In Broad Daylight

Overview

In Broad Daylight: A Murder in Skidmore, Missouri details the case of Ken Rex McElroy and his 21-year reign of terror throughout four counties in northwest Missouri, and the ultimate murder of McElroy, who was shot to death as he sat in his pickup truck on the mainstreet of the town. Although there were more than 45 witnesses to the killing, and three grand juries considered the case, no one has been prosecuted for the killing. McElroy was indicted 21 times and acquitted 20 times for his life of crime - due in large part to the keen legal abilities of his Kansas City attorney Richard Gene McFadin. MacLean carefully details the background history of McElroy's childhood, early and later life, the endurance of the farmers and victims of McElroy's two decades of crime and terror, the failure of the criminal justice system to even superficially respond to McElroy's crime spree, the State of Missouri's bemused reaction to McElroy's death, the federal government's sudden interest in pursuing McElroy's death as a civil rights violation, and ultimately the skewed and misinformed coverage of the story by the national and international press and media. Critics have praised MacLean's lyrical depiction of rural, bucolic agricultural life in America's heartland - contrasted with a methodical and chilling description of the actions, causes and consequences of an ongoing nightmare of domestic terror.

The book, as well as the movie, chronicles the story of McElroy’s crimes, his killing on July 10, 1981, and the alleged coverup by the town of the identity of the killers for more than 30 years.