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Vigilante Justice and the Small Town Bully – A Crime That Shocked America

Khalid Elhassan December 7, 2024 13 min

McElroy - Ken Rex McElroy, as depicted in film — Ken Rex McElroy, as depicted in film. Pinterest

1. The Town That Got Away With Murder

Skidmore is an even smaller town nowadays. It has no grocery store or gas station, and the only school has closed. The beer joint where McElroy used to hang out has long gone out of business, and sits as en empty reminder of the past across from a new restaurant and bar. To this day, although it happened in broad daylight in front of dozens of witnesses, the public slaying of Ken Rex McElroy remains an unsolved homicide. As his lawyer put it: “I know why they didn’t talk – they were all glad he was dead. That town got away with murder“.

McElroy - Ken Rex McElroy's bullet-ridden pickup truck — Ken Rex McElroy’s bullet-ridden pickup truck. The Washington Post

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

History Collection – Crime Facts That Belong in Jail

MacLean, Harry N. – In Broad Daylight (1988)

McClatchy – 3 Decades On, Who Killed Skidmore Town Bully is Still Secret

Morbidology – The Town That Got Away With Murder: Ken Rex McElroy

Patch – Who Killed Ken Rex McElroy: Town Keeps Its Secret For 38 Years

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.