Skidmore, Missouri - 40 Years After They Killed The Bully 

This man wasn’t murdered. He was stopped.

Sounds like he was found guilty by a jury of his peers and subsequently executed...

How anyone can act like his death was anything but deserved is beyond me. It actually sickens me a little that he was allowed to kidnap a child and marry her, and nobody stopped him until a man's life was at risk.

My father was born and raised in Skidmore. He remembered this guy when they were growing up. I spent many summers in Skidmore and it was a sweet little town. It’s sad to see the town now-I haven’t been there in many years. My grandparents lived there until they died…and they never said who killed him but everyone knew.

I’ll bet Skidmore’s crime rate dropped 100% that day.

I wouldn’t call that a murder. More like self defense on behalf of the town.

If they truly want justice.....let this case remain unsolved.

He was a bully who tried to kill an elderly man. He was "sitting in his truck", yes. AFTER he was causing trouble being inside that business. He was ordered to stay clear. He was asking for it.

There is no real value in depicting McElroy's killing as a tragedy. His life was a tragedy, and those folks took the trash out. They took him out of their misery. Good riddance.

When the Sherriff / courts won't do their job, the American people will.

Sounds like a community had a chronic problem that wasn't solved by the officials, and they took care of it themselves. In this modern day, perhaps we need more Patriots like that in our society, especially with the two-tiered system of justice we now have here in the US.

My granddaddy was a truck driver and was taking a load to the store in which McElroy shot the owner later in the day. McElroy acted like his truck was broken down, and my granddaddy stopped to give assistance when McElroy tried assault my granddaddy. When my granddaddy arrived at the store, McElroy already wounded the store owner.

"Murderer walking freely in Skidmore'? More like a hero walking freely in Skidmore.

This was not murder. This was justice.

I would go there and walk around, no problem. The citizens finally after decades of being let down by the law, made it safe to walk around in.

I’d say this is misapplication of the term “muderer”. Are we as law abiding folks supposed to just put up with this type of behavior, I say not. He got what he deserved

Sometimes it's not homicide, it's just pesticide.

It wasn't murder, it was justifiable homicide.

I love how you talk with a respectful tone

This man sounds like my grandfather. He was a huge man, 6'6 300lbs an the entire town was afraid of him, even the police. He was beating my grandmother one day an the neighbor called the cops. Once they got there my grandfather walked out on the front porch with his shotgun an told them they better leave. He then fired 3 shots at them an their cruiser. The cops left an came back the next day with state police. Was only charged with assault which was then dropped due to no witnesses coming to court. Its crazy how it was back in the day.

I met a old man from skidmore once. He said “before you ask I was hiding under the pool table like everyone else.”

He wasn't murdered, he was executed for his CRIMES... and he deserved it.

Somebody deserves a medal 🏅 Everyone else can have a participation award😂

Wow, what a story! I had never heard about this. I’m a truck driver so I go through Missouri quite frequently. From what I gather, this guy was a creep who terrorized these people and kept getting away with it. I think they felt that if the “system” wasn’t going to help them, they would take matters into their own hands and that’s what they did. I can’t say I blame them. Great video. 👍

It’s not murder if it’s justified. The guy engaged in child molestation

It wasn't murder. Ken committed suicide and he just didn't know it.

This is a story of greatness. We need more of this

Kudos to the people of skidmore for solving a problem that law enforcement wouldn’t/couldn’t

Imagine being hated so much that an entire town protects the killer, not because they are afraid of the killer but because they are thankful it happened

What did he expect. Even a poor stray dog eventually gets tired of being kicked and bites back

I think its the best thing that could've happened to him. He was let go all the time so somebody had to do something. I have always loved the end of this story.

Goes to show that bullying people never end well..

They didn't "murder" McElroy. They applied justice.

WHEN A GOVERNMENT FAILS IT'S DUTY, "WE THE PEOPLE" HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO WHAT IS NECESSARY. GOD BLESS AMERICA.

I think when you’ve got a small town dominated by an evil man who isn’t afraid to walk up and shoot you, and then get off at trial, you’ve exhausted all avenues and it’s time to take matters into your own hands. My guess is after 40 years that person is probably dead anyway. 🤷🏼‍♂️. Really creepy town, seeing no one out and about and only a couple of vehicles during the whole video.

