Ken McElroy

Ken Rex McElroy (June 1, 1934 – July 10, 1981) was an American criminal and convicted attempted murderer who resided in Skidmore, Missouri, United States.

He was known as "the town bully", and his unsolved killing became the focus of international attention.

Over the course of his life, McElroy was accused of dozens of felonies, including assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, animal cruelty, hog and cattle rustling, and burglary.

In all, he was indicted 21 times but escaped conviction each time, except for the last.

McElroy was born in 1934, the 15th of 16 children born to a poor, migrant tenant-farming couple named Tony and Mabel (née Lister) McElroy, who had moved between Kansas and the Ozarks before settling outside of Skidmore.

He dropped out of school at age 15 in the eighth grade and quickly established a local reputation as a cattle rustler, small-time thief, and womanizer.

For more than two decades, McElroy was suspected of being involved in theft of grain, gasoline, alcohol, antiques, and livestock, but he avoided conviction when charges were brought against him 21 times — often after witnesses refused to testify because he allegedly intimidated them, frequently by following his targets or parking outside their homes and watching them.

He was represented by defense attorney Richard Gene McFadin of Gallatin, Missouri.

McElroy fathered more than 10 children with different women.

He met his last wife, Trena McCloud (1957–2012), when she was 12 years old and in eighth grade and he was 35.

He raped McCloud repeatedly.

McCloud's parents initially opposed the relationship, but after McElroy burned their house down and shot the family dog, they begrudgingly agreed to the marriage.

She became pregnant when she was fourteen, dropped out of school in the ninth grade, and went to live with McElroy and his second wife Alice.

McElroy divorced Alice and married Trena in order to escape charges of statutory rape, to which she was the only witness.

Sixteen days after Trena gave birth, she and Alice fled to Trena's parents' house.

According to court records, McElroy tracked them down and brought them back.

When Trena's parents were away, McElroy went to their home, where once again he burned the house down and shot the McClouds' new dog.

Based on Trena's story, McElroy was indicted in June 1973 for arson, assault, and statutory rape.

He was arrested, booked, arraigned, and released on $2,500 bail.

Trena and her baby were placed in foster care at a home in Maryville, Missouri.

McElroy sat outside the foster home for hours at a time staring at it.

He told the foster family that he would trade "girl for girl" to get his child back, since he knew where the foster family's biological daughter went to school and what bus route she rode.

Additional charges were filed against McElroy.

On July 27, 1976, Skidmore farmer Romaine Henry said McElroy shot him twice with a shotgun after Henry challenged him for shooting weapons on Henry's property.

McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill.

McElroy denied he was at the scene.

As the case dragged on without a court date, Henry said McElroy had parked outside his home at least 100 times.

At the trial, two raccoon hunters testified they were with McElroy the day of the shooting away from Henry's property.

Henry was forced to admit in court, under questioning by McElroy's attorney Richard Gene McFadin, that he had concealed his own petty criminal conviction from more than 30 years previous.

McElroy was acquitted.

In 1980, one of McElroy's children got into an argument with a clerk, Evelyn Sumy, in a local grocery store owned by 70-year-old Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp and his wife Lois, allegedly because the young McElroy child tried to steal some candy.

McElroy began stalking the Bowenkamp family, and eventually threatened Bo Bowenkamp in the back of his store with a shotgun in hand.

In the ensuing confrontation, McElroy shot Bowenkamp in the neck; Bowenkamp survived, and McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

McElroy was convicted at trial of assault, but freed on bail pending his appeal.

In 1981, McElroy was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of the town's 70-year-old grocer Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp.

McElroy successfully appealed the conviction and was released on bond, after which he engaged in an ongoing harassment campaign against Bowenkamp and others who were sympathetic to Bowenkamp, including the town's Church of Christ minister.

He appeared in a local bar, the D&G Tavern, armed with an M1 Garand rifle and bayonet, and later threatened to kill Bowenkamp.

The 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.

He was struck by bullets from at least two different firearms, in front of a crowd of people estimated as numbering between 30 and 46.

To date, no one has been charged in connection with McElroy's death.