(NASHVILLE) — It was long believed that Pauline Mullins Pusser, the wife of the legendary Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser, was shot and killed in an ambush meant for her husband, but new evidence suggests that it was the late sheriff who killed his wife.
A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report uncovered “inconsistencies in Buford Pusser’s statements to law enforcement and to others,” District Attorney Mark Davidson said at a press conference Friday.
Law enforcement uncovered physical, medical, forensic, ballistic and reenactment evidence that contradicted the McNairy County sheriff’s account of his wife’s 1967 murder.
The sheriff’s story inspired the movie “Walking Tall” in 1973 and several sequels, a 2004 remake and several books, Davidson said.
Buford Pusser died in a car accident in 1974.
“This case is not about tearing down a legend, it is about giving dignity and closure to Pauline and her family and ensuring that the truth is not buried with time,” Davidson said.
The sheriff had reported that his wife volunteered to ride along with him in the dark, early morning hours on a disturbance call. He claimed that a car pulled alongside his and fired several shots toward them, killing Pauline and injuring him in what he claimed was an ambush intended for him carried out by unknown assailants, according to Davidson.
The sheriff, who was also shot in the ambush, recovered from his injuries and no viable suspects were found and no charges were filed.
Investigators now believe that Pauline Pusser was shot outside the vehicle then placed inside the vehicle, which is not what Buford Pusser has told investigators at the time of the murder.
“This was a cold case for decades but in 2022 TBI agents took another look at the archive file and coordinated with our office. That work accelerated in 2023 and in 2024, Pauline Mullins Pusser was exhumed for an autopsy,” Davidson said.
“It’s been said that the dead cannot cry out for justice, it is the duty of the living to do so. In this case that duty is being carried out 58 years later,” Davidson said.
Investigators used modern forensic science and investigative techniques that were not available in 1967, officials said.
A new autopsy also revealed cranial trauma suffered by Pauline Pusser does not match crime scene photographs of the interior of the vehicle she was allegedly killed in. Blood splatter on the outside of the vehicle also contradicts Buford Pusser’s account of the murder, Davidson said.
A forensic investigator also determined that a gunshot wound to Buford Pusser’s cheek was a close contact wound, not long range as he had described, and was likely self inflicted, Davidson said. Blood splatter analysis also indicated that someone was injured both inside and outside the vehicle, he said.
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