Huey: A small town’s revenge on a merciless and brutal bully

By Editor | July 8, 2026 |

It’s a beautiful morning in the little town of Skidmore, Missouri, because it’s finally over! So follow me now while we explore this sleepy community that enjoyed the sweet taste of frontier justice way back in July of 1981 and managed to secure their independence from a nightmare.

The town isn’t much more than a crossroad with a population of around 250, so everybody really DOES know everybody, and they all had one common enemy. This town has had its share of excitement over the years, culminating with the “unsolved” murder of their one common enemy, Ken Rex McElroy.

He’d held that town in a stranglehold for over 20 years, stealing from them, raping their daughters, burning their houses, and killing their animals. McElroy had 21 indictments but never served a day in jail because he would threaten and harass complainants until they dropped the charges.

If McElroy saw you as an enemy, he would harass you with a caravan of pickups driven by him and his sons, driving by your house all night long honking their horns. You would never see peace, and he would NOT stop, badgering people until they gave in.

The vermin of Nodaway County didn’t have a job because he didn’t need one. Stealing was his job. Accosting people on the street, sticking a shotgun in their face and demanding payment from them was an everyday thing.

The beast of the Midwest was a pedophile who fathered 17 children with a horde of young girls, and even told one girl’s parents that if they didn’t allow her to marry him, he would kill her. Knowing that he meant it, the girl’s parents gave in.

Not being much more than a wild animal, this vile subhuman made life a nightmare for the locals, accused of assault, statutory rape, arson, cattle rustling, and burglary.

Barbara Henry almost died when he buried the tines of a garden rake in her back. Charged with assault and intent to kill, he denied he was at the scene so the case dragged on until he finally bullied her into saying that it was an accident.

His devious lawyer often paid alibi witnesses and thus was able to “prove” to the court that his client wasn’t at the scene of whatever crime he was being accused of that day.

After the sleaze merchant got away so many times, it had reached the point where folks just couldn’t take it anymore, the turning point coming when one of his kids stole some candy from a local store owned by Ernest Bowenkamp.

When McElroy’s wife told him about the accusation of the storekeeper, it angered the Skidmore scum so much that he went to the man’s store and shot him pointblank in the back with a shotgun, and although seriously wounded, the man survived. McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder, but he got out on bail and his creepy lawyer took care of it with money and threats.

The system once again failed to protect the Skidmore community from a monster, so finally the residents formed a neighborhood watch to try and take care of it themselves, since the law couldn’t. July 10 of 1981 was Independence Day for them when the group had a meeting at Legion Hall and decided that the bully’s time had come.

When he showed up at the bar, McElroy was met by locals who were geared up for retribution, and Ken Rex slowly began to realize for the first time that HE might become the target, so he cautiously left the bar and walked outside to his pickup.

Around 40 people followed him, then surrounded his truck as he started the engine, but instead of driving away, McElroy calmly lit a cigarette and waited to see what the crowd would do. He found out. Shots rang out from different directions hitting McElroy in the head and chest, killing him instantly while his wife screamed uncontrollably.

The truck was still running with McElroy slumped over the steering wheel as people walked away knowing that the freedom they so richly deserved would finally reside within their little hamlet. Nobody called an ambulance. Nobody called the cops. Nobody cared. Some of the people were actually smiling.

The FBI investigated the murder for months but never came up with any evidence or witnesses because nobody saw a thing. And according to Skidmore residents, the murder of Ken Rex McElroy is a dark mystery and shall remain so for all eternity.