It’s beautiful to know that everyone without even talking to each other knew not to say shit about who killed that scumbag

The bully deserved it and I am proud of every single one of those townspeople. Leave them alone.

who ever rid this town of this horrible person has passed away by now, may they rest in peace.

Your content is always fun to watch. Your calm, clear and stick to the topic. 👌🏻

Its like a modern day Western where the town finally stand up to and kill the bully.

Bullies like that get what they deserve. You can only push people so much before they turn and fight back.

The whole town was in a "domestic violence" situation with this creep, which they could see no way out of. He pushed them too far

I haven’t stopped watching your videos since I started this morning. I hate that I’m so late finding your channel, but glad I finally did. Love your content!

I watched that 60 Minutes report when it aired. All I could see was a town at the end of its rope. The justice system had failed them so they took it into their own hands. it was either continue to live under a tyranny or remove the tyrant. I very much doubt that anyone was coerced into silence.

Sounds like he got what was coming to him. His wife is lucky she's still breathing. I have a lot of respect for the people who killed him and kept they're mouth's shut.

It feels so weird realizing 1980 was over 40 years ago😂

Apparently Kenneth Rex McElroy used to say, 'no witnesses, no crime' when intimidating witnesses to his own crimes. His own words turned back to bite him.

I’m not big on comments, so please apply what I am about to say to every video… I love the way you bring and overlap of history and now!! You do it all respectfully and humbly. Your research is great!!There is a strong moment for the “scars” you see. They are the past still there but now. I really dig your work!!

The town simply returned a defective product to its manufacturer.

The Justice System let these people down. I guess they did what the system wouldn't.

Did the town also get rid of Mackleroy's friends who helped him escape charges?

Thank you for the story, and the tour, much appreciated

There is a hero walking the streets. Not a murderer.

As we say here in Tennessee,, " He needed killin' ". The law wouldn't do anything, so someone had to.

Years ago I worked for a well connected bully that threatened and intimidated most everyone around him. Luckily for me due to my physical presence he treaded lightly. I actually had multiple coworkers approach me asking me to hold him down so they could kill him. I told them to a person to keep a written log of his threats. One day a corporate vice president overheard the bully talking. A dozen employees were questioned about the bully. All twelve had done as I suggested. Within the week his reign of terror was history.

interesting reporting from your side and how you cut in the older clips! thank you for this!

I read the book. Based on that, he bloody well deserved it. His lawyer was as guilty as McElroy was.

It sounds like the town's act was one of desperation, not "cold-blooded murder."

Self defense in my eyes. It was either him or them, a man like that never gives up till he is stopped. It's happened worldwide, but it does not always hit the papers, but people know. It happened that a gangster was walking down a country road ran over died at that spot in my hometown in the 70s, I was a kid at the time but I remember it well. They never caught the driver apparently.

When I was a kid, my dad told me that a town had a bully. He told me that one day, everyone got sick of the bully. My dad told me that the town killed their bully. But he never told me the name of the town or anything. Earlier today, 10 years after my dad told me that I thought of that story for a moment. Just briefly, nothing more than a few seconds. The first time I thought of this since he told me. And then this showed up in my recommended a few hours later. I didn’t come looking for this. But I think it found me

It wasn’t “murder”, it was SELF DEFENCE from a rapist, attempted murdered several times. He shot people and NOT punished.

Ken McElroy- "had it coming" award of the century.

There’s no longer a murderer walking free in Skidmore. Del Clement died January 9, 2009.

Rumor has it that the sign outside of Skidmore reads, "Welcome to Skidmore, the home of the largest pool table on earth." I think EVERYONE was under the pool table, so it had to be a mammoth sized thing. Ken Rex was not murdered. He was stopped by SOMEONE after the law refused for years to stop him, and to that someone I would only say, "Good job!" You know you are a bad dude when a dozen or more people see someone put an end to you and NO ONE is willing to say a word. When this happened, I think maybe the state police and even the FBI went to Skidmore because they were going to show those small-town Barney Fifes how a REAL lawman conducts an interrogation. To their chagrin, they got nowhere! For years Ken Rex had threated to take the life of anyone whose testimony sent him to prison, and he was not prosecuted because everyone was afraid to testify against him. The town had FINALLY got some people who were brave enough to testify against him and as a result he was found guilty and was supposed to be going off to prison for a decade or so, but his lawyer filed an appeal and even got him freed while the appeal worked its way through the courts. He was found guilty of attempted murder and to the stunned disbelief of the townspeople who had been present at the trial, he made it back to town before they did. The townspeople felt they had no other option. They TRIED to do things the legal way but thanks to Ken Rex's shyster lawyer he ALWAYS got away with whatever he did. Of course, his lawyer is upset at what happened to Ken Rex. KR was probably 90 percent of his business and Ken Rex never had any trouble paying the lawyer because if he was running a little short, he would just go steal something else and sell it for whatever he could get for it. Allegedly, once he even had the audacity to steal a man's hogs one night and then show up bright and early the next morning and offer to sell the man HIS OWN HOGS back! Back when this happened my husband said of Ken Rex, "He was extremely dangerous because he was evil enough to think of the most heinous things to do and he was stupid enough to go ahead and do them." I think that pretty much sums up Ken Rex.

