The Man Who Pushed a Town Too Far | The Story of Ken McElroy
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Ken Rex McElroy hefted the shotgun in his hands, leveling it at the older man's head. The two men were alone behind a small grocery store in the town of Skidmore, Missouri. The date, July 8th, 1980. The store belonged to 70-year-old Ernst Boe Boenkamp, and it wasn't the first time he'd had a run-in with a heavyset man now pointing a deadly weapon at him.

The shotgun-wielding McElroy was over six feet tall and weighed around 270 pounds. His black hair, long sideburns, and black bushy eyebrows adorned a flabby, bulldog face. His blue eyes were cold as they stared at Boenkamp. They were always cold. The confrontation had been brewing ever since April of that year, when a misunderstanding set the short-fused Ken Rex McElroy on his most recent intimidation rampage.

One of McElroy's many offspring was in the small town's grocery store when a clerk asked Trina, McElroy's wife, to ensure the candy the little girl was holding got paid for. Trina took the request as an accusation, telling her husband that the little girl had been accused of shoplifting. It was enough to set McElroy off. Misunderstanding or not, McElroy wouldn't see reason.

When the Boenkamps closed the store that night, he was sitting outside waiting for them. When they refused to engage, he changed tactics. For the next several months, McElroy intimidated the Boenkamp family, something he had plenty of practice doing.

He would park outside their home at night, even going so far as to fire a shotgun into a tree near their home. According to witnesses, his wife Trina would often join him on these little intimidation outings. It all came to a head when McElroy approached 70-year-old Boenkamp as he waited for an AC repairman on the store's back dock. McElroy fired the gun, shooting Boenkamp in the neck.

Boenkamp, by some miracle, survived the wound. McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder. But as the old grocer and his family watched in horror, it seemed as if the justice system in the town of Skidmore would crumble under McElroy's tried and true tactics, and not for the first time. Ken Rex McElroy had escaped justice more times than any judges or police in the town cared to admit.

It seemed he was untouchable, but in the end, he was anything but. This is the story of Ken Rex McElroy's reign of terror over the citizens of a small town in Missouri, a reign that involved an astonishing 21 indictments, including charges of attempted murder, statutory rape, arson, child molestation, burglary, assault, and theft.

In the modern era, there are few true crime stories that are as unique as this. It's a study into what happens when the levers of justice fail an entire community and how far people will go to protect their neighbors when they've taken all they can stand. Part one, Born to be Wild. Ken Rex McElroy was one of 16 children born to poor sharecroppers. His family moved to Skidmore when he was a child.

To say that Skidmore was a small town would be an understatement. In 1981, the population was right around 450 people. It was more of a village than a town, and this could go a long way to explaining why McElroy was able to do what he did for so many years. Essentially, he was a big fish in a small pond. And it all started in childhood.

By the time he dropped out of school at age 15, he was already a well-known bully. He'd been held back in school, often making him the biggest kid in his class. Some Skidmore residents estimate that he was barely literate, even in adulthood. But if he wasn't book smart, he certainly was street smart. He seemed to have an instinct for getting people to do what he wanted.

whether through manipulation or sheer intimidation. When he dropped out of school, he was said to have started his life of crime. He turned to burglary and livestock rustling to make money. Over the years, he was accused of stealing alcohol, grain, gasoline, and antiques. But he learned early that a good lawyer and some well-timed threats would go far in getting him off the charges.

He hired attorney Richard McFadden and would often brag about how his mob lawyer would keep him out of jail indefinitely. Sure enough, it seemed to work. Charges seemed to disappear as prosecutors struggled to find anyone willing to testify against McElroy. Those who said they would testify got cold feet or changed their story when the time came, partly because McFadden was good at getting the trials pushed back

allowing McElroy time to locate and intimidate the witnesses against him. Despite numerous charges early in his adult life, McElroy remained free to continue his heinous lifestyle. He was a notorious womanizer and fathered 10 children with various women. At least one mother of his children was a child herself when he started having sex with her. Trina McLeod was 12 when Ken Rex McElroy took an interest in her.

