On July 10, 1981, in the small Missouri town of Skidmore (population 440), Ken Rex McElroy was shot dead in broad daylight in front of dozens of witnesses. No one called for help. No one tried to stop it. No one has ever been charged. And for over four decades, the town has clung to a single, chilling refrain: “No one saw a thing.”
This is the horrifying true story at the heart of No One Saw a Thing, the six-part Sundance/AMC docuseries now streaming on Netflix that has rocketed to the top of the true-crime charts, leaving viewers stunned, furious, and utterly haunted. Directed by Avi Belkin (Mike Wallace Is Here), the series isn’t just about a murder — it’s about a community that decided, collectively and without a single spoken vote, that one man’s death was worth more than justice itself.
Ken McElroy was Skidmore’s terror. A hulking, gun-toting bully with over 20 felony charges (including child rape, arson, and attempted murder), he intimidated the town for years. He shot a 70-year-old grocer in the neck. He stalked and terrorised teenage girls. He burned houses. And every time, he walked free — intimidating witnesses, threatening lawyers, exploiting legal loopholes. By 1981, the town had reached breaking point.
The morning of his death, McElroy sat in his pickup on Skidmore’s main street, smoking a cigarette, while 30–60 townspeople gathered nearby. Two shots rang out. McElroy slumped dead. The crowd dispersed silently. When sheriff’s deputies arrived, every single witness claimed they saw nothing. Even the man standing three feet away. To this day, no one has ever been prosecuted.
Using never-before-seen home videos, chilling police recordings, and interviews with townspeople who still refuse to speak on camera, No One Saw a Thing paints a portrait of collective vigilante justice that feels less like Making a Murderer and more like a real-life The Wicker Man. “This isn’t just a murder mystery,” one reviewer wrote. “It’s a horror film about what happens when fear turns into permission.”
The series has ignited fierce debate. Some call it “the most disturbing true-crime documentary ever made.” Others brand the town’s silence “the ultimate act of community self-defence.” Netflix viewers are reeling: “I’ve watched it twice and I still can’t sleep,” wrote one. “It’s not about who pulled the trigger — it’s about why NO ONE CARED that he was killed.”
Forty-four years later, Skidmore remains frozen in time. The bar where the meeting took place still stands. The bullet holes are still in McElroy’s truck, preserved in a local museum. And the silence? It’s louder than ever.
No One Saw a Thing isn’t just a true-crime series. It’s a chilling mirror held up to what happens when a community decides some people don’t deserve the protection of the law.
Watch it if you dare. But be warned: once you know the truth, you’ll never look at small-town America the same way again.