You know your town’s got value when there isnt a snitch in sight

My only complaint is that it didn't happen years sooner. You need to remove a turd when it starts to stink and this guy stank way too long.

This was great. Thanks for updating us.

Been catching up on your older episodes, good stufff.

This shouldn't be called a murder, but a town deciding to right a wrong.

Sounds more like a community service than a murder. I can't imagine some dude being that aggressive and not be checked by another man. And look.. he got checked, by the whole town. Good job.

Please respect the people of Skidmore I went to church with them and I grew up with the kids there and it was 21 charges facing the 22nd charge in August of 81

Interesting story. Really do enjoy your videos, and how deep your willing to go in bringing history to us all. Thanks very much. ✌

Im from Missouri and McElroy got what was coming to him. That man was a despicable human being.

I bet everyone slept good that night. No more being afraid of a bully.

What a great video. Thank you!

God gives his words about what is a justifiable killing and an unjust killing. This was Justified.

He got out of the car and shot himself in the front seat. How hard is that to understanding?

I remember that case. I lived KCMO at the time. I remember town people would say FBI put under cover officers in town to get people to talk no one ever did. We looked at the town people as heros.

Thank you for doing this video. I was curious to see what the town is like now.

“..home to one of the strangest unsolved murders.. maybe ever.” It isn’t that mysterious, honestly. Guy fucked around and finally found out.

To me, it's crazy to be upset over this man's death as opposed to failing to protect a town full of victims. And freeing this bully's family.

The townspeople are not keeping their mouth shut out of fear, they're keeping their mouth shut out of respect! They know that what was done had to be done.

the whole town had enough..that's why no one said a thing before and after the shooting..even the town PO..drove off in the opposite direction AFTER..the town meeting...knowing full well what was about to happen.. interesting video..thank u for sharing .

Omgoodness your voice is so gentle and calming. I love, it.

Seems like the bully killed himself using the townspeople.

"Bad folk tend to go missing around these parts" - some rural American

I've been through Skidmore countless times on the way to visit family, and I can confirm the locals around there absolutely do not mess around when it comes to looking out for one another.

I remember when this was national news, and later reading "In Broad Daylight" when it came out. You've obviously researched your subject very well...something that is a rarity with true crime RU-vids in my opinion. Thank you very much!

The bully caused hell and caused terrior for years and the law in forcement didn’t do anything. The town fixed it themselves.

The bully's wife and children were probably victims to his violence too.

Outstanding video mate. I would’ve loved to of been a fly on the wall listening into the conversations after that man’s murder. The thing is whispered in dark places among those who knew the truth. I wonder if his wife continue to live in the town or did she move on?

The town didn’t murder anybody. They restored the peace.

I remember when this happened, and I remember them interviewing the people who were there, and say they “didn’t see“ anything. They also told the story of how this person bullied the entire town. Sometimes vigilante justice is needed. This was one of those times.

Seems it would be the safest place in the world, when you got neighbors that have your back...

The sheriff was at the legion hall, when everyone walked out, the sheriff left in a hurry, stayed gone during the shooting than doubled back to work the scene.

This was outstanding. Thank you.

This guy was more than a "bully" the way it sounds. Frankly, law enforcement failed a lot of people here, and they took action as a result, and I can't really fault them for doing so.

If he was messing around with a child. The town had every right to do what needed to do to protect the their children.

Excellent Video, Thank You

The whole county has a low crime rate but then every few years something extremely vile happens. You should look it up.