#okay but there was a reason they killed Ken McElroy

[kiss-my-freckle]

No One Saw a Thing. 

“OMG, she broke a nail. Let her blame it on Skidmore.”

A Sundance documentary. 

Honest admission, my desire to watch this documentary had everything to do with its synopsis. The idea of a people murdering their town bully. Sounded like a good, solid story worth my time. I’m still rolling my eyes. Stupidity all around. If I were to go full rant, this post would be nothing but mess, that’s how much shit I found wrong with it. 

I’m just gonna bullet what I feel like covering. 

The murder of Ken Rex McElroy

By the time I finished the second episode, I found myself not believing Trena McElroy regarding her husband or his murder. The loving wife trying to sell her husband being a nice, well-mannered man. The very same man who got away with shooting a store owner. The very same man who physically assaulted her. Their daughter openly admitted that he abused her mother. And while admitting this, attempted to lessen what was, as if it was okay that her father abused her mother because he didn’t abuse her often. As if it was okay that her father abused her mother because he didn’t abuse her in front of them. Once is enough. Seeing her bruises is enough. That’s on top of everything else. The fact that he started dating Trena when she was only fourteen. This man walked on assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence, statutory rape, child molestation, and polygamy. He probably would’ve gotten away with a lot more had they not killed him. He doesn’t get my sympathy. From what I saw, they had no choice but kill him because they made it clear from the start that he was untouchable. I don’t believe in taking the law into your own hands, but I feel this single act of vigilantism justifiable. 

His murder stretches beyond believability. The crime scene itself, the number of people claimed to be present, and the testimony of a loving wife. So loving, she had no problem sharing him with a sister wife, no problem taking punches to the face. According to Trena, the entire town held a meeting and came to the decision to kill him without reason. It must've been jealousy because he was such a nice man. An entire town jealous of what? I don’t buy more than ten people being at the crime scene, all circling the truck in which he was killed. I’m trying to picture the man boldly sitting there without fear, not even attempting to escape a crowd of 40 people. Vehicle running, but not daring to drive the hell outta there. Didn’t even care to protect his own wife. No attempt to put it in reverse. Parked and surrounded. Did he think they were planning to invite him over for tea? Claiming to watch a man go to his car, pull out a rifle, then shoot her husband. So Trena watched this happen without warning the  man she loved. He just sat there, with no thought to escape. Didn’t even turn his head to see this gun pointed at him, ready to shoot. If it were me, my tires would’ve ran over that crowd. No big deal to run your truck through when you can shoot a store owner and get away with it. 

It’s beyond absurd to me, and the documentary got worse from there. That’s when every crime that followed his murder placed its blame on their decision to remain silent about his killer(s). 

The murder of Wendy Gillenwater.

If no one saw Wendy laying in her front yard, bleeding to death, no one would be stopping to help her. To help someone, a person would first need to see such a person needing help. So I question who stood by and watched as cars drove by, all ignoring a dying woman. And while doing so, stood by and watched her die on her front lawn. Diane Fanning and the absurdity of her statement. Yes, people had to know that she was being abused by her boyfriend. I'm sure many did. Knowing she's being abused is one thing. Being able to stop him from abusing her is another. For Wendy, the only thing that town could’ve done, is offer their support and hope she'd find the courage to walk away. For any justice to be done, she would've needed to come forward and press charges. Wendy’s neighbors can't press charges on her behalf. They can’t testify to the abuse she endured. What an idiot. And she’s supposed to be an author. Please, don't write any books on domestic violence until you understand it. 

I’m supposed to believe this man used drugs, abused his girlfriend for five years, and actually beat her to death because the town remained silent. Because they got away with killing a man. It’s beyond me how anyone could blame suicide and domestic violence on this single act of murder. From what I saw, McElroy was untouchable despite being found guilty, while Skidmore was convicted without proof and sentenced to suffer the stupidity of man. Invade their lives, blame them for this man’s death, and you might find people crossing their arms when a stranger walks into town. Because that stranger is likely coming to invade their lives just to reignite the blame game. Leave their townspeople alone for fuck’s sake. Wendy’s boyfriend is doing life in prison, so don’t tell me people get away with murder in Skidmore. 

The disappearance of Branson Perry.

Adding more to the already absurd. From what I saw regarding those jumper cables, I believe Perry disappeared on his own at the start, but was murdered later on. I’m having a hard time believing that a murderer would care to return jumper cables weeks after the fact. Unless his murderer needed to use those jumper cables, I would expect them to be laying on the ground where Perry was taken. You want this to be more believable, leave the jumper cables out of it. It’s possible someone stopped, asked for help to jump their car with his cables, and chose to kill him afterward. But you're not going to convince me they cared enough to return them. The nearest dumpster, the nearest lake. Burned, buried. Don’t expect me to believe they returned to the scene of their crime for the sake of returning those jumper cables. 

Jack Rogers didn’t do it. He’s the perfect example of what I would expect after a case like McElroy’s. 15 minutes of fame for Jack. If Perry was murdered, it was by someone outside of Skidmore, and for the same reason. You have this town that everyone talks shit about, how their residents treat outsiders. Consider the idea that people want to protect the home in which they live. When you have a town like that closing themselves off to outsiders, you have outsiders closing themselves off to them. Their reputation is likely to generate enemies. Enemies outside of Skidmore because they don’t understand that world. It’s not a town, but a family of 300+ people. 

Perry didn’t need his van, his wallet, or his personal possessions to disappear. I believe he disappeared on his own, took the cables for the purpose of cooking meth, then returned them when they were no longer needed. I believe he was murdered shortly after he returned them. More likely a drug-related murder. I do believe his body was buried and reburied. I do believe they burned the house for the sake of covering up his death. But I believe Perry’s initial disappearance was his own doing. I think he fell deeper into the drug world, considered himself untouchable, and learned the hard way that it’s a dog-eat-dog world. They no longer needed him. You’re still not gonna convince me that his killer(s) cared about those jumper cables finding their way back home. 

The murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett and the sins of Skidmore.

Too much religious shit in this documentary. Claiming the murder of one bred three acts of violence. Exaggerations that made me roll my eyes all the more. Blame kept getting pushed back to McElroy. Hit again with the murder of Stinnett. Her killer, not a resident of Skidmore. Huge difference in her case. It’s called technology. Her computer led to her killer.   

With the amount of stress placed on this town by the media, various agencies of law enforcement, and random strangers stirring up shit, one should question the sanity of their residents at this point. The kind of bullshit they went through is the kind of bullshit that would push me to my limits. You have to start considering their well-being and stop being part of the problem. I don't think violence is more likely in Skidmore because of what happened to McElroy. Violence was always there as violence is everywhere, but more visible because the worst already happened. They did not choose to murder McElroy. They were forced to murder McElroy. Denied justice, denied a safe place to live because the law didn't feel like protecting them from a bully.

As far as I’m concerned, silence has been their savior. Whoever found the courage to kill him, best protect that person. McElroy would’ve continued raping their kids, shooting their store owners, walking out of their courthouses a free man, and likely would’ve ended up beating his liar of a wife to death because he has no respect for women.