Reportedly, he was dating the girl's mother before he turned his sights on the child. Shortly after he took an interest in her, he allegedly followed her school bus one day, honking and driving erratically until the bus pulled over and let the young girl off. Over 20 years her senior, McElroy allegedly raped her many times before she became pregnant at the age of 14. He brought Trina to live with him

against the wishes of her mother. Shortly after she gave birth to the pair's first child, she returned home to her mother's house with the baby, tired of enduring McElroy's abuse. Ken wasn't having it. He showed up and dragged the girl and the baby back to his home. He then returned to the house while Trina's mother was away and proceeded to shoot the dog and burn the house down. To avoid charges of statutory rape,

McElroy coerced permission to marry the girl from her mother, threatening to burn down her new house if she didn't agree to the marriage. With no doubt that the man would make good on his threat, she agreed. Shortly thereafter, Trina McLeod became Trina McElroy. McElroy was actually married to another woman at the time, and he divorced her so he could marry the teenager. As his wife, Trina couldn't be forced to testify against him.

His previous wife, Alice, still lived with them in the house. Both Alice and Trina would later defend McElroy, saying that he treated them well. In fact, Trina would say in an interview that her mother's house wasn't burned down by McElroy. She attributed it to faulty wiring. Trina would become an important part of Ken's alibis, claiming he was with her when the authorities came around to accuse him of some crime.

an occurrence that happened three or four times a year during his adult life. Despite what his wives have said about him, the man's actions speak for themselves. It seems that everyone in town knew he was trouble, everyone but his wives and children. And as time went on, things only got worse for anyone who dared stand up to Ken McElroy. Part Two: Escaping Justice

For a small farming community in Missouri, guns were a normal sight around town. Farmers used them to shoot varmints and predators, often keeping their rifles on racks in their trucks. But even Ken McElroy used his guns to intimidate and threaten people around town. And before he ever shot Beau Boenkamp behind the grocery store, he used a gun on another man during a confrontation.

In July 1976, McElroy was allegedly hunting on Romaine Henry's land. The farmer told McElroy to get off his property. Apparently seeing the whole of Skidmore as his own personal playground, McElroy refused. But he didn't just continue trespassing. He shot Henry in the stomach twice. Henry lived and McElroy was charged with attempted murder. But his slick lawyer managed to get the trial delayed.

giving McElroy time to work his magic. By the time the trial date came around, the attacker had managed to produce two witnesses who testified that McElroy was hunting with them at the time of the shooting. The jury found him not guilty. This was nothing new for the man. Over the course of his life, McElroy was indicted over 20 times, but he was only ever found guilty once.

thanks in part to his lawyer's legal maneuvering and in part to McElroy's brazen intimidation tactics. He would sit outside witnesses' homes for hours on end, making sure they saw him out there. Sometimes he would fire a gun into the air in the middle of the night to make a point. He wasn't above threatening these people's children either.

Sometimes he was even less subtle, confronting witnesses or jurors and telling them what he would do to them if they didn't back down. Some even said that McElroy would put a live rattlesnake into the mailbox of anyone who stood against him. It's not hard to see why people often changed their stories when it came to Ken Rex McElroy. And the police weren't immune to these tactics either. The man made it clear that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot a cop.

and given his track record of following through on his threats, the police believed him. One police officer even quit after confronting McElroy and being threatened. As a result, those who were tasked with upholding the law and order in Skidmore were reluctant to arrest McElroy or dig deeply into any accusations against him. For nearly two decades, the people of Skidmore were essentially held hostage by McElroy's larger-than-life cruelty.

When he showed up at the local watering hole, the D&G Tavern, any customers in the place would leave. Del Clement, who owned the tavern with his brother, had never liked McElroy, but he had a special hate for him because he drove off the tavern's customers every time he showed up. McElroy was clever when it came to keeping tabs on the townspeople. He would pay local children to keep him informed as to what the adults were up to.

