 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 10am 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 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. 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 the man who sat next to him. But once he and Trena 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 a 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 Trena into a nearby bank building. She screamed for the next 10 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 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 wood burning stove to melt them down. Whatever the case, no one reported the shooting even though the entire block heard the commotion. It wasn't until 11am about 45 minutes later. 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 11:20, 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, Trena 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 Mission 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 Trena and the rest of Ken's family. They publicly criticized the police for failing to arrest Dale Clement, the man Trena 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 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, 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 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 sewn the 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. Tuned. Tyler and I are going to discuss the case a little bit more in depth and get into his connection to it all. True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Page Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free. We'll be back on Friday. 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 Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertofsky, Laurie Marinelli, Sara Camp, Tara Wells, Hania 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 Kevin McElroy is killed, what were your sort of emotional reactions to that? Just like as a person hearing the
