re: Any Skidmore, MO residents on this board want to tell what happened on July 10, 1981?

He was the town bully

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Its an awesome story

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It really is. Even the FBI got involved and couldn't crack the silence. Trena named someone but nothing stuck. Stuff like this happens when the system fails.

The likely shooter was a man named Del Clement, who owned a bar and had had several run ins with McElroy. He died a few years ago having never talked about it.

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Reminds me of a guy I went to HS with. He, and his brothers as well, was a notorious prick that would get into brawls at the drop of a hat. Fighting very dirty as well.

About ten years out of HS I heard several guys cornered him in an alley and beat him to the point he has been in a wheelchair since. Basically left him for dead.

No one was ever arrested for the beating.

And no one felt bad about it.

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This is random but analogous. It turns out in most troops of chimpanzees with an alpha male it is the most socially collaborative or intelligent male in that position.

In the instances where the largest and strongest male becomes the alpha by intimidation and physically abusing all of the competing males? Several smaller males team up and tear him apart in fairly short order.

OK. I'll bite. I grew up about 40 minutes from Skidmore. (Bethany, Mo.). Bethany was where the last trial was held for him. The guy had a way of getting out of the arms of the law. He had a fondness for coon hounds and younger ladies. And he did scare everyone. I knew the one man who he did fear/respect. Missiouri Highway patrolman named Richard Stratton. Super nice guy, but all business. and eventually brought him in alone. Im not sure Mcelroy worked a day in his life. Basically lived off of what he stole. There are still some who say he was a good friend and as nice as could be. But not many. It is fairly common knowledge who pulled the trigger, and probably true. Kudos to that town for standing together as a group and keeping quiet. Not much left in that little town. Sadly they have had a couple of other tragedies there that are just mind blowing. I highly recommend reading the book. Lots of details in there that the movie doesn't touch. Last I knew Trena had remarried and moved to southern Missouri. He had a couple of kids who may still be in the St. Joe area. That is where he is also buried.

Just how big was this ol’ baw?
Seems like most every little rural area or town that I’ve spent time in had someone or a few someone’s who where regarded as the town bully.
Most were low lifers, uneducated, drop outs that became local thugs and hudlums in their early teens and just progressively got worse.
Their ignorance, cockiness, arrogance, drunkenness and sometimes their love of fighting caused them to get worse and worse and few locals were willing to stand up to them because they were too cocky and prideful to take an arse whipping without pulling out a knife, tire tool, gun, bike chain or some weapon to put them back on the top of the local gang bully heap.
I’m familiar with a graveyard or three in NwLa that is full of guys like that bully, they fricked around and found out that it don’t matter how bad arse a bully you are, there will always be one badder than you and wiling to prove it, at which time one bully leaves the bully chain and occupies the dirt vault.

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I actually stopped there on vacation 2 years ago

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It could’ve been you

JUSTICE. Apparently everyone had enough of his sorry arse.

Frontier Justice is what I think we used to call it

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Whilst the OT's reach is nearly unprecedented

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That was a situation in Mississippi in 50s maybe popularville or picayune, took mfer out if jail and hung is arse in middle of town, but nobody saw knew nothing lol