Absolutely not, he said. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. Author Harry MacLean wrote a book McElroys story called In Broad Daylight. McElroy raped a 12-year-old girl and, to avoid statutory rape charges, he divorced his wife at the time and married the child when she was 14 and pregnant with their baby. Calling the sheriff about his threats was risk few were willing to take not that it would have done much good, Goslee said. July 1981: During the 1st week of July it was announced that there would be a delay in McElroy's bond hearing. Within a few years, she had had four children by him. The guns were never recovered. After Sally had had three kids, Ken kicks her out of the house. He had a legendary status, and it all got to be bigger than he was. A museum dedicated to Skidmore, Mo., sits on Elm Street, the towns main drag. SKIDMORE, MO Four decades after Ken Rex McElroy was gunned down on the main drag of Skidmore, Missouri, in one of Americas most infamous cold cases, the story of the notoriously brutal town bully has refused to die with him no matter how much the farmers and blue-collar workers who live in the small farming town wish it would. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. Looking back, the justice system had as much to do with killing Ken McElroy as anyone in Skidmore did.. [5] She became pregnant when she was fourteen, dropped out of school in the ninth grade, and went to live with McElroy and his second wife Alice. He went about making public threats against the grocer while armed with a rifle. Our law enforcement never went after him very hard, he said. That they had guns at the ready wasnt unusual. McElroy was found not guilty. He was freed on bond. 1. BuzzFeed McElroy allegedly stole livestock, grain, gasoline,. Bottles, glasses for restaurants and barsincomible/Getty ImagesFull of Audienceuschools/Getty ImagesAn American police officer posing arms folded beside cop carDarrenMower/Getty ImagesCar Wash Truck SprayA-Digit/Getty ImagesCity People Setedge69/Getty ImagesSilhouette of people in action4x6/Getty ImagesCaucasian farmer standing in irrigated fieldHill Street Studios/Getty ImagesYoung woman on the streetSensorSpot/Getty ImagesShot Truck Driverwwing/Getty ImagesOlder Caucasian man standing with hands in pocketsSam Diephuis/Getty ImagesOutlines of rebellionsshironosov/Getty Imagesmain street remote rural prairie towndlerick/Getty ImagesBlank magazine on wooden backgroundgrinvalds/Getty ImagesEmpty Country Road In UsaDan Thornberg / EyeEm/Getty ImagesCaucasian farmer wearing gloves leaning on wooden fenceSteve Smith/Getty ImagesJudge holding gavel in courtroomChris Ryan/Getty ImagesAuthentic Cowboy Rancher Portraitavid_creative/Getty ImagesSilhouettes of three cowboys on a white backgroundheartbar/Getty ImagesCaucasian security officers posing with flashlightKirk Marsh/Getty ImagesPrivate investigator reports what he seestzahiV/Getty ImagesThis farm is my pride and joypixdeluxe/Getty Imagesdark portrait of a man in a hoodserikbaib/Getty ImagesWhite colored house with blue doorMableen/Getty ImagesYoung couple havi EXTERNAL CREDITSGrant Henderson - Editor+Rick Weller- GFX Artist When Estes and state troopers arrived back in town, the streets were empty and quiet, save the rumbling, smoking engine of McElroys truck. Once freed, McElroy didnt just quietly celebrate his victory. She took her complaint to at-the-time Nodaway County Sheriff Roger Cronk. His lifelong career as a criminal started with petty offenses, but he increasingly became more violent, amassing a rap sheet that included nearly two dozen felony charges for assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, burglary, grain theft, and hog and cattle rustling enterprises that kept a thick roll of hundred-dollar bills in his pocket. Witnessing the murder were McElroys wife, Trena, screaming in the passenger seat and dozens of local residents. There wasnt much parental supervision, but McElroy had a knack for taking care of himself. I didnt know what to do. 1960: Ken moves his young girlfriendSally into his house with Sharon. There were so many nights Dad couldnt go out and mow the yard or water the flowers because there was a truck parked down the street, and they were watching the house, Monte said. As the story has been told by MacLean and others, McElroy showed up at the D&G tavern and pool hall the next day toting a rifle with a bayonet a violation of his bond and threatened to finish off the Bowenkamps. Someone shot at McElroy while he was sitting in his truck. In August of 1980, McElroy made attempts to intimidate the Bowenkamp family and their supporters to prevent them from testifying. It's hard to believe that this small town was once a bustlingcommunity. No one has any idea what a nightmare we lived.. His unsolved killing became the focus of international attention. The witnesses all claimed they had seen nothing. Nobody called an ambulance. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Ken Rex McElroy Jr. In a trial for shooting a Skidmore man in 1976 two witnesses appeared saying they had been with McElroy hunting miles away from the scene. She died in 2012. As there were no witnesses, nobody was able to take the stand. The murder occurred in broad daylight, with as many as sixty eye-witnesses present, including the wife of the deceased. Over the course of his life, McElroy was accused of dozens of felonies, including assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, hog and cattle rustling, and burglary. He made no deathbed confession, but someone wrote in a memorial tribute that he . The townsfolk were infuriated. Ken had 13 siblings: Hershell Eugene McElroy, Orvil O McElroy and 11 . Meanwhile, McElroy and his wife arrived at the D&G Tavern for a morning drink. But in a dramatic act of . In 1981, vigilantes in Skidmore, Mo., took justice into their own hands and killed town bully Ken Rex McElroy but no one was charged with the crime. In 1981, McElroy was convicted of shooting . In the ensuing confrontation, McElroy shot Bowenkamp in the neck; Bowenkamp survived, and McElroy was arrested and charged with attempted murder. Meanwhile, major media outlets descended onto Skidmore and reports of its vigilantes became water-cooler talk across the U.S. For some residents, resentment against McElroy was projected onto the police. McElroy was getting into his pickup truck with his wife Trena on the main street of Skidmore where there was a crowd of 30 to 50 people. Farmers carried them to kill varmints, or for hunting displaying them in plain sight in rear window gun racks. In court, Bowenkamp testified about how McElroy confronted him in the loading dock of the grocery while he was cutting up boxes and shot him in the neck. Evelyn lived cross the street, and he made sure she could see them. Now, nearly 30 years later, that prosecutor, David A. Baird, is preparing to leave office with his first and most famous case still unsolved. Anthony was born on August 27 1890, in Shelton, Knox County, MO, USA. He was indicted as many as 21 times, but escaped conviction all but once. All Rights Reserved. Livestock owners looked the other way when a few head of cattle or hogs vanished in the night or gas barrels used to fuel farm implements were noticeably emptier. A few days later, a pickup truck showed up in the wee hours outside Boyers remote country house. Within hours, Mr. Baird heard that there had been a shooting downtown. The murder of Ken Rex McElroy took place in plain view of dozens of residents of this small farm town, under the glare of the morning sun. Still working within the justice system, witnesses who saw McElroy with the gun gave the information the county prosecutor needed to request a bond revocation hearing. SKIDMORE, Mo. If you were to go to Skidmore today, there isn't much to see. His eyes just really put you in defense modehe really looked like a mean person.. Heavy lids veiled cold, steel-blue eyes, making them look like half moons. He left town just as Ken and Trena McElroy were driving in, likely passing McElroys Chevrolet Silverado pickup in his cruiser on the road. Genealogy profile for Ken Rex McElroy Ken Rex McElroy (1934 - 1982) - Genealogy Genealogy for Ken Rex McElroy (1934 - 1982) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. He grew up hearing the story. Despite the efforts of police, prosecutors and McElroys family, no one has been charged in the murder. He was nonplussed. On July 10, 1981, McElroy was sitting in his truck with his wife Trena McElroy on Skidmore's main drag when a crowd of residents surrounded his vehicle and shot at him several times. The law had plenty of chances, plenty of times to lock him up., Added Monte: Justice failed everybody. Henry was forced to admit in court, under questioning by McElroy's attorney Richard Gene McFadin, that he had concealed his own petty criminal conviction from more than 30 years previous. If you liked reading this story on Ken McElroy, the bully who was killed by his town, check out the story of Budford Pussers cold-blooded revenge. Of the most serious, McElroy was accused of child molestation and statutory rape. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I think he treated the whole town of Skidmore that way, the 78-year-old said, adding she didnt feel brave. But it got to the point it made me mad.. Anyone can read what you share. He put those skills to work rustling hogs and cattle, MacLean recounts. McElroy mounted a daily vigil outside Bowenkamps house, his daughter Cheryl Brown recounts in In Broad Daylight: The town emptied out every time he came to town. I dont know what happened,' Boyer recalls witnesses saying. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8iUdp33PqTsix2sGblEQZ8m5FQycC5D Vigilante justice, or cold-blooded murder?MERCH: We've got it! Ken McElroy was born in 1934, one of 16 children, author Harry MacLean explains in his book In Broad Daylight, an account of the case. 1954: While working for his sister's husband in construction, McElroy suffers a traumatic head injury that leaves him with lifelong pain. Many wondered: Why didnt Baird press charges against the man Trena McElroy fingered as her husbands killer? In all, McElroy was indicted 21 times and managed to escape conviction every time. McElroy was in town and behaving belligerently. Investigators dug and dug, but Skidmore residents maintained their silence. Didnt see a thing. Thats the response investigators repeatedly received when they questioned people over the death of Ken McElroy. McElroy was never a popular man. When word spread that McElroy was in town, a couple of the men walked from the Legion hall to the D&G. McElroy started his pickup and the sound of shots pierced the silence. He was as mean as he looked, but there was more to his baleful demeanor, said Colorado lawyer and author Harry MacLean, who lived with a prominent Skidmore farm family off and on for about five years while he researched In Broad Daylight, a New York Times bestseller chronicling McElroys life and death. It was a misunderstanding, but one that made the Bowenkamps lives a living hell for months. On the morning of July 10, 1981, townspeople met at the Legion Hall in the center of town with Sheriff Estes to discuss how to protect themselves. No one was ever accused of shoplifting, or stealing. He appeared in a local bar, the D&G Tavern, armed with an M1 Garand rifle and bayonet, and later threatened to kill Bowenkamp. There were as many as 60 witnesses, yet the crime remains unsolved. It cruised up the street, came back and just sat there for 20 seconds, says Boyer, adding he couldnt prove it was McElroy but waited behind a tree with his shotgun just in case. A lot of them didnt even tell their wives and children. We didnt have sufficient evidence to go to trial.. 1948: Approximately the time when Ken begins his small thefts as a young teenager. The murder took place on July 10, 1981, the day after McElroy had threatened Bowenkamp at the tavern. Were the citizens justified in taking matters into their own hands? McElroys wife was not injured and escaped the vehicle. One of the killers has died. Still, the panel didnt return an indictment, giving rise to conspiracy theories about a law enforcement coverup, also a theme in No One Saw a Thing.. The bar soon filled completely. Yet in a conspiracy of silence that has spanned the past 38 years, the townsfolk have held the secret close. A girl from a poor, rural family, McElroy had begun having sex with her when she was barely fourteen. He went back home and was shot within a couple of days, explains Conger, editor of the Bethany Republican-Clipper. Despite being shot in broad daylight in front of various witnesses, the . The 12-year-old's parents initially opposed the relationship, but after McElroy burned their house down and shot the family dog, they relented and agreed to the marriage. Retaliation would be severe. Hed leave, then hed come back, Monte said. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8iUdp33PqTsix2sGblEQZ8m5FQycC5D Vigilante justice, or. The son of a bitch would just as soon shoot them as anyone else.. Evelyn tried to explain what had happened, that nobody had accused the children of stealing, and Trena said, Why would my effing daughter lie? . [6] Trena and her baby were placed in foster care at a home in Maryville, Missouri. To the residents of the small town, he was the town bully. Few were criticized as mightily as Baird over the lack of prosecution in McElroys murder. Maryville, Missouri, lawyer David Baird, the Nodaway County prosecutor at the time, said the crime is fairly unremarkable in the context of current-day gang shootings witnessed by many, but seen by few willing to risk their safety by ratting out the crew. The person(s) responsible for firing the shots that killed McElroy remains unsolved. He reportedly began stalking the Bowenkamp family. An extensive federal investigation did not lead to any charges. Anticipating McElroys typical moves, Stratton waited on a back road near the Kansas border. Bullet casings from two guns were found. Ken McElroy was shot to death on the main street of Skidmore in July 1981, in front of 45 witnesses. Retribution was slow coming to Ken McElroybut lightning fast when it happened. Of the potential 40 or so witnesses, with the exception of Trena, none could name a shooter. September 2nd, 1982: Keven though there were over sixty witnesses, no one came forward to name the shooter. They delivered messages in code. This led to several patrons deciding to see what they could legally do to prevent McElroy from harming anyone else. Its probably accurate that few outside of McElroys family shed tears over his death, but many Skidmore residents still struggle with the spectacle of a man violently and publicly killed. For more than two decades, McElroy was suspected of being involved in theft of grain, gasoline, alcohol, antiques, and livestock, but he avoided conviction when charges were brought against him 21 timesoften after witnesses refused to testify because he allegedly intimidated them, frequently by following his targets or parking outside their homes and watching them. June 16th, 1934: Ken Rex McElroy is born to Mabel and Tony McElroy, the thirteenth out of fourteen children. Watch the new and 7th season of BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime! Ken Rex McElroy was an American known as "the town bully" of Skidmore, Missouri. McElroy would just sit and glower at you just stare at you and youd never know what he was thinking.. You know what he was like. However, when the matter came to trial, McElroys attorney produced a pair of witnesses who testified they were hunting with McElroy that day and he was nowhere near the scene of the shooting. The townspeople organized a caravan to escort the witnesses to the hearing both to protect them and to show solidarity. In 2019, the McElroy killing was the subject of a docuseries on SundanceTV. The town has seen more than its share of tragedy. . Consisting of around 440 residents and a number of small family-run businesses, the farming town revolved around work ethic. It really is that it was never spoken of they had an instinctive reaction to close up. Local police, state investigators and FBI agents tried to break the towns silence, without success. As Ken McElroy sat in his truck, he was shot at several times. He said he was not at all disappointed to leave office with the case still unsolved. He was sure it was Mr. McElroy who had done the shooting. On the morning of July 10, 1981, several townspeople met with the Nodaway County sheriff at a local hall to discuss what could be done about McElroy. July 10th, 1981: The Townspeople gather in the Legion to discuss what should be done about Ken McElroy. Neither Baird nor MacLean, whose crime novel has been praised as an accurate account of McElroys killing, buy that. If those responsible for killing McElroy are vigilantes, its because the justice system made them that way, Monte said. April 10th, 1972: After Alice runs away with their son, Ken McElroy gets into an altercation with Alice's stepfather and shoots him. And Mr. Baird, all these years later, is still unwilling to give his own view on whether justice was served even though or because the killer was never tried. You could talk to everybody in this case, and theyd give you a different answer, he said in an interview at his office in the red brick county courthouse in nearby Maryville. Everyone involved continues to keep the secret and gives no answers. I heard shooting and got down. In the plainspoken manner of speaking in Skidmore, McElroy simply needed killing, like a gangrened leg needs to be severed to save the whole body. They settle in Skidmore. He was represented by defense attorney Richard Gene McFadin of Gallatin, Missouri. Henry survived and McElroy was charged with assault with intent to kill. What started with hunting raccoons escalated into petty crime until McElroy ultimately emerged as a full-fledged criminal. One assumption Skidmore hasnt been able to shed is that McElroys killing was an act of vigilante justice. June 25th, 1981: Ken McElroy is sentenced to two years in jail. Ken Rex Melroy was born on June 1st, 1934 to a family of poor tenant farmers who moved to Skidmore. Then McElroy, described by veteran journalist Phil Conger as a big brute of a guy with slicked-back hair like Elvis, took the stand. When the news that Ken and Trena went to the local bar that evening, everyone got up and made their way over. Another was McElroys intimidation tactics, MacLean writes. Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Richard Stratton, the only lawman in northwest Missouri ever known to stand up to McElroy, hunted McElroy down and arrested him on an attempted murder charge. He then returned to Trena's parents' home when they were away and, once again, shot the family dog and burned the house down. That it was a vigilante killing is not true for a lot of reasons; if they had decided to kill him, they wouldnt have stood in the street to watch the murder unfold, he said. But unless a very credible witness came forward, its not likely to happen., The Burger Chef Cold Case: Four Murders Still Unsolved Over 40 Years Later. He dropped out of school at age 15 in the eighth grade and quickly established a local reputation as a cattle rustler, small-time thief, and womanizer. Dozens of them gathered at Skidmores American Legion hall on the morning of July 10, 1981. When the shooting ended, McElroy was slumped over the steering wheel. Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. He didnt have a bank account, didnt have a Social Security number, he didnt read. In 1980, one of McElroy's children got into an argument with a clerk, Evelyn Sumy, in a local grocery store owned by 70-year-old Ernest "Bo" Bowenkamp and his wife Lois, allegedly because the young McElroy child tried to steal some candy. Mable was born on February 28 1897, in Dover, Shawnee County, KS, USA. Again, there were no indictments, and the McElroy murder case was tossed back to Baird. The Vigilantemurder of Ken Rex McElroy still remains a mystery today. He was known as the town bully, but they may be putting it mildly. RELATED: 10 Of The Best Docuseries You Should Be Watching Now Each episode is around 40 minutes each and contains dramatic and intimate . I dont believe youre coming nowafter we needed your help all this time.. There were plenty of eyewitnesses, as well as the attack happened in broad. Even with these raw wounds, the memory of the nightmare surrounding Mr. McElroy during his years of troublemaking and after a killing that many here feel was forced by an impotent criminal-justice system continues to loom large. McElroy wound up shooting Bowenkamp in the neck, nearly killing him. He met his last wife, Trena McCloud (19572012), when she was 12 years old and in eighth grade. Ken was 18 and Oleta was 16. In all, there were 46 potential witnesses to the shooting, including Trena McElroy, who was in the truck with her husband when he was shot. She died in 2012. The man identified by the widow as the main gunman recently died, something Mr. Baird raised in suggesting that the case may never be reopened. Genealogy profile for Ken Rex McElroy Ken Rex McElroy (1934 - 1981) - Genealogy Genealogy for Ken Rex McElroy (1934 - 1981) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. McCloud was McElroy's third "wife," though all unions were suspicious due to the fact that some of his marriages overlapped. The killing was a shocking end for a notoriously brutal man who had terrorized the area for years with seeming impunity from the law until he was struck down in a moment of vigilante justice. He torched the home and shot the dogagainafter the girl went into hiding with her and McElroys baby. *In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean 1988. McElroy burned down the girls home and shot her familys dog to force her parents to agree to the marriage. The murder of Ken Rex McElroy took place in plain view of dozens of residents of this small farm town, under the glare of the morning sun. Ken stalks the family afterwards, and on the 8th, Ken shoots Bo Bowenkamp. The justice system just crashed and burned over this case.. A conviction should have been a victory for the people of Skidmore, but the jury set a maximum sentence of two years, and the judge, without protest from Mr. Baird, released Mr. McElroy on bond pending appeal. The media descended on Skidmore after the killing, an event that continues to define the people of the small town to the world at times with wildly exaggerated versions of what happened. Former Nodaway County prosecutor David Baird, Its proceedings are secret, but in news interviews at the time, McElroys widow said she told a county grand jury who murdered her husband. As he packed up his office last week, he gave his successor a memo that listed a dozen or so unsolved cases in Nodaway County including, down toward the end, the killing of Mr. McElroy. He never finished high school but knew how to hunt, drive fast and navigate the back roads of Nodaway County by his early teens. Some of these things are simply assumed to be factual, Baird said. Born in 1934, Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri. Posted on July 14, 2011 by Harry. He leaves Sharon to move in with Alice. We stood up and did the right thing. On July 9, 1984, Trena McElroy filed a $5 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Town of Skidmore, County of Nodaway, Sheriff Danny Estes, Steve Peters (Mayor of Skidmore), and Del Clement (whom Trena accused of being the shooter, but who was never charged). McElroy was known to have stolen grain, alcohol, gasoline, antiques, and even livestock. Best client I ever had, McFadin said in an interview. Five or six of us were standing in front of the Skidmore Caf, waiting and passing the time. The Mirny Diamond Mine Might Be The Most Mysterious Hole Ever, The Story Of Alain Lamare The Cop Who Moonlit As The Murderer He Was Trying To Catch, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Ken Rex McElroy Jr. - Biography - IMDb Edit Ken Rex McElroy Jr. Things reached a boiling point in 1980 when Ken McElroy got into a confrontation with the towns elderly grocer, Ernest Bo Bowenkamp. On July 8, 1980, McElroy drove to the alley behind the Bowenkamp general store. He testified that Bowenkamp attacked him with a knife and he acted in self-defense, MacLean writes. Just to be aware, he explained. It was also the first major case for a young county prosecutor, not far removed from law school and just months into the job, who said he was confident that the case would be solved soon. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. I have no doubt hed have tried to kill my mom. Over the course of his life, McElroy was accused of dozens of felonies, including assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, hog and cattle rustling, and burglary. McElroy for the most part escaped prosecution and, certainly, conviction for various crimes. The people of the town keep their heads down and prefer to not speak about the incident. They sacrificed one for the betterment of hundreds. When you didnt know where he was, you didnt dare take the chance of not being on your guard.. There has been books written, movies, documentaries and more made about the killing. They could have pushed and dug, pushed and dug and gotten nothing, said Huston. The Vigilantemurder of Ken Rex McElroy still remains a mystery today. We might not see him for three or four days, and then wed see him every day for weeks, Monte said. When the call went out, State Police Cpl. McElroy began backing out too, then tailed Margaret until she radioed Richard and squad cars showed up. The noted sites in the story are gone or boardedup. July 8th, 1980: The Bowenkamps filed a legal proceeding against Ken McElroy after the incident in their store. A federal grand jury was convened. In 1980, McElroy shot the 70-year-old town grocer in the neck following a months-old dispute over an accusation about a piece of stolen candy. Those in attendance felt the system had failed them, and it seemed like none of the authorities could stop McElroy. We went to the police. A&E, Rolling Stone, Playboy, 60 Minutes, and other media outlets covered the story in print or television. The town got away with murder, Mr. McFadin said. McElroy made a living leasing land near his farm, and trading and racing dogs. You dont take cases to trial to see what might happen, the former prosecutor said. After McElroy finished his drinks, he purchased a six pack of beer, left the bar, and entered his pickup truck. How could it? He knew which people to pick on the weak people and he followed through on his threats just often enough to make people believe he was going to do what he said he was going to do. But even after a federal prosecutor forwarded to Mr. Baird what he called substantial new evidence, no one was indicted. One night after he pulled a speeding pickup truck over, Boyer came face to face with McElroy. During the meeting, McElroy arrived at the D&G Tavern with Trena. McFadin, McElroys lawyer, got the hearing postponed. Instead of playing out in court, the details emerged in newspaper and magazine accounts, as well as a best-selling book, In Broad Daylight: A Murder in Skidmore, Missouri, which was later made into a television movie. The local major-cases squad investigated, then the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The noted sites in the story are gone or boardedup. Yet the identity of McElroys killer is a public secret Skidmore has kept for 38 years. Del Clement, the man Trena named as McElroy's killer, died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2009. YouTubeThe towns local bar in Skidmore, Missouri. Its been over 30 years. It wasn't the kind of murder which goes unsolved for decades and eventually someone comes forward with the tip that breaks the case open. Those who spoke out were taciturn. It was Richard McFadin, the man who kept Ken McElroy out of jail 21 times, who said it best: The town got away with murder.. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. And his deeds were as daunting as his appearance. But Ken rarely had to wrestle with the Trena claimed to have seen someone pull a rifle from the back of the truck, take aim at McElroy, and fire shots that shattered the truck's windows. More awful crimes have taken place in the small town. August 18th, 1980: Ken's preliminary trial begins. The police chief who oversaw the investigation, Hal Riddle, disagrees. They thought about his wife and his children, and where it left them particularly the children.. 1952: Ken McElroy marries his first wife Oleta. 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