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WildBill wrote:§ 123.01. DEFENSE TO PROSECUTION: HE JUST NEEDED KILLIN'

A grand jury can no-bill Satan if they think it is appropriate.

A grand jury answers to no one and cannot be overridden (except possibly by a grand jury that is impaneled later).

The problem in this case seems to be that convicted offenders serve little if any time in prison and are soon back to harass their accusers, prosecutors, jurors, and judges.

People like to say, "lock them up and throw away the key," but that costs a lot of money. No one is willing to juggle the budget between prisons and schools, roads, etc.

- Jim

Gyrogearhead wrote:Besides the news stories, I remember there was a movie made about this event that had some well known (not stars) actors.

Several movies or documentaries have been made. They are listed in the Wikipedia article.

- Jim

chasfm11 wrote:It would be an interesting question to pose to the outgoing DA: Why weren't the crimes of the bully prosecuted?

Many of the deceased's offenses were prosecuted, but he was found guilty only once. The outgoing prosecutor, Mr. Baird, obtained that single conviction. It was Mr. Baird's first prosecution as DA.

It seems that juries would not find the deceased guilty. I can only speculate that they were afraid of what would happen when he got out of prison, which he would unless rough justice got to him there.

If you read the details, he had a habit of stalking and otherwise intimidating complainants and witnesses.

- Jim

philip964 wrote:Interesting why the judges were so blind to a man who was obviously trouble.

Yes. I have never understood why.

This is not a case of "liberals" giving too many breaks to a "misunderstood yute." The guy was charged with crimes 22 times, and rural Missouri is not "liberal" by any stretch of the imagination. The guy had no wealth or political connections.

- Jim

One Ken Rex McElroy was a resident of Skidmore, Missouri (northwest corner of nowhere). He was by all accounts a bully who had been accused of rape, vandalism, arson, theft, and general thuggery. In 1981, at age 47, he was found guilty of assault for shooting a man without provocation. He appealed and was released on bail.

The authorities declined (or refused, depending upon how you look at it) to take further action.

On July 10, 1981, one or more people shot him to death in broad daylight on the town's main street. More than 30 people witnessed the shooting, but they all claimed not to have seen the shooter or to have memory problems. Only McElroy's wife identified a shooter, who was never prosecuted.

The killing is still considered a cold case. It is in the news again because the prosecutor at the time of the shooting left office this week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/us/16 ... ?src=twrhp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I remember when this incident occurred. I was shocked to realize it was 29 years ago.

- Jim
[Edited to correct messed-up link]