And although he didn't come into town every day, those days he did come in were stressful for anyone around him. In this way, McElroy managed to escape justice for many years. His reputation was well known all around the small town. And as they often do, stories about him got bigger and bigger. They only added to the persona he'd cultivated for himself. So by the time 1980 rolled around,

and McElroy shot Beau Bowenkamp in the neck behind the man's grocery store, the town was truly sick of putting up with him. But they didn't know what to do about it. Following McElroy's arrest after the shooting, it seemed as if the same old story would play out again. But things took a turn when McElroy finally pushed the town too far. Part Three: The Breaking Point While fleeing the county after shooting Bowenkamp in the neck,

Ken McElroy was arrested by a highway patrol corporal. The townspeople hoped that they'd finally have the man dead to rights, but they'd also seen him skate on similar charges too many times before. And when McElroy got McFadden, his lawyer, involved, it seemed the same old story was going to play out again. McFadden asked the courts for a change of venue, and he got it. All of a sudden, the legal battle would be held in a neighboring county.

one where the people didn't know of McElroy's reputation. On top of this, the lawyer crafted a defense that would shift the blame away from his client and onto the elderly store owner. McElroy would contend that he was only defending himself behind the grocery store that day when Boenkamp came at him with a knife. While the lawyer was working on behalf of his client, McElroy was up to his old tricks. He started his intimidation tactics,

trying to get the Boenkamps to relent. But they wouldn't back down. Not this time. They'd had enough. The Boenkamps and their supporters dealt with the harassment for five months as the trial approached. During this time, the old prosecutor stepped down and a young new prosecutor came to take his place. Only three years out of law school, this new prosecutor actually managed to secure a conviction.

But as always with McElroy, there was a catch. In order to ensure the conviction at trial, the prosecutor lessened the charges from attempt to kill down to knowingly caused serious physical injury. On June 25th, 1981, the jury found him guilty. McElroy was sentenced to prison for the first time in his life. Unfortunately, the sentence was only for two years.

But before McElroy ever set foot in prison, his lawyer appealed the ruling and got his client out on a $40,000 bond. Once again, McElroy was a free man. Such a low bond was a direct result of the prosecutor's choice to lower the charges to get a conviction. It was a tough situation for those trying to enforce the law in Skidmore, but it was an even tougher situation for the terrorized civilians in the town.

And it was clear McElroy wasn't going to leave the small town alone. In fact, one of the first things he did was head back into town. He showed up at the tavern with a rifle and attached bayonet. He was heard talking about how he was going to finish Bo Boenkamp off. Of course, everyone knew it violated his bail provision to be armed. So three brave souls contacted the prosecutor who revoked McElroy's bail.

But the man's lawyer got the bail revocation hearing delayed. While he was waiting for the hearing, McElroy figured out what three people would testify to seeing him with a gun in the tavern that day. But the townspeople saw this coming. So 40 or 50 residents had banded together to protect these souls. Their plan was to escort the three people to the courthouse to make sure McElroy couldn't get to them.

Then, the night before the hearing, the town got news that was too much to handle. The lawyer had gotten yet another extension on the hearing. It wasn't for another two weeks. After news of the two-week extension, the people of Skidmore were at a loss for what to do. There was a town meeting on July 10th, 1981, at the American Legion Hall. The whole reason for the meeting was to figure out what to do about McElroy.

Both the mayor and the sheriff attended, along with around 60 other residents. While details of what was said at the meeting are sparse, it seems that the sheriff suggested residents form a neighborhood watch. This was, to say the least, not what the people of Skidmore wanted to hear. They wanted McElroy gone.

preferably behind bars. They had given the system many chances to lock up the career criminal and bully, but it had failed them time and again. They didn't need a neighborhood watch. They needed an actual solution. And as it turned out, they would get it sooner than they thought. While the meeting was still in session, someone reported spotting McElroy and his wife Trina across the street at the D&G Tavern. The sheriff had just left the meeting

likely passing the couple on the road as they came into town. With this news, the attendees poured out of the American Legion Hall and headed down toward the tavern. Most of the townspeople waited outside around McElroy's truck. A few of them went into the tavern to keep an eye on the man while he finished his drinks. When the couple finally came out of the tavern, the crowd allowed them to get into the truck, Ken in the driver's seat, and his young wife in the passenger seat.

McElroy didn't say a word to the people as he walked to his truck. As he sat behind the steering wheel on that July morning, Ken McElroy lit a cigarette. Shortly after, shots rang out in the small town of Skidmore. Only this time, it wasn't McElroy doing the shooting. Some say the shooting went on for a full minute. Others say it was only 20 seconds.

The back and driver's side windows shattered as bullets passed through them. Blood splattered the windshield. Trina was pulled out of the truck to safety and was unharmed. Her husband, the man who had allegedly raped her before she was even a teenager, slumped over the steering wheel. Ken Rex McElroy was dead. Part 4. Two Shooters, 40 Witnesses, No Suspects

McElroy was hit by two shots while he sat in the truck, smoking his cigarette. Two shots from two different guns. No one called an ambulance. There were at least 40 people around, standing in the tavern parking lot. But when authorities interviewed them in subsequent days, no one could name names. They had no idea who did the shooting. Most residents simply said they'd heard shots and ducked. Others said they didn't see anything.

The only person who pointed the finger was McElroy's wife, Trina. She said she turned and saw Del Clement, one of the owners of the D&G Tavern, and no fan of Ken McElroy, grabbing a rifle from his truck. But no charges were ever pressed. Author Harry N. McClain moved to Skidmore and lived there for several years after the ordeal. He wrote a best-selling book about Ken McElroy's murder titled "In Broad Daylight."

According to him, most of everyone in town knew that Del Clement fired one of the shots that killed McElroy. Clement, like many of the people in the town, had been terrorized by McElroy. He'd had livestock stolen, and McElroy would drive his customers out of the tavern. Those who knew Clement also said he was quick to anger. Trina swore it was him who had shot her husband. She told at least two grand juries the same thing, but he never served a day in jail.

The FBI even got involved in the case, but they couldn't get any of the townsfolk to turn on each other. The authorities never found the weapons that fired the two shots either. And since Trina was the only one saying Del Clement did it, there just wasn't enough evidence to convict him or anyone else of the crime.

It seemed that McElroy's reign of terror had pushed these God-fearing, law-abiding citizens to their breaking point. And in so doing, it had strengthened their resolve. It had formed a bond that couldn't be broken by any amount of heavy-handed threats by local or federal officials. Del Clement died in 2009. He never confessed to shooting McElroy.

As the media swarmed the small Missouri town after the shooting, conspiracy theories started to crop up. The lack of a conviction prompted some to speculate that law enforcement officials were helping to cover up the murder. Others speculated that the meeting in the American Legion Hall wasn't as innocent as people said it was. The town, one theory said, decided during that meeting to kill McElroy. But it's not likely.

If that had been the case, the crowd of people wouldn't have walked over to the tavern to watch the broad daylight murder. They would have dispersed and let the shooters take care of it. No, what's more likely is that two people decided they'd had enough when they saw McElroy come swaggering out of that tavern. They made a spur of the moment decision to shoot the man

and in so doing, they may have saved lives in the long run. It certainly seemed like McElroy was unraveling, and he may have made good on his threats to finish Bo Boenkamp off, had he not been stopped for good by two bullets that day. Of course, no one really knows what would have happened if things had turned out differently.

All the people of Skidmore knew was that the justice system had failed them again and again. So they had to turn to action more common in a bygone era. And while most of the citizens were not happy with how things went down, they also felt that they tried doing things the right way many times over. Now, more than 40 years later, Ken Rex McElroy's death is still a mystery. Many of the key players are now dead,

And it seems those still left alive who know the truth will be taking it to their graves.