Little remorse for small town's murdered bully
SKIDMORE, Mo. (AP) -- It's been a year since Ken Rex McElroy, the town bully, was shot to death in an angry crowd on the main street of this dusty farming community. Despite two grand jury investigations the killer is still at large, and few residents seem to care.
"It ain't easy to feel bad for somebody that never did no good for your town," says Postmaster Jim Hartman, "I can't think of anyone who'd seen it (the shooting) feels any different than you would about the people who invented penicillin. Nobody tried to hang them for finding a way to kill a germ."
McElroy was widely regarded as a dangerous, gun-toting tough guy who lived high on the hog by stealing livestock and anything else that wasn't tied down. He was killed in a barrage of gunfire last summer after climbing into his air-conditioned pickup, a cold six-pack of beer and his wife Trena beside him. The truck's engine burned up in the half hour he was left slumped in the cab, his foot lodged against the accelerator.
"It's really a shame about the Silverado," said former Skidmore Marshal Dave Dunbar, who said McElroy once threatened him with a high-powered rifle. "That was a really nice truck. Brand new."
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(The Ledger, 10 Jul 1982)
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