There are 50 witnesses to this crime, but no one saw anything. 
American town of Skidmore in Missouri.
Ken Rex McElroy ruined the lives of the residents of the small town of Skidmore for decades. Now there are fewer than 300 residents, but in McElroy's time there were about twice as many. These are mostly farmers. McElroy was born into a family of poor migrant farmers. He barely made it to the eighth grade, then dropped out of school. Young Ken had a reputation as a womanizer and thief. He stole everything, over 20 years he was brought to justice 21 times, but each time the case against him fell apart. The victims withdrew statements each time. The fact is that McElroy's real talent was not in stealing, but in intimidating defenseless people. 
Ken McElroy with his daughter Tina.
Ken had several wives and a total of 10 children. The most shameful page of his biography is connected with his last wife. In 1969, he raped 12-year-old Trena McCloud and began to cohabit with her while his wife was alive and of age. At 14, Trena became pregnant with his child, and then Ken decided to marry her. The girl's parents, naturally, were categorically against it, but after McElroy burned down their house and killed their dog, they blessed the marriage of the rapist with their daughter. The girl dropped out of school and began to live with her new husband and his now ex-second wife.
Some time after giving birth, Trena fled to her father's house. But Ken found it and literally smoked it out of there. He set the fire again and killed the McClouds' other dog.
Ken was charged with arson, rape, and threatening to kill. He was arrested, as usual, but then released on bail. Tren and the child were placed in a foster family. McElroy found this family and forced them to give him his young wife and baby, threatening to kill their own daughter, and said that he was exchanging a girl for a girl. 
Ken McElroy.
In 1976, Ken again caught the eye of the police - he shot farmer Romaine Henry twice with a gun. Henry survived and testified in court. He said that McElroy constantly drove up to his house and followed him, like in some horror movie, and one day he started shooting. Henry tried to stop this and received two bullets in the shoulder. Once again McElroy was acquitted. Two hunters testified in court that Ken was hunting with them that day, which means he could not have shot Henry. Nothing took the king of the gopnik Ken McElroy, he became the real bane of Skidmore. 
Ken with a dog.
In 1980, one of McElroy's sons stole a candy bar from a store. The store owner caught the guy's hand and scolded him. Ken took this as a personal insult. He showed up at the store with a gun, pressed the salesman against the wall and told him in vivid colors what he would do to him if he again prevented little McElroy from following in his father’s footsteps. The old shopkeeper turned out to be not timid and resisted. Inflamed with righteous anger, McElroy pulled the trigger. The store owner was wounded in the neck, but miraculously survived.
When Ken was released on bail again, he came to a local bar and, shaking a rifle with a bayonet attached to it in front of the frightened townspeople, explained to everyone how he would deal with the shopkeeper, and then with anyone who stood in his way. In short, this was the last straw. The townspeople united against Ken McElroy. 
McElroy's car.
On July 10, 1981, Ken and his wife Trena visited the D&G Tavern after another court hearing was postponed. The news of this quickly spread throughout the city. By the time McElroy had finished his last drink, the room was packed. Probably all the Skidmore men were sitting at the bar. They didn’t order anything, but simply sat and waited, unashamedly watching the most dangerous man in the city. McElroy paid as if nothing had happened, took a few cans of beer with him and headed to his car. All the bar patrons followed him out. What happened next is known from Trena's words; all the other 50 witnesses stated that they did not see anything unusual. 
Widow of McElroy Tren. She died of cancer on her 55th birthday.
As soon as Ken got into his pickup truck, they started shooting at him. Two bullets killed him, one was fired from a rifle, the other from a pistol. When it was all over, none of the participants or witnesses called an ambulance. Police did not charge anyone, although Trena pointed to the shooters. A federal investigation was conducted, but it also did not identify those responsible. During interrogations, everyone said as one that someone shot, but who was unknown. And several suspects said, "He should have been killed."
Over time, there were suggestions that McElroy's cruelty was caused by an injury he received at a construction site at age 18. It looks like he was hit on the head with a steel beam there. Since then he had been tormented by headaches and may have developed a tumor, which had such a detrimental effect on his behavior. Whether this is true or not, the residents of Skidmore did not care when Ken burned houses and threatened with guns